no relief came. All I could see in my head was Maddie’s hand in mine. Her lips pressed against mine. Her arms wrapped around mine. And it was all I could see. As I paced, as I treaded the wooden floor, her face was all I could see.
Then I could see her tied down at that church. At that motherfucking church! I could see her screaming in my head. I could see her in pain. And I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t fucking take it!
Then I thought of her gone, gone from my side, and stopped dead. No Maddie in my cabin. No Maddie laying beside me, helping me sleep. And no Maddie holding my hand, stroking my face, singing to me…
Unable to take the feeling gutting my body, I dropped to my knees, and all the fire drained out from my blood.
I rocked back and forth on my knees, my heart aching at the fact that she’d gone. I reached for the knife, but this feeling inside of me was new and I couldn’t cut it out. It wasn’t the flames. It wasn’t something that could be freed by my blade. It was my heart, without her. My heart was dark and empty, without her. And nothing I could do would take this feeling away.
My chest tightened so hard that I felt I couldn’t breathe, then sounds came from my mouth. Sounds I didn’t know.
The room had gone silent but for the sounds coming from me. Then I heard, “Fuck, Flame…. Brother…”
AK and Viking dropped down before me. “Flame. Shit.”
I rocked back and forth, holding my hand over my heart. “She’s gone,” I croaked, looking at my best friends, “And I can’t breathe. In here, is dark and empty, and she’s gone. I can’t get the feeling to go.”
“What the fuck’s going on?” I heard someone ask.
“He’s claimed Madds,” AK said without looking away from me, pulling back his outstretched hand from nearly touching me. “They’re fucking finally together and she’s gone. As you can see, he ain’t handling that shit too well.”
“Fuck me. Flame and Madds?” someone murmured. I looked up to see Ky and Styx approaching.
“She’s mine,” I said and saw Ky nodding his head.
“We know, brother,” he rasped.
“We need to get them back. I need her back. I can’t live without her.”
Styx turned away, his hand gripping the sides of his head and Ky rasped, “I know. I fucking feel the same way. We all fucking feel the same way.” But he couldn’t. They couldn’t. Because he didn’t have the flames. He didn’t have my flames that only Maddie could keep away.
Silence reigned strong, when suddenly Tanner ran into the room.
“What?” Ky said harshly.
“I fucking got them. GPS is off now, probably been destroyed, but it last tracked them about an hour north. Last reading was minutes ago. I checked the map, it’s some fucking ghost town. The signal came from the mill.”
“Shit. It’s the place where we used to make the Russian drop off,” Ky said to Styx, as he looked at the map Tanner held out.
In seconds I was on my feet.
“Wait!” Tank shouted, and I looked back, rocking on my feet. “Could be a fucking trap, Flame.”
“Like I fucking care,” I snapped. “I’m going to get my Maddie. And I got dibs on the fuckers responsible. I want their blood. I want their death on my fucking hands.”
*****
I’d never ridden so fast in my life. My Harley cutting up road like a motherfucking demon.
I could hear my brothers cutting up dust behind me, but I was leading this charge. I gave no shit about club formations and Styx being at the front. All I could think about was Maddie. Wondering if she was hurt. Wondering if she was still fucking there. Wondering if they’d killed her.
My hands shook on my handlebars as I pushed my bike’s speed, but I was close, the main road beginning to give way to the ghost town. The ghost town where she was waiting for me.
The beginnings of derelict empty houses came into view—old houses, stores and churches. The mill was further out. Turning up the gas, I pushed my bike to the limit as I roared down Main Street, then in the distance I saw the outline of the old gray mill.
My heart began pounding as I approached. I slowed, my eyes searching the land for Maddie. Stood there, fucking brazen as hell, were two fuckers dressed in black.