BIKER QUEEN AND HER HELLBOUND KING

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Grace

Kent called for a meeting towards evening. Before then, I hadn't caught even a shadow of him all day, so it was a surprise when Jinx came looking for me because Kent had asked for my attendance despite it being a Riders meeting.

I knew it was an emergency meeting the moment I saw Jinx's face, he looked unhappy and more quiet than usual. He had the look he usually got when he had information he wasn't supposed to share.

"Kent's called everyone in," he had said, dropping onto the stool beside me at the bar. "Full table."

"What does that mean?"

"It means something happened that's bigger than what we suspected last night." He picked up my cup of soda and drank from it without asking. "He told you what happened on the ward last night, right?” He asked, setting the cup down. It was empty.

I nodded, glaring at him before filling the cup back up.

“He mapped them this morning. They weren't random."

"What do you mean they weren't random?"

"I mean they were coordinated," Jinx said, fingers inching towards my cookies. "Two points simultaneously, on opposite sides of the ward. That's not a scout bumping into a boundary. That's someone testing the strength of the ward."

I slapped his hands before he could grab one. "And Kent is telling the Riders this now?" It was almost evening, why did he wait this long?

"Well, Kent is telling the Riders something now," Jinx said, with a careful emphasis that told me those were not the same thing. He slid off the stool. "Don't be late. I have to go now. Stay out here and don't do anything that will make Rook's eye twitch."

"Too late for that," I said, but he was already walking away.

I stayed at the bar and stared at my snacks with my appetite already gone. I forced myself to eat the rest of it before going to look for the venue.

The Riders meeting was happening in the back room of Venom, the one with the heavy door that I had assumed was a storage room until I noticed it was always either locked or guarded and never both at the same time.

I couldn't understand why Kent would want me there, but I didn't question it. I could hear voices but not words, which was deeply frustrating as I couldn't gauge the atmosphere from outside. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

I was instantly hit with deja vu. It felt like the night I had stumbled into Venom covered in blood. All eyes turned to me and the room instantly became silent.

I ignored the stares and took an empty seat. Everyone was seated round a long rectangular table that looked like it had been used since before I was born.

I could tell they wanted to ask what I was going in there, but Kent didn't send me out, so they all held their tongue.

I rested my arms on the table and looked towards Kent, giving him a smile that said carry on.

"The perimeter didn't just flicker," Kent started talking.

"It was tested. They tried to find a weak spot last night, the next time they come, they'll try to break in. We need to be prepared.”

There were instant murmurs all around the table.

"It's because of the girl, isn't it?" one of the Riders, a man named Silas, asked. "We've all felt it, Boss. The air has been humming since she got here. I don't know what she is but her power is putting us in danger.” He spoke to Kent as if I wasn't sitting right there in the room with him.

"She is powerful, and she is under my protection," Kent said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "That is all you need to know about what she is. Our job is to ensure that the Collector does not get his hands on her."

"Is it just about her, though?" Jinx asked, looking up. "The reports from the scouts say the neighboring territories are going dark. It’s not just Grace they’re after.”

I tried to catch Kent's eyes and he looked away, he must have seen the shock written all over my face. I wasn't aware that the Collector wasn't after just me.

“What do you mean by that, Jinx?” I asked and all eyes turned to me again. I ignored them once more.

"I told you,” Kent answered instead, addressing me directly. “The Collector goes for any Marked being with significant uniqueness”

He did tell me, I couldn't hold that over him. I hadn't really taken the Collector seriously but maybe it was a big deal like Kent had been saying.

“The Collector isn't just looking for a prize," He continued. "He’s been harvesting. Over the last three states, he’s wiped out entire bloodlines. He’s taking the Marked, draining them, and moving on. Velmore is a stronghold, but we are not invisible anymore. Regardless of Grace, the war is coming to this border. She just happens to be the prize that would end it all in his favor."

"So what's the plan?" Another rider whose name I had forgotten asked. "We can't just sit here and wait for them to find a way through the ward."

"We strengthen the patrols," Kent said. “And we prepare for a siege. If the Collector wants what’s inside these walls, he’s going to have to walk through me to get it." When he spoke like that, something in my chest moved in a way I was trying hard not to think about.

"And if the ward fails?" another Rider asked.

"The ward won't fail as long as I'm standing," He was staring right at me, and I maintained eye contact and gave him a genuine smile. The way his face morphed in shock almost made me laugh. This was the first time I had smiled genuinely since I came to Velmore and I was smiling at him. I was just as surprised as he was.

Our staring match was broken when a chair scraped hard against the floor and Rook got up. I was expecting him to come at me like he did earlier that morning but he stared right at the door and said, “Something is coming”

Everyone got up and turned towards the door, the atmosphere suddenly sharper. I didn't have time to process the fact that every single man in the room had materialised a weapon of some kind from seemingly nowhere when someone or rather, something flew into the room. The heavy doors shattered like glass with the force at which whatever it was had flown into the room.

I screamed and jumped, running to the end of the room, away from the creature.

Two riders ran through the ruins of what used to be a door, looking like they had just gotten out of a brutal fight.

"Bane?" Jinx said, stepping forward. The creature was a Rider or used to be one.

Bane didn't answer. He walked into the center of the room with a jerky, mechanical gait. He stopped a few feet from the table and just stood there, his arms hanging limp at his sides. He didn't seem to recognize where he was or who we were, he didn't seem to feel pain despite just breaking down the doors and slamming onto the concrete floors.

"Hey, man, what happened? Where's the rest of your unit?” Jinx tried stepping closer but Rook stopped him.

The two riders who had followed right behind bane were panting, frantically explaining the situation to Kent. I couldn't hear them from where I was standing and also because my heart was beating so loud in my own ears.

"He's in shock," Silas muttered, reaching out to touch Bane's shoulder.

"Don't touch him," Kent commanded.

He walked toward him, and reached out, forcefully tilting Bane’s head to the side.

Everyone in the room let out a gasp. Everyone except me, I didn't know what I was looking at, but the reactions of the riders told me it was very bad.