Blade (RBMC: Dallas, TX #4)

Chapter Seven

“WakeUp”—ThreeDaysGrace

W hen I closed the door, the dam on my tears opened. Rushing down the porch steps, I almost fell. Through a blurry landscape, I stumbled as I tried to orient myself. I was surrounded by the small cabins that I remember cutting through to get to Sage’s house.

At a brisk walk, I passed each one searching for the gravel path that cut through and went back to Sage and Raptor’s.

Two more cabins and I found it.

“I can’t believe I was so stupid,” I muttered to myself as I sniffled. Though Sage had warned me, when Blade acted like he had, it hurt. It made me question whether I was doing the right thing or not.

“You’re not stupid,” I heard behind me, and I shrieked and spun around.

My heart was slamming against my ribcage, and I slapped my palm to it as if I could slow it down. “You scared the shit out of me,” I gasped out.

The man sat on the porch of the cabin next to the path. His feet were propped up on the railing and he was smoking a joint. He tilted his head as he studied me.

“Do I know you?” I asked as my brows pinched in the center.

“Probably not,” was his cryptic reply.

When he didn’t say anything else, I shuffled my feet nervously and prepared to go to Sage.

“He’ll come around. But are you prepared to take the dark with the light?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Blade,” he simply replied as he stared into my eyes like he was reading my mind. Then I wondered if he’d seen Blade drag me to his cabin.

The crunch of the gravel from the opposite direction drew my attention. Sage was making her way up the path coming from the clubhouse. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Gator, knock it off,” Sage snapped as she walked down the pathway toward me. Her skin was a beautiful bronze, and her light brown hair was piled on her head. Several strands had worked their way free and fell down to softly frame her face. She smiled at me, though from the way her gaze locked on my eyes, then trailed down my face, I knew she could see I’d been crying. “Hey, girl. Were you coming to see me?”

“Yes, are you busy?” I tried to sound like my heart wasn’t actually cracking like it was.

“Since the kids are all with Raptor’s family for the week, I’m actually quite free and open for some girl time.” She gave me a brilliant grin and I couldn’t help but return it.

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Sounds good.”

As we walked away, I glanced over my shoulder to find Gator watching us walk away. I shivered at the intensity of his gaze.

As we made our way to Sage and Raptor’s we walked in a comfortable silence.

Raptor was shrugging on his cut when we entered the home.

“Hey, baby, I got an unexpected run but I should be back tomorrow. We’re just heading down south to… deal with some business.” The look they shared told me they had an unspoken language that was unique to the couple. It made me long for a connection like theirs and I wondered if I’d ever be able to get Blade to come around and if I’d survive the process.

Sage stood on her tiptoes to kiss the insanely tall man. I tried not to stare. “I’ll walk you out.”

Hand-in-hand, they walked out onto the porch, closing the door as they did. Through the window, I could see them talking as Sage ran her fingers lovingly through the ends of his hair. The soft smile he gave her, and the way one hand cupped her denim-clad butt cheek as they spoke, made my heart ache.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he held her close before kissing the top of her head. When she lifted her chin to stare up at him, he lowered his head and passionately kissed her.

Feeling like I was intruding on an extremely private moment, I turned away and plopped on the couch. I grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to my chest.

It wasn’t long before she came back in and sat in the chair facing me. An excited light twinkled in her eyes. “Wanna do mani-pedis?”

“That sounds divine.”

She clapped her hands and jumped up. Her phone rang and she answered it as I assumed she went to gather whatever we needed. When she got back, she had her arms full. I jumped up to help.

“Thanks,” she said as we set everything down on the coffee table. “Sloane, Phoenix’s ol’ lady, and Ember, Ares’s ol’ lady are coming over too.”

“Oh,” I nervously replied. Meeting new people was hard for me.

“You’ll love them, I promise,” she assured me. She held up a bottle of wine and two glasses with a questioning expression.

“Lordy, yes please.” I made grabby hands toward her offering.

Sage pampered me by preparing my foot soak before she did her own. “You didn’t have to do that,” I assured her, but she only shrugged.

“I don’t mind. I want you to be able to relax and feel at home. Now, while we’re waiting for the girls to arrive, what happened with you and Blade?” We both were sitting on the couch, with our wineglasses in the armrest holders she had flipped down in the center.

I heaved a heavy sigh. “It was a disaster.”

Concern wrinkled her brow. “Elaborate,” she encouraged.

So, I did. By the time I was done, she was practically wincing.

“I’m so sorry. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but he didn’t need to be such a prick,” she grumbled.

“What’s the problem? Is it me? Does he think I’m not good enough?” My heart and stomach dropped like I’d hit a dip in the road. I’d worked so hard to get myself in a healthy mindset and move on with my life. Though I’d been doing really well, that did a number on my progress.

“Oh, babe, no,” she assured me as she gently gripped my arm.

“Then what is it? Do you know?”

“I know some of it, but that’s not my business to share. I’m so sorry.”

My shoulders drooped. “It’s okay. I respect you for keeping his secrets. That’s loyalty and it’s rare.”

“I’ll talk to him and see if I can get anything out of him,” she whispered conspiratorially, causing me to smile.

“I appreciate that. But don’t cause issues in your friendship for me.”

“Psh!” she scoffed. “Our friendship has withstood a helluva lot worse than that. I’ll see what I can do.”

Sloane and Ember arrived as we were painting our toenails. Sage was right, I loved them. They were both sweet and funny.

Sage cranked up the music and the wine was flowing.

By the time we had all painted each other’s fingernails, we were all a bit tipsy. Okay, a lot tipsy. I had to blink a few times to clearly see the empty bottles that were scattered around the living room.

We all laughed, and Sage cut the music.

“You girls might as well crash here since the guys are all gone,” Sage slurred.

Giggles filled the room as we all agreed. I was staying in one of the guest rooms in the clubhouse and probably could’ve made it back just fine, but the thought of being alone depressed me. It was also dark out and if my guess was correct, pretty late.

A phone started to vibrate, and they were all looking for their phones when another phone started vibrating. Then another.

“What the fuck?” Ember drawled as they all exchanged glances, then they scrambled to locate their devices.

“I missed several calls from Phoenix,” Sloane told us with a frown.

“Ares was calling me too,” Ember added.

Startled, Sage looked up from her screen.

Sloane answered first, then Sage, finally Ember. All I could hear were voices on the other line, but they sounded slightly panicked. I hoped it was my imagination, but the way the girls all stared at each other wasn’t comforting. Sage focused on me, and I grew antsy.

“I’ll keep her with me.”

There was a knock at the door and Sage got to her feet. To her credit, she barely swayed as she hurried to answer it. “Yeah, he’s here now. Just be careful. We’ll be okay. I love you.”

She ended the call and swung the door wide to let an older guy in. He had a longer salt-and-pepper beard and was wearing a ball cap and an RBMC T-shirt. “Hey, One Short. Raptor and the boys just called us.”

He gave a curt nod. “With Rhino and Tigger up in Iowa now, Torque and I are the only ones here, but we have everything secured. If you need anything, call. If the phones have issues, use the radio. Raptor has a few of his kin on the way.”

“I know,” Sage assured him. “Thank you.”

“Ladies,” he said as he dipped his chin. Then he left and she locked the door before going around and checking the locks on the windows.

“What’s going on?” I asked, unable to wait any longer to find out what was happening.

Sloane was walking through the house with her hands out waving slowly and murmuring something I couldn’t understand. Every so often she stopped and made what appeared to be symbols on the door and window frames with her finger.

There were a few soft thuds from outside, and I whipped my attention to the window. My jaw dropped at the three large hawks sitting on the railing of Sage and Raptor’s porch.

“They’re friends,” Sloane softly assured me. All I could do was blink. Giant birds were “friends?”

“There’s been an uh… accident.” Sage stood there with her arms crossed tightly and hands holding her sides. The other two gave her sharp, startled looks that didn’t set my mind at ease.

My blood ran cold. “What kind of accident?”

Sage looked shaken and swallowed hard. She started to speak, but her lip quivered, and she choked up. I rushed to her, and she held me tight. I made eye contact with Ember as Sloane continued whatever the hell she was doing.

“Several of the RBMC chapters were attacked,” Ember quietly murmured.

Chills skated over the surface of my skin.

“Ankeny?” I asked with a wobbly voice. Sage whimpered.

Ember nodded and Sage quietly cried into my shoulder.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked finding it suddenly hard to breathe. For three years that had been my home. The members and their families had become my friends. More like family if I was being honest.

“No,” Ember whispered.