Page 123 of Praying for Thunder

With Chubs balanced on my shoulder, I pulled the material down to conceal the result of unthinkable violence. “Breathe, Roam. Breathe.”

“M-My dad… He sells… this?”

“Breathe. Breathe.”

“I-I… was able to… Oh, God, shut out the thoughts of it, but holding her—”

I grasped the back of his neck. “Brother, we’re in deep shit. You got my back? I need you.”

That woke the bear in my friend. His body hardened. His nostrils flared. “I got ‘chu.”

“There he is.

Roam and I faced the house, the only place we both had to call home. It felt like a sin against nature to take the victim inside the lion’s den, but the sun was coming up soon. To start a bike or car, all our sacrifices would be in vain. To get caught on the streets with an abused little girl was a no-win situation, for any biker. And, if neighbors saw us, they would call the police, making the last two years of my life—without Rya—for nothing.

I’ll never give up.

⚡⚡⚡

By the time I was laying Chubs on our couch, Tabi was already unbinding the child’s wrists and ankles. Roam had laid her on our bed. He was now in the bathroom, wetting a cloth and collecting towels. When Tabi went for the material tied around the child’s mouth, I quickly whispered, “Babe, loosen it, but we need it to stay until she believes she’s safe with us.”

Being gagged wasn’t an encouraging first step toward building trust, but it was better than Onus putting a bullet in her head after hearing a girl scream from our room.

My little agent was trembling, nodding her head, tears streaming. I left Chubs on the couch and went to her. Crouching next to her on the bed, I promised, “We’ll do everything we can to help her.”

Onus had always been very cautious with club business, but over the last couple of years, he’d been even more so. So secretive, not every patched member knew the locations of the girls. Including me. Weatherman had even been shut out.

Tabi’s team—no one I got to meet, and who she rarely saw—had been so frustrated, getting word that another ‘batch’ had slipped through our fingers. But it’s easy to judge from afar. Until you try to live with an MC who abides by no morals, you have no idea of the everyday survival we were striving for. Then, to dare and poke and try to discover things this MC didn’t want anyone knowing? It was like walking on hot coals while adding gasoline to try and hide your trail.

Impossible. Not only was our skin burning, but every step was a blaze of fire for Titans to see.

In Tabi’s real life, a very safe life that she had sacrificed, she let her apartment go, kept her fake identity, and never contacted family members.

Her commitment to me somehow shifted Onus’ view of me; I was patched in without Piercer’s vote. Not that it got us any closer to saving kids.

Tabi’s wet eyes fell on the child in our bed. “She’s in such bad shape.”

The sun was starting to light the sky as I grabbed her hand. “We’re finally getting somewhere. Keep fighting with me.”

Tabi sharply inhaled, staring at me. “You’re right.”

She kissed me, hard, then wiped under her eyes. “I’ll reach out for help as soon as it’s safe.”

“There she is.” I beamed at this woman and her selflessness.

She dabbed a washcloth on the child’s face. “This poor baby.”

I thought of my Ani, and the incredible woman she became after such abuse. “She’ll find her way, Tabi. If we get her out alive, there’s hope.”

By the time Chubs woke, the girl was still out cold. The smell of breakfast was wafting under the door, but none of us had an appetite. The sounds of bikers waking and coming into the Mess Hall had me on high alert and nervous as fuck, and speaking my thoughts out loud, “We need to stay alive and buy time and privacy until we can get her out of here.”

Chubs appeared so defeated sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed holding the child he had rescued. “I shouldn’t have brought her here, but… I just…” He looked up at me standing in front of him. “I just kept hearing… ‘run to Thunder’.”

Air escaped my lungs. The Voice. That is what it told me when in a nightmare of fire. I was told to run to—

Dio…

Eighteen years old—far from being a man of pure wisdom—I squatted in front of Chubs. “You did the right thing.” Dio had only been in his early twenties when I entered his life, yet he stepped up to the plate. “Always come to me.” Maybe he heard voices of his own. Either way, I was going to be a sturdy pillar for those I loved. “Got it?” With a curled arm, I held out my hand, wanting him to wrap his around it. When he did, I pulled him forward and hugged him with my other arm. “Chubs, I couldn’t be prouder of you than I am at this very moment. You saved her.”