BIKER QUEEN AND HER HELLBOUND KING

CHAPTER 18

Grace

“What is that on his neck?” I asked when no one would provide answers.

The air in the room was thick with tension and the tang of adrenaline. The Riders’ faces were all grim in the bright light of the overhead bulbs. Jinx was quiet for once, his usual energy dampened by the discovery of the mark on Bane’s neck.

I stepped closer, my legs almost giving out under me with how much they shook.

Bane’s leather jacket was torn, and his face was a mask of grey, bloodless skin. He looked less human and more beast. His eyes were wide and flat, like two pieces of slate that had been polished smooth.

I gasped at the appearance, but that was not the most shocking sight in the room. It was Bane's neck.

The skin of his neck was charred, but it wasn't a burn from fire. It looked like a brand. The flesh had been seared into the shape of a jagged, circular crest with a hollow center.

“Kent,” I called with a shaky voice and he finally dropped Bane's face and signalled for two Riders to grab him.

“It's the Collector's mark,” he said with a tone calmer than the situation called for.

I tried to move closer to see the mark better but Rook shouted. “Stop! Don't get close”

I hadn't even processed the words when Bane broke out of the Riders' hold and charged at Kent. More riders joined to hold him down and I remained frozen on the spot.

The Collector’s mark was pulsing with a faint, sickly violet light that seemed to be traveling through his veins. Kent hadn't told me about this during all his supernatural lessons.

"He's gone," Kent whispered as Bane snarled and growled, trying to break free.

"What do you mean he's gone? He's standing right there," Jinx said, his voice rising in panic.

"Look at his eyes, Jinx," He said.

As Kent spoke, Bane's mouth opened. A sound came out of him, but it wasn't his voice. It was an unpleasant, buzzing noise that sounded like a thousand insects trapped in a jar, it was the most unnatural thing I had ever heard. His jaw opened further than any human and maybe even any Marked being's should, and the violet light from his neck flared bright.

It was a vibration that seemed to crawl under my skin and vibrate against my own bones. I took a step back, my heel catching on the leg of a chair, but I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"The message is delivered," the voice hissed through Bane's lips.

“What messa—” I started to ask but a Rider shushed me and gave Kent a look.

Kent's jaw tightened. “Grace, you need to get out of here. We will handle the situation.”

"What message?” I repeated, refusing to be left out.

“Now's not the time to be stubborn, Grace.” Kent said sternly, like he was scolding a petulant child. A flare of gold sparked on my wrists.

“I’m already here, Kent. Might as well skip this whole back and forth and tell me what's going on”

Before Kent could respond, Bane’s body suddenly jerked. The Riders holding him were big men, built like blocks, but Bane tossed them aside as if they were made of feathers and he didn't even use his hands. He just surged forward with a strength that was completely inhuman.

Silas hit the wall with a sickening thud, and the others were tossed across the long table, scattering glasses and chairs.

The room erupted, wood splintered and glasses shattered. I scrambled backward, stumbling until my back hit the cold stone wall hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

He didn't go for Kent this time. He turned those flat eyes toward me and a shiver ran down my spine.

"Grace, get back!" Jinx yelled, but he was too far away.

Bane launched himself across the room with a snarl. I didn't even have time to move or scream. I could only throw my arms up to protect my face.

The impact never came.

Kent moved faster than my brain could process. One second he was standing by the table, and the next, he was a blur of dark leather and glowing ink. He intercepted Bane mid-air, catching him by the throat and slamming him down onto the heavy table.

The sound of the collision was deafening. The wood groaned and cracked under the force, but Kent didn't stop there. In one swift movement, both of Bane’s hands were pinned behind him.

Kent looked no different than he had been before the chaos started, but his presence felt different, heavier. The power rolling off him felt like a physical weight pressing me against the wall, it felt ancient and otherworldly.

Bane was thrashing, his jaw still unhinged, and that buzzing noise becoming a frantic screech.

"Stop," Kent commanded. It wasn't like the compulsion he used on me, this was far stronger, every Rider seemed to feel it too.

Bane didn't stop, instead he tried to bite, his teeth snapping inches from Kent’s arm holding his neck.

I heard it then. A sharp, sickening series of cracks. It sounded like dry branches snapping in winter. Kent had reached down and, with a brutal twist, broken Bane’s shoulders. He didn't look angry, he didn't even look stressed. He just did it like it was nothing.

I doubled over, the sound making my stomach flip. I leaned against the cool stone wall and gagged, the bile rising in my throat. I had to press my hand over my mouth to keep from retching.

The shriek Bane let out did nothing to ease my nausea.

Kent leaned down and whispered a word in the strange language and Bane went limp.

There was a dull thud as Bane’s body suddenly collapsed, falling to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. The violet light in Bane’s neck flickered and died.