Adversaries by T.L. Hodel

Isat on my bike, looking down the hill at the Reaper’s compound. It looked like ours for the most part—same type of buildings and layout. Jax didn’t even have enough imagination to design his own compound. There was one difference, though.

My eyes narrowed on the extravagant three-story house in the center. That was where my brother was. How did I know this? I grew up listening to him talk about how one day, he’d own a house with green shutters and a Kalamazoo Gaucho grill which I so happened to be staring at right now.

There weren’t many guys walking around. I counted four, maybe five, that I’d have to get through. Most were probably still asleep. Jax liked to party. He probably had half the club up all night. I could make it, might get shot on the way, but that was okay. I didn’t plan on walking away.

Flipping open my saddlebag, I checked on the brick of C4 I had stashed inside.

‘Don’t do this, Chase.’

“I have to.” I sighed and looked back to the compound. “It’s the only way to stop him.”

‘No, it’s not. The club needs you.’

Two of my men died in that raid, and now those girls were in danger. No one needed me. I was a curse on this earth. A curse I planned on curing with one last ride.

‘What about Naomi?’

That name caused my brows to pull together. I couldn’t shake our last meeting. The way she was staring at me, with worry shining in her green eyes. It’d been a long time since someone had looked at me like that. But Naomi was strong, she’d be okay.

‘Is she? You heard what her father said.’

“She’s fine.”

At least she seemed fine. She didn’t look broken-up, or say anything about it. Then again, knowing Naomi, she wouldn’t. Besides, there was nothing proving she even heard what her old man said.

‘Of course, she did.’Sam scoffed in the back of my head. ‘Don’t be another person in her life that hurts her.’

I grumbled out a groan and dropped my forehead on the handlebars of my hog. “What do you expect me to do, Sam?”

‘Let me go.’

I sat back on my bike and stared up at the sky. This was the kind of day Sam loved. She’d wake me up all excited with a picnic breakfast ready to go. I used to look forward to those moments when it was just her and me and a clear blue sky. Now, I dreaded seeing that cloudless perfection.

‘It’s okay to be happy. Move on with your life.’

It was the same plea I’d heard countless times over the years. Just like all the other times, I gave the same answer.

“I can’t.”

Before Sam could say anything else, I revved my hog and kicked it into gear. Before I could start my descent, Tanner rolled up, skidding to a stop in front of me.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The purple flames painted on the back of his sled tugged at something in my chest. Riley put those on there. Tanner asked her to do it, not because she was family but because she was damn talented. And she took that shit seriously, spent weeks perfecting the hues and shades.

I could still see her face all scrunched up. If every thirteen-year-old concentrated that hard, school would be a breeze. She was bound and determined to do her best because she didn’t want to let Tanner down.

‘And now you’re letting her down.’

“Do you really think I’m going to let you do this?”

My brow cocked at Tanner’s firm eyes. Let? No one let me do shit.

“Get out of my way, Playboy.” Twisting the gas, I revved in warning. I’d drive right through him if I had to.

A voice called out from behind me. “Not gonna happen.”

Fuck.

I rolled my eyes back to Beast, who was parked behind me with his arms crossed.

“Beast? Really?”

“Yeah, fucking Beast.” Tanner barked back at me, “You’re lucky I didn’t drag Mannix’s ass out that hospital bed.”

He wouldn’t have to drag shit. If Mannix knew what I was planning, he’d ride here with a broken back and one arm to stop me.

“This is the only way.” Jax had to be stopped at all costs. They had to know that. Besides… “I can’t have any more bodies on my hands.”

“Bullshit!” Beast growled. “Those bodies aren’t on your hands. They’re on your brother’s.”

My point exactly. How many more people would Jax kill just to get at me. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want the power our old man gave me, but I took it because I thought it was the right thing to do. Honor his wishes. Look what that got me.

“What am I supposed to tell Riley?” Tanner asked, “Sorry, Chase decided to go kamikaze.”

“Works for me.”

“Great, let the girl lose someone else she loves.”

That was a low blow. Riley lost her mom last year in a car accident. Derek and I decided not to tell her that her mother was drunk at the time. She’d been through enough of that shit growing up.

Neither one of us wanted her to know alcohol won. The girl already blamed herself for her mother’s addiction, thought if she was a better daughter, things would’ve been different.

‘How’s she going to feel if you do this?’

Tanner must’ve sensed my hesitation because he said sighed and said, “Come on, let’s get you home, your woman’s waiting.”

Your woman’s waiting. I liked the sound of that.

What if she ends up like Sam?

An image of Naomi staring up at me with dead eyes flashed across my mind, causing my hands to tighten around the handlebars. Mannix was already in the hospital. Who would be next? Tanner? Beast? Jaz? One ride down a hill, and I could save Naomi. I could save them all.

“Fuck this.” Beast’s growl was the last thing I heard before something hit the back of my head, and everything went dark.

When I came to,we were pulling into the clubhouse. Beast had me strapped to the back of his hog with my face pressed against his back. Which was about ten feet closer than I wanted to be to the fucker.

Tanner nodded at me as we pulled to a stop. “He’s awake.”

“Good,” Beast grumbled and stepped off his hog, “I can slap him around.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face and rubbed away the ache in the back of my head.

“You guys didn’t stop anything. I’m just going to go back out there.”

“Uh-huh.” Tanner folded his arms across his chest, “How are you gonna do that without a bike, genius?”

What did he mean? I looked around, scouring the yard for my hog, but I didn’t see it anywhere. We always brought our brothers’ rides back. It was sacrilege to leave it behind.

“You left it?”

“Nope.” Beast unhooked the rope strapping me to his ride, “We blew it up.”

What?!

I sprang up, going chest to chest with Beast. “You fucking blew it up?!”

Tanner nodded. “Sure did.”

I didn’t know who I was going to kill first. The big fucker giving me the smug smirk, or Tanner. Either way, they were both gonna die.

“He seems pretty pissed,” Beast leaned to look over my shoulder at Tanner. “Funny for a guy that claims to not care about shit.”

“Yeah, Chase, what’s the big deal?” Tanner cocked a brow my way, “You were gonna blow it up anyway.”

“A guy who has nothing to live for shouldn’t care about a bike,” Beast pointed out.

I let out a relieved sigh. They did all this to prove a point. So I might not kill them, just fuck them up a bit.

“Ha, ha, very funny. You proved your point,” I held out my hand. “Now, give me my keys.”

“Oh no,” Beast shook his head, “we blew that shit up.”

My eyes went wide as I glanced from Beast to Tanner, who nodded and mimicked an explosion with his hands.

“It was beautiful,” he said, “there were pieces everywhere. You should’ve seen it.”

My jaw dropped. They were kidding, right? Somebody tell me they were fucking with me.

“Sorry, brother,” Beast slapped a hand down on my shoulder, “you’ve been grounded until further notice.”

With that, they left, leaving me to stand there searching for my bike, which I didn’t see anywhere. Not even a trace that they’d had it brought back.

They actually fucking did it. I couldn’t believe it. I was definitely going to kill them now. I looked at the door to the clubhouse.

And I had just the fucking gun to do it with.

I charged inside and stormed up the steps, taking two at a time. If the goal was to make me forget about my plan, then they succeeded. I didn’t feel any of the determination or urgency I did before.

There was just rage, burning a hot trail through my veins. So much so that I didn’t stop to open my apartment door. I lifted my foot and kicked it in.

‘Calm down, Chase. They were only protecting you.’

“Protecting my ass,” I growled at Sam and threw open my top dresser drawer, where I normally kept my 9mm.

It wasn’t there.

“Where the fuck is it?”

‘You would do the same.’

“No, I wouldn’t.”

I searched the rest of the dresser and still came up empty. Did someone clean up in here? Fuck. Maybe it was in the desk.

‘You’re really going to kill them over a bike?’

“I’m not gonna kill them.” I began rifling through the desk, pulling open drawers and shuffling around papers. “Just shoot them a little.”

They’d survive a leg shot.

‘Don’t you think you’re overreacting?’

“Shut up, Sam.” Never fuck with a man’s ride.

“She’s not here, Chase.”

My back stiffened as I slowly turned to see Naomi standing in the bathroom doorway.

“She can’t hear you,” my jaw ticked, “Sam’s gone.”

“Fuck off, Princess,” I growled and pulled open another drawer. “I’m busy.”

Naomi crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “If you’re looking for your gun, I got rid of it.”

And just like that, my wrath had a new target.