It's going to be a long fuckin' night.
Killing scum shouldn't bring a person so much joy, but it does.
I don't know If everybody got out, or even if my sister is alive, I just know that I heard their bikes and the trucks and cars rumble off in the distance. Good. They listened. Makes a change.
Every bike but mine is gone. They all made it out, which means my sister is just fine, I can breathe easily. I don't know if anyone was hurt, but I know that no one is dead, that's all I can ask for.
I smile to myself and press the igniter in my hand. My men did a good job rigging the place up in the short half an hour I gave them. Lucky for me, Zammo and Cole were around to help. Two of the best and craziest men I've ever worked with. Always there when I need them. I have men everywhere. It comes in handy for things like this, even if it did cost me a small fortune this time. It was worth it to get my sister back in one piece.
And as the warehouse fire warms my skin from afar, I smile. Another club ended at the hands of the Snakes.
My last official job as The Exorcist.
I jump on my bike and ride away. I don't need to make any calls; my men know to get out of there before anything goes down. I wait for no one. The billowing black smoke will draw the attention of the authorities soon enough.
I wonder if they'll give a shit about the bodies in and around the place. It's a fucking mass murder scene! They won't look to us, just as long as Lion and Roman did their jobs and grabbed everything that links us to the place.
We'll all breathe a little easier in our beds tonight.
Tomorrow we'll tighten security around the women and kids belonging to the club. Just to be on the safe side.
Tomorrow they'll all want to know just how I did what I did and pulled it off without any casualties.
Tomorrow, I'll tell them.
Tonight, I'm going to lie in bed with my man and our daughter and thank God we're all safe.
Tomorrow...
* * *
Where the hell is everyone?
The clubhouse is deserted. The plan was to meet back here. They had at least fifteen minutes head start on me, they should have been back by now.
What the fuck is going on?
I can't even get through the gate because there's no one manning it. That means no one has arrived back yet. How the hell could I have arrived back here before them? I'm a fast rider, but shit!
Unless everyone took off to my dad's so Lynette could see Willow.
Yeah, that's more than likely where they've all gone. Willow would definitely want to see her mom, and I know Lynette would want to hold Willow tight. She's a good mom.
But why the hell wouldn't they send the prospects back to the clubhouse?
I ride the wind toward my dad's house with a smile on my face. I could just scream with laughter right now. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say I was a total psychopath, but there is definitely something inside of me that's not right. How else am I meant to explain this feeling inside of me?
I'm over the fucking moon with the fact I just massacred a warehouse full of men. Killing those six guards wasn't enough for me. I positioned myself and my sniper rifle and shot the few men who were left in that room with my sister and the Snakes.
I know the MC could've handled it, but I am a greedy bitch, I get a blood thirst and I have to quench it until I'm satisfied. If I don't, I become irritable. Makes me sound crazy, but I'm not. I don't go around killing just for the sake of it. Like I said, I do it for justice. Liking what I do, eradicating the filth of this world is a damn service people should be proud of.
I'm not saying you should go out there and be a vigilante, leave that shit to people like me. Or the law if you have enough faith.
There are no bikes outside my dad's place and no lights on inside. Seriously, where the hell is everyone? I pull my cell from the inside of my leather jacket and call Tank. I'm about to end the damn call because he's taking too long to answer, but he does at the last minute.
“Where the fuck are you? And every fucker else for that matter? You were supposed to meet me at the clubhouse!”
“Nova...”
“I've been to the clubhouse and my dad's place, no one's around.”
“Nova,” He tries again but I'm not done ranting at him.
“The fucking plan was that we all meet at the clubhouse, that Shepard would collect Lynette, and...”
“Will you shut the fuck up and listen!” He yells so loudly I'm gobsmacked. Bastard! “Seriously, Nova. We're not at the damn clubhouse because we're at the infirmary at the safe house.”
Typical. One of them had to go and get themselves injured. I expected it if I'm honest. I mean, it's inevitable in those situations.
“Which idiot got himself shot? Don't tell me one of those pussy dogs managed to beat down one of our men?”
“Crack slit Willow's throat, Nova.”
The world suddenly seems very small and cold. We were too late. We should have gone sooner. If Tank had let me look for her sooner none of this would have happened!
No. I can't blame Tank. I should've moved quicker. I should have fired through that window and killed that bastard first. It would have taken me a second, then I couldn't've killed the guards. Willow would still be alive if I had. I did everything the wrong way round!
Oh god, she's dead!
We didn't get to spend enough time together.
We should've spent more time together.
I should have made more of an effort to get to know her. She asked me so many times if I'd like to go for coffee, or shopping for things for Ember because she wanted to treat her niece. I was too busy with other things to go with her.
What the hell was so important that I couldn't spare an hour or two out of my day to be with my sister?
I put by some time for wedding and bridesmaid dress shopping. Lynette, Willow, Tammy, Coral, Tessa, some of the other girls and me, we were all going to spend the day together. Spa, drinks
, dress shopping. We were going to have facials and all that crap that makes a girl feel good. Now we'll never get to do those things. And until this moment, it didn't seem all that important to me.
It's crazy, isn't it, how things seem trivial until they don't. It's crazy how you go about your life day in and day out, letting life pass you by, putting off the things that seem small at the time because there's always something bigger to be getting on with. Only to then go on and wish more than anything that you could go back and make that day happen.
Only when you lose someone special do you pray and beg, like I am right now in my head, for this to be a lie. I'd give anything, do anything to have those moments with my big sister.
I can't go to that place right now. I have a little girl and three younger siblings who need me. Or do I need them? I don't know who my little brothers and sister are with right now, but I know where my baby girl is.
I don't know how I've managed to ride over here without crashing my bike, and I don't remember ending the call to Tank, but it's obvious that I did.
“Is everything okay?” I can't answer Coral, I just rush past her, I need my baby girl.
She's sitting on Coral's floor, playing with building blocks in her little pink sleepsuit. “Mamma!”
I grab her and hold her against my body tightly, kissing her head frantically. I'm so numb, I need to feel something real.
How does a person ever get over something like this?
I've only known Willow a short time, but my heart is broken so badly that I don't know what to do.
How the hell will Lynette cope?
Willow and Lynette have the most amazing relationship, she's going to feel like she's lost half of herself. I don't even want to imagine what it would feel like to lose my daughter. I hold her closer, fighting back my emotions, but it's so hard. So very hard.
“Nova? What's going on?”