Run From Me (Barbed Wire Hearts #2)

30. Calliope

THIRTY

calliope

So far, so good, if my stomach twisting and turning was a good sign. I pushed through the doors of the morgue and was greeted with the scent of death and one of the assistant coroners wrist deep in some drowning victim. I waved but kept myself quiet as he recorded his findings.

I quickly headed to the office, my heels making more noise than I’d like. I slipped them off and sent a silent apology to my coworker.

A few more steps, and I could see the box I was looking for. I pulled out the bag, and there it was. The same mask.

The metal of my purse clinked on the desk as I set it down so I could get a photo of the mask. It had come in on the mayor. Not on his face, but in his pocket. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I didn’t believe in coincidences.

I blew out a breath and put the bag back into the evidence box and headed out into the morgue. The car would be waiting, I’d given him a lot of extra money I didn’t have, but I needed to help Xander and the Spectors find answers. So much for working for the law. I knew how corrupt our police were. Maybe this was the better of the evils.

I’d made it almost to the exit when the café style doors swung in, and I fell back trying to avoid getting my face smacked.

“What the hell?” I said, and the other coroner dropped something metal behind me, no doubt just as surprised.

We didn’t have families this late without some kind of crazy emergency and normally the cops waited for reports to hit their desks.

When I saw the gun pointed at my face though, I knew this wasn’t anything good.

“Who are you?”

The guy pulled down his shirt collar to show me the Viper tattoo on his collarbone, and my heart sank.

“Seems like a lot of our boys are going missing around you, and it’s like you seem to think you have some kind of freedom to choose your alliances.”

I took a few steps backward, trying to reach for any kind of weapon from a metal tray to a rogue bone saw. Nothing.

“Excuse me, the morgue is closed. I just called the police. I’d leave if I were you,” said my coworker. I appreciated his efforts and almost felt some kind of relief, but I knew nothing good was going to happen next, and I was right. The guy shot him. I didn’t see the body nor the hole, just heard the thud as his body hit the table, or maybe it was straight to the floor.

“You can’t go around killing coroners,” I said.

The guy with the gun pointed it back at me.

“We won’t shoot you, sweetheart. We will, however, make sure you understand who you’re loyal to. Ripple let you have too much leash. Our boys will make sure all that pretty little fight in you is wiped the fuck out.”

Cold seeped into my skin. My hands shook without me even realizing it, so even if my brain hadn’t caught up, my fear sure as shit knew something bad was coming my way.

Another guy came in from behind him with zip ties.

“Hold your wrist out, bitch.”

It took a second, but I got the mace out of my purse, and as I reached my wrists forward, I was able to spray not only the guy with the zip ties, but the guy with the gun. It was enough that I got out the doors and up the stairs. I just needed to get to the car. Except I didn’t that far.

I gagged and coughed the second my neck hit someone’s arm.

“Hey, gorgeous. Eager to get your punishment going?”

My eyes watered as I caught my breath.

I barely got the words out, but I did all the same. “Fuck you.”

The guy grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.

“Nah. With all the hell you’ve caused us? We’ll be fucking you. Just wait until we get you back to the boss's house.”

My bag of tricks was pretty well empty, but I still tried to slam my wrist up and get the guy in the nose. Even as I heard a crack though, someone else was right there to hold me.

“I… you don’t know who you’re messing with.”

There were too many chuckles for me to know how many of the Vipers were here. Despite all my sarcastic comments, this was not the right time to be me. For the first time in a long time, my fear crippled me. It was like the night they’d taken me all over again.

This time though, I really had something to leave behind. Someone. I’d mourned the loss of my freedom last time. Tonight the idea that I’d be breaking my promise not to hurt Xander, that’s what hurt. I’d been stupid. I’d wanted to show them what? That I could be part of their family and be helpful, not just some pussy.

A nervous laugh found its way out of my chattering teeth. All this time, he’d told me I was enough. Xander never wanted me just for my job, and here I was, thinking I was playing Nancy Drew. Like they would be all excited I made a connection with someone at their party.

“What are you laughing at, bitch? I can wipe that smile right off your face by telling you just how we plan to break you.”

His breath made my stomach turn. Sour onions and tobacco. I would forever remember that scent combination as he licked up my neck. Someone else grabbed my hands and tied them together. The restraint was so tight my wrists instantly hurt.

“Stop it. Please. I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

There was laughing again. There might have been at least five guys?

My eyes stung, and shit. Now was the time my tears decided to come back? I didn’t cry. I couldn’t cry, except, apparently, I could.

“We never asked you to piss off the Spectors. Who the fuck do you think you are? Don’t think we don’t know they’ve been sniffing around your cunt.”

I sucked in a breath. Police. My coworker had called the police. Even if they were corrupt, the odds were they were more team Spector than Viper. At least I could hope.

“What my cunt does is not your business. It’s not my fault they came around.”

The dress wasn’t right for a kidnapping, and the cold night air at least helped numb my skin as someone else came around behind me.

“What your cunt does will be our business. No more protection from Ripple, since he seems to have disappeared. We know you were with the guys at the rigged fight too, and somehow, they’re dead. You need to know your place.”

His hand slid down the dress, and I gasped as he pressed his hand against the V of my thighs.

My phone rang and rang and rang and it wasn’t lost on me nor the Vipers.

“Who is that? Let’s see.”

The call came up as X, thanks to Xander’s very basic settings.

“Who’s X, bitch?”

Another guy held the phone up to my ear. “Say hi, sweetheart.”

“X—”

Someone hit the side of my head, and for a few brief seconds, the lights were brighter than they should have been.

“Xander,” I cried out, hoping he’d hear me over the phone wherever it was, but it was useless.

Someone punched me in the stomach and all my air whooshed out, leaving me wheezing.”

The guy walked away with my phone and all hope was gone as they started to drag me away from the building. I fought and fought, but my feet were bare and there were too many of them trading off. Too many hands on my skin. Too many groping me and too many forcing me into the car.

A buzzing sound filled my ears, and for a moment I thought maybe I was going crazy, but no. That was the sound of motorcycles. Not many, but some. The roar of the engines was close. Maybe two or three? I just prayed it was the Spectors.

“Fuck, they’re blocking the exit,” I heard someone say.

“Just get her in. We’ll run them over if we have to.”

I tried to scream, but a hand clamped over my throat and I gagged instead.

More bikes could be heard in the distance. I couldn’t tell for sure, but by the sound of it, they seemed to be going well beyond the speed limit. It had to be the Spectors. It had to be, because if it wasn’t, well, I couldn’t think that way.

Life was cruel, but I refused to let myself think that just when I’d finally found something good, it would be ripped away.

“Fuck, there’s more of them,” I heard someone say from the car.

The fingers against my throat pinched. I struggled to breathe, and I kicked out of instinct. My foot connected with something or someone, and the guy behind me let me go. I coughed and my eyes watered as I caught my breath.

No one was stopping me from righting myself at least, and I could finally see out of the windshield.

I could see the headlights of at least a dozen bikes, and then one pulled through the lot of them. I watched as the lights illuminated him from behind as he got off the bike. He was nothing but a silhouette, but it was a silhouette I would have none anyway.

His gait, the width of his shoulders, and the way he held up a middle finger? It was my Xander.

“Xand—” tThe guy behind covered my mouth and cut off the word again.

All I could do was watch.

The guy took off his helmet as he walked closer.

“Where is she?” I heard the familiar voice call out.

“Who? The whore you think you have some kind of claim on? She’s ours. You go about your business, and we’ll go about ours.”

The car rocked as something large hit the front of it.

“Shit, they just shot him,” said the guy holding my mouth shut.

“There’s more of us than there are you. I’d let her go,” called out Xander, his voice closer this time.

The guys around me were swearing, and finally someone yanked me backward, my ass meeting the pavement when my hands couldn’t reach out and catch me.

“Get up, bitch. I’m not dying for some shitty pussy.”

This time I heard the silenced bullet as someone shot closer to me, and the body in front of us hit the open door and fell to the pavement.

“Call her shitty pussy again, I dare you.”

The guy had me in front of him like a shield. I should have been worried, or maybe just frustrated, but when I saw how close Xander was now, I got a boost of confidence.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now, Viper dumbasses,” I taunted.

The hard object to the side of my temple though? That ruined the rest of the show, and I saw nothing but black as I slouched in an asshole's arms.