Felicity must have called ahead to warn Raven because she’s already in the driveway with a clean blanket. Bash stands off to the side away from her, but when he sees the look on my face as I slam the door of my car, he rushes forward. “What? What happened? Raven only said that Flick had a girl that was in trouble.”
I don’t answer right away, not sure I can speak through the rage anyway. Instead I open the back of the Jeep and carefully lift the girl, who’s now crying silently. I toss the smoke scented blanket aside and reach for the one Raven offers before wrapping it around my bundle. She buries her face in my chest, hiding her pretty face from everyone’s eyes.
“I know her from my History class,” I hear Felicity explaining to Raven behind me. “She’s so nice. So sweet. And those sick animals …”
“Flick!” I growl at her over my shoulder when the girl whimpers. “Shut the fuck up!”
“Set her on the couch,” Raven says, the nurse that we had made her kicking in. She watches as the girl clings to my neck as I try to release her once she’s safely on the couch. “What’s her name, Flick?”
“Gracie. Gracie Morgan.”
Raven carefully wedges herself between me and Gracie, speaking softly as if to a small animal or child. “My name is Raven, Gracie. I’m here to help you. But I can’t do that if Hawk is in the way. Okay, baby?” Raven gently pries the death grip Gracie has on my neck free, and I step back, reluctantly.
“Go, Hawk. I have to check her over. She won’t thank me if I let you see this.” Raven is still speaking in that soft tone, but I hear the command in it.
Clenching my fists at my side, I walked away while everything inside of me screams that I should stay. Maybe it’s the situation and my hero complex, but I feel an odd link to that girl, and with each step that takes me away from her my heart screams in protest.
Bash is standing just inside of the kitchen doorway, his big body tense and ready for anything. I don’t spare him a glance as I jerk the fridge open and pull out a beer. I feel his eyes on me watching me like a cat about to pounce on his prey. I ignore him. I can’t spare a second of thought for him when my mind is a storm of chaos.
From the living room I can just barely make out my sister’s soft murmurs over the continued sobs of Gracie. Each sob tears something inside of me. If I’d been thinking straight I would have realized that I was hooked even then, because I’ve never let something like this affect me before. I’m an unemotional brother in moments like this, able to turn off everything so I can take care of what needs to get done.
Bash knows that and it puts him on guard even more as he watches me. All his years of being the enforcer have him on high alert, his protective instincts for taking care of his woman—my baby sister—surging toward the red zone.
He waits until I down half the beer before speaking. “What happened?”
I glare out the kitchen window, the scene flashing through my head over and over again. “There were two of them … They were holding her down … Some girl was taking pictures or filming. Twisted bitch.”
Bash mutters a violent curse. “What do you want to do, man? You know we will all back you. I don’t condone that shit and neither do any of the Originals.”
Fantasies of what I want to do to those frat boys, each and every one of them, not just the two that had been hurting Gracie, enter my mind once more. “I’ll let you know. For now let’s just take care of the girl.”
Felicity comes into the kitchen, her face was the palest I’ve ever seen it. Tears glaze her blue eyes and that tears into me. Dammit, she has her own shit to deal with, without adding this to it. “Raven says they didn’t get the chance to rape her,” she whispers as she falls into one of the chairs at the breakfast table.
I relax—if only slightly—relief like nothing I’ve ever felt before flowing through me, and I nearly dropped the bottle of beer. “Well thank fuck for that,” I mutter.
“Those fuckers still need to be taught a lesson. And the girl with the camera … Flick do you know who she was?”
“Yeah,” Felicity bites out with disgust. “It was her roommate. Janice is in my Psychology class on Tuesdays. She is a real piece of work, that one.”
“I want her dealt with,” Bash tells her in a tone that leaves no room for argument. Felicity only nods. “We can’t have these idiots running around this town. How many do you need?”
Felicity clenches her jaw. “I’m sure that Raven and I can handle her on our own. But if we can’t, I’ll ask my mother.”
“Take Colt with you when you do it.”
Raven enters the kitchen, her eyes were wild and her hands shaking ever so slightly as she moves toward the sink to wash her hands. Slowly, she turns to face me. “Other than some pretty ugly bruises, she’s physically alright. Mentally...” she shakes her head “...well that’s another story.”
My jaw aches I clench it so hard. All I can do is nod. Raven touches my arm, soothing me marginally. “She’s asking for you, Hawk.”
That startles me into looking down at my sister. “What?”
“She’s terrified of every little noise right now. You rescued her. In her mind you are the only thing that is safe. Go to her, Hawk.”
I’m not made to be soft. I’m conditioned to be gentle. After being raised by a biker with an entire club behind him to teach me all the things men aren’t supposed to feel, I’m not sure that I can offer that girl anything she needs right now …
But isn’t that what I’d been doing that from the moment I heard her scream? A voice growls in the back of my mind. Something had shifted inside of me and I took care of Gracie even more tenderly than I would have Raven or Felicity. So maybe I can be what she needed right then.
Gracie
I wake up feeling disoriented.
I’m not in my room back at my apartment near school. I realize I’m not even in my own clothes as I shift and feel the soft fabric of the sleep pants my new friend had offered me the night before. With the memories of Raven Hannigan, come the other memories that have haunted me for most of the night, and I bite my lip to keep it from trembling.
My throat aches. I must have really strained it last night with all of that screaming. I’m not much of a crier, but it seems like I cried an ocean full in the last twelve hours. Swallowing my tears, I shift on the comfortable bed …
A groan from behind me makes me freeze, and I slowly turn my head until I see the sleeping face of my avenging angel. I had learned that his name was Hawk Hannigan, and he had saved me without even questioning it. I owe him my life, my very sanity.
The memories of Hawk carrying me upstairs and placing me in his bed float back to me, pushing away the dreadful memories of Brayden and Janice and that blonde guy. He had taken care of me without a single complaint. When I woke in the middle of the night, screaming nearly as loudly as I had when being attacked, he was there soothing me with gentle hands that were so at odds with their size and the noticeable strength behind them.
I had fallen back to sleep with his arms holding me. I can’t remember ever feeling safer in my entire life.
Logic says that I shouldn’t feel so safe with such a man that exudes danger from every pore. After the night before, I should be frightened out of my head of everything male and everything … human, considering that it had been my roommate that set it up. But with Hawk I instinctively know that nothing bad will happen to me.
As if sensing my eyes on him, his eyes snap open. They are an unusual olive-jade color that see into my very soul. The fierce look on his face relaxes and he offers me the smallest of smiles. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay …” My voice is hoarse from the screaming I’d done the night before. “I don’t think I said this last night, but I really wanted to thank you. If you hadn’t been there I … Well I’m sure things would have ended a lot differently.” And that thought will always make me grateful for this man.
“Don’t.” He lifts his hand and traces his fingers over my cheek so tenderly
that I feel fresh tears prick my eyes. “Don’t think about last night. It isn’t worth it. And any decent man would have done the same thing I did.”
“Then I was lucky such a good one was at that party.”
He seems almost embarrassed by my gratitude. I don’t want that so I changed the subject. “I need to get back to my apartment. I should find a hotel to stay in until I can talk to the housing authority on Monday about getting a new room.” There’s no way I’m sleeping under the same roof as Janice ever again. I have some extra money, enough to cover a hotel for a night or two, but I’m going to have to find a job soon to help with my living expenses. My tuition covers my meals on campus, but there are other everyday things that I’ll need to pay for and what’s left over from my inheritance is running out faster than I expected.
“There’s no need for that. You can stay here as long as you need to. Flick and Raven will get everything you need. As for Janice … once they finish with her, you won’t ever have to worry about that sick cow again.”
I frown. “What do you mean? What are they going to do?” Are they going to talk to her? Talking to her isn’t going to make her any less of the demented bitch she is soul deep.
“Don’t worry about it, Gracie. Just give Raven your key and they will get your things.” He sits up, causing the comforter to fall to his waist and showing me that he slept in his jeans all night. Why that disappoints me, I’m not sure. The possibilities are enough to make me blush and shame fills me. I’d nearly been sexually abused the night before and here I am hoping to catch a glance at this blond avenging angel’s man bits?
There’s a brief hard knock on the door before it opens, and in walks a slightly younger version of the man still sitting in bed beside me. “Bash said he wants to know what you plan to do with the frat house. We riding today, or what?’
“I’ll let him know before the end of the day.”
I can’t take my eyes off of the new guy. He has to be Hawk’s brother. They have the same shaggy blond hair and olive-jade eyes. This guy has a slightly leaner build, but I guess him to be at least an inch or two taller than Hawk. When I continue to stare at him, the new guy steps closer offering me his hand. “Hey, Gracie. I’m Colt.”
When I shake his hand, I’m startled to see the tattoo on his left bicep: a diamond with a set of angel wings inside and a halo of fire floating over the top. Air feels like it’s punched from my lungs when I suddenly realize where I am and exactly who I’m with. I’m new to this town, but I’ve heard all about the bikers that run Creswell Springs, California.
Rumor has it that the president of the local biker club had killed a man with his bare hands. He’d been sentenced just a few weeks ago, and everyone on campus has been talking about it since the day that it happened and was all over the local papers. I’ve heard stories of how brutal they are … and how devastatingly sexy they are …
My gaze goes to the man still sitting on the bed. Hawk watches me closely, and I’m trying hard to comprehend that the man that has taken such good care of me is part of a biker gang. “You’re an Angel’s Halo member?” I whisper.
His eyes narrow. “Yes.”
“Are … are you really killers?” Everything inside me protests the question as soon as I utter it, but I need to know. Need his answer before I’m able breathe again.
“No.” His answer is clipped, and I see hurt darken his eyes before he tosses back the covers and stands. “We aren’t killers.”
I bite my lip, knowing that I had hurt him in some way but not sure how to fix it. “It’s just that I’m new around here … and there has been talk about Angel’s Halo being …” I break off, not knowing how I can describe his gang without insulting him even more than I obviously have.
Colt clears his throat, still standing beside the bed waiting on his brother. “Those are just rumors that the university starts to keep the tender footed virgins away from the big bad bikers.”
A blush creeps into my cheeks. I’m a virgin and have obviously been put in my place. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t worry about it.” Hawk’s tone is a little less frosty, but I can still see he isn’t happy from the tension in his shoulders. “Colt, let’s go. Gracie needs to get dressed.”
“Hawk …” I call after him hesitantly as he follows his brother out the door. I hear the curse he mutters under his breath before he turns his head to glance at me over his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” I tell him again.
Chapter 9
Raven
Hawk stomps out of the house without a word to me or Felicity. Colt follows but at least waves as he grabbed his keys to his hog. I frown at my brothers, wondering what’s up with Hawk’s dead eyes. The frat boys must still be weighing on his mind if he’s in that kind of mood.
Felicity gulps down the last of her OJ before washing her glass and turning to face me. “You ready for this?”
Am I ready to stomp some sick cow for setting up a gang rape of a sweet and innocent girl? “Bring it.” I sit down at the kitchen table and pull on my heeled boots. I’m so ready.
By the time I have my boots laced up Gracie is walking down the stairs. I glance up at her as she enters the kitchen. The sweat pants I had lent her seem to be at least a size to big, and she looks pale and bleary-eyed. I don’t normally get all softhearted where other women are concerned, but there was just something about Gracie Morgan.
“Morning, Gracie.” Felicity greets her with a smile. “It’s a bright new day. Let’s take the world by the balls and squeeze.”
A half-smile lifts her lips, but she doesn’t move from the doorway. “I … I think I hurt Hawk’s feelings …” she whispers hesitantly.
That has a smile tilting my own lips. “Hawk?”
Gracie blinks back her tears, chin trembling. “I … Well … I didn’t know that he was … an Angel’s Halo member … and I had heard so many bad things …”
I sigh and push my long blonde hair back from my face. I’m not sure how to handle this one. The women I know are all aware who my brothers are and just how dangerous they can be. Women that chase any member of Angel’s Halo are looking for a walk on the wild side, not someone that’s going to hold their hand or shit like that. “Look Gracie …”
“The guys have a bad rap around here, Gracie,” Felicity tells her before I can even guess at what to say. “I won’t lie to you. They are pretty hard-core, but that’s because they have to be. They aren’t bad guys. And they sure as hell don’t condone rape. Hawk, he’s pretty high up in the club, but he is a really great guy. Don’t judge him from rumors that stupid dickheads started because they just weren’t good enough, brave enough to be part of Angel’s Halo.”
“I know.” Gracie sucks in a shuddering breath. “I realized it as soon as I said what I did. But I trust Hawk … with my life. How do I make up for hurting him?”
“Don’t say stupid shit again,” I say, standing and reaching for the keys to my Challenger. “Hawk will be over it by tonight, but the only way to prove to him that you didn’t mean what you said is to stay loyal to him …” I shoot her a serious look from under my lashes. I may like this girl—shocker—but I don’t let anyone hurt my brothers. If they’re protective of me, then I’m sure as hell protective of them. “And if you do say stupid shit like that again, you’ll have to answer to me.”
“No, I won’t.” Gracie folds her arms over her chest, not seeming to back down from me. That’s a good sign. If she’s scared of me, then she’s not going to last long in this world that we live in. Crazy enough, I think that maybe Hawk wants to keep her around for a while, and I don’t mind it if he does. She might be all innocent and shit, but I see fire deep in her eyes.
“I need your keys.” I hold out my hand. “Felicity and I will get as much of your stuff as we can today and go back for the rest tomorrow.”
After the slightest hesitation, she hands me her keys. “Be careful.”
I can’t stop the evil grin that forms on my lips as I glance over
at Felicity. “Don’t worry about us.” This is going to be fun.
Felicity doesn’t think that we need to take any one else with us and I agree. Between the two of us, we’ll get our point across to that sick cow. Just because we don’t need any other women to help, I still want to play things safe. I jumped out of Felicity’s Jeep as soon as she pulls into the parking lot of Razor’s Ink Shop.
The open sign is off, but I know Spider’s inside. It’s a Saturday morning. At least one of Angel’s Halo’s guys would be in today to get some ink. Although Razor, who was an original, owns the Shop, Spider runs it. He’s the only one I let do my ink, and over the last year he’d become like another brother to me. I feel like I’m as close to him as I am to Felicity.
I tap twice before trying the handle and find the door unlocked, which is exactly what I expected. Only an idiot would try anything with Spider. “Hey!” I call out when I see the front room is empty. “Are you busy?”
“Depends on your definition of busy.” A gruff voice comes from the hall leading to the more private rooms, where discreetly placed tattoos have to be handled. Spider pokes his head around the corner, his eyes narrowing on me. “What you want, kid?”
I lean against the front counter where his computer is already booting up. “I need you for about an hour. Can you come with me and Flick?”
Those black eyes of his narrow even more as he walks toward me. I grin at the monster as he takes his time. I’m not really sure why the club calls him Spider. He only got the Black Widow tattoo on his neck five years ago, and he’s been in the club for at least six. Not many people know that his real name is James or that he has a weakness for Snickers. No one wants to know those things.
All they care about is that he’s a scary looking motherfucker and can destroy you with the flick of his wrist. He’d taken over as enforcer when Bash had left the year before, and no one wants to deal with him any more than they want to deal with Bash, so there’s mostly peace within the club. I let my eyes take all of him in.