Burn for Me, Devil Rider

She Was Supposed to be Dead

Nyla Pov...

"D-Don't!" The word barely escaped my lips but it was too late! Because the moment Dominic looked at me like that, like he knew something and clawed back everything I buried to the surface.

And for Reagan! I know he felt it too. I saw the shift in his eyes when the moment of curiosity turned into something darker and not just darker but dangerous.

Dangerous for me...

"It's too late for that now!" Dominic grinned. His voice wasn't loud but everyone in the room was already silent, waiting and watching intently. They already sense blood dirtying the air. The chaotic room of laughter, conversation and clicking of glasses was gone.

So this is how they worked! No need for barking orders just strictly vigilant.

"She is not Nyla or just a Nyla looking for a drink!" Dominic repeated and walking closer.

I wanted to run. I really do want to run but I didn't come here to just f*****g run like a coward. I don't have anything to lose, just my goal before everything fall apart. I came here to finish what they started even if it meant the end of me.

This time Reagan moved fast. One second he was across me sitting and next he was towering next to me, demanding and terrifying enough to suck your breath gasping.

"Look at me woman!" He almost growled, but controlled yet it was terrifying. I didn't want to but I did it anyway and that's the second mistake because the moment our eyes locked, I knew there was no hiding anymore or backing off.

"I'll ask again! Who are you?" The tone was a last warning, even though he didn't raise his voice. The control was barely hanging on. I could be in pieces any moment. I swallowed hard and felt my chest tighten, barely breathing like a hand was wrapped around my throat.

"You don't want the answer to that!" I whispered.

"Then try me!" He said without hesitation and no mercy, just the truth, whether I was ready or not and Dominic exhaled softly, almost like he was savoring this moment.

"You really don't recognize her?" Dominic asked Reagan. He didn't lose his focus on me still looking at my face. "Quit playing games now I am not interested." He barked for the first time. Dominic tilted his head slightly and sighed, "

"Cruz!" The name hit the air like a bullet but Reagan didn't budge. It takes another minute before he shifts remembering the name. Of course, everyone knew how the Cruz family was erased in this universe.

Years ago, they were executed, burned and today nothing about them exists besides me.

"No!" He said as realization hit him harder and his eyes darkened, heavy and unforgiving grit. I closed my eyes and whispered too late!

"Yes Reagan!" Dominic said softly. "The Cruz Family in Downtown City." When Dominic said that, I opened my eyes but Reagan looked at me differently, not with curiosity or interest, but far from dangerous.

"Say it!" He demanded with my face inches away from his. I shook my head, couldn't. Not like this and not in front of these people. If I want to settle the score with him it should be the two of us. With his men together, I have no luck.

"Say it now..." He said. His voice cracked a bit enough to break something inside me.

"My name is..." I started but my voice trembled despite everything I had built to come this far. I took a deep breath and managed to say, "Nyla Cruz!"

Silence erupted, and it's absolutely deadly. No one moved or speak because everyone knew exactly what it meant. The buried name wasn't just buried! That's why I am here.

He stepped back and said. "You were dead!" It wasn't a question but a fact he had believed for years.

"I was supposed to be..." I said conquering my fear again and just like that, the past came rushing in.

FLASHBACK

Fire.

The first thing I remember is not the screams and blood. It was the fire that swallowed everything in just a night. The massive fire that swallowed my favorite, my loving family and memories. I was just sixteen back then, too young to understand power.

"Honey stay hidden." It was my mother's voice so urgent and terrified. She pushed me into a narrow space beneath the floorboards. Her hands were shaking as she pressed her palm on my cheeks, retraining her tears.

"No matter what you hear, don't come out!" She instructed clearly.

"Mama..." I cried.

"Promise me honey."

Tears blurred my vision as I agreed. I heard everything, every gunshot knocking on my eardrum, every scream and desperate plea. Then comes the deafening silence and I don't know how long I stayed there. Maybe minutes, hours or longer but I managed to crawl out alive and there I saw my favorite world collapsed as bodies were everywhere. My mom, my father, and my only brother were broken and burned, while on the other side, standing were men, bikers and their vests marked with a symbol I will never forget.

Black Vultures.

And in the middle of the tall men standing like he owned the world was Reagan Vallenti. The image of him never left me, not once, not when I tried to bury it and not even when I rebuilt myself from ashes. From that moment on I made the purpose of living to avenge them.

PRESENT

"You were there that night!" My voice was barely steady looking at him. He didn't speak or move but was silent.

"You watch them burn!" I continued fighting my emotions. The room felt suffocating with truth, accusations and truth, but Reagan is not reacting to what I am expecting instead he is confused.

"I don't remember that..." The words hit me like a slap.

"You don't-"

"Stop!" His tone hardened, not cruel but firm like he was holding down something that doesn't make sense.

"I would remember something like that."

My hands clenched. "You think I will forget watching my family die just like that?"

"What I am saying is there's something wrong." He snapped before I could respond Dominic intervened. "Or maybe you just don't want to remember." He said and Reagan's jaw tightened.

The tension between them is louder than what I came for. Watching them and Dominic closely, I realized something terrifying. This is not just about me anymore. It's messier and more twisted than I thought.

Reagan now looked at Dominic, not with trust but suspicion and Dominic smiled slightly with satisfaction as if this was exactly what he wanted to be.