Chapter Two - The Ghost Girl
505 Words
The rumble of engines was deafening.
Evelyn sat rigid between two Vultures on a bike she didn’t recognize, her hands clutching the backrest like her life depended on it—because it just might. They hadn’t blindfolded her, which scared her more. Either they didn’t care if she knew where they lived… or they didn’t expect her to leave alive.
She didn’t speak. Didn’t cry. Just watched the desert blur into a night so black it swallowed her whole.
Her father always said she wasn’t made for this world.
No instinct. No grit. No damn use.
She had believed him.
They rolled into the Vultures’ compound past midnight.
It was rougher than her father’s—more fortified, more modern. Security cameras. Armed lookouts. But strangely… cleaner. Tighter.
Less chaos. These men weren’t savages. They were soldiers.
Someone opened the gate and gave Ronan a short nod. They knew who she was. She could feel it in the silence.
“Put her in the spare room,” he said, voice like velvet over steel. “Don’t touch her.”
Evelyn blinked. That… wasn’t what she expected.
One of the men led her down a long hall inside the clubhouse. It didn’t smell like rot or old whiskey. It smelled like pine. Clean floors. Actual furniture. A bar that didn’t look like a war zone.
The room they gave her had a bed. A real bed. No chains. No dark basement.
Still, she sat on the edge of the mattress and didn’t move.
Obey. Stay quiet. Maybe they’ll forget you exist.
The door opened minutes later, and she flinched instinctively.
But it was him.
Ronan.
He stepped in, slow and calm, like a man who didn’t need to raise his voice to command a battlefield. He didn’t look at her like she was a trophy or a threat. Just… something unexpected.
“You’re Evelyn Graves.”
She nodded.
“Daughter of Reed Graves. President of the Widow Blades.”
Another nod.
He studied her. Really studied her. Not just her porcelain skin and wide blue eyes, or the way her hands fidgeted in her lap like she was ready to be hit. He saw the truth.
She wasn’t one of them. Not really.
“You afraid I’m going to hurt you?” he asked, tone unreadable.
She swallowed. “Yes.”
He stepped closer. She stiffened, but he didn’t touch her. Just looked down at her with a gaze that made her skin heat.
“I don’t hurt women,” he said simply. “Especially not ones who’ve already been broken.”
Her throat closed.
“I’m not broken,” she whispered, though it came out weak. A lie she’d told herself before.
Ronan didn’t argue. He just turned toward the door.
“Get some sleep. You’re safe here… for now.”
And then he left.
Evelyn sat frozen in that silence, heart pounding. For the first time in her life, someone had looked at her like she wasn’t invisible.
And it terrified her more than anything.
- Writer
