Page 37 of Blade

There was a loud knock on the door, and she jumped.

“Shhh,” I hushed her, and she rested back on my chest. “It’s okay.”

“Blade! We need you in the chapel.” It was Gator. I wasn’t gonna ask how they knew where I was—fuckers seemed to know everything.

“Roger that! I’ll be there in a minute,” I replied. Then I kissed the crown of her head. Reluctantly, I got out of the bed. I gently covered her with the comforter that had ended up on the floor and got dressed.

Though she didn’t say anything, her dove gray eyes watched me.

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised as I shrugged my cut on.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as I opened the door.

I paused and glanced back at her. “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for. But we need to talk when I get back. Okay?”

She didn’t look too thrilled with the idea, but she nodded.

Leaving her after that was one of the hardest things I’d had to do. I didn’t understand why she made me feel things I hadn’t felt in forever. Three years ago, I would’ve told someone I was truly dead inside. Then she showed up after her rescue and everything changed.

Torque was walking toward the chapel, so I waited for him and we went in together. We took our seats.

Raptor cleared his throat. “I have an announcement.”

We all waited.

“The members that are still with Ankeny, are on their way here. I spoke with Hawk about an hour ago. Three of the members had their houses set on fire last night after the clubhouse attack. In the wee hours of the morning, someonetorched the hog farm.” He dropped that bomb and everyone in the room had to pick their jaws up off the table.

“They don’t want anyone watching the clubhouse to know they are headed here, so Squirrel was up all night ‘transferring’ their important items and some clothes into a trailer he had stashed down in Des Moines. They are going to be leaving one at a time in various directions. Snow with the DSMC is helping the best he can as well. As you know, he was good friends with Venom,” Gator explained from his seat next to Raptor.

Fucking hell, it was a good eleven-hour drive from there to here. With that many brothers, and their families, it was going to be an ordeal to keep their destination a secret.

“How long will they be here?” I asked, my brain already plotting and planning.

Raptor met my gaze. “I don’t know. They’ve lost almost everything, and they don’t feel their families are safe up there for the foreseeable future. It could be a week, it could be a year, who knows.”

“Where are we gonna put them all?” One Short asked. I’m sure it was the question many of us were thinking.

“My family is loaning us a bunch of RVs and fifth wheel campers. It will work for a while until we figure out the plan moving forward. There are a few empty cabins at my family’s ranch if need be,” Raptor replied.

“I’d rather they were here. It would make me feel better,” Phoenix quietly inserted with a frown. He looked concerned and I didn’t blame him.

We’d not only lost several of our friends in Ankeny, we’d lost two brothers from our chapter here and members from Flagstaff and Roanoke. If ever there was a time for us to band together as a club, it was now.

“I understand, but it depends on who all shows up and what they want as well,” Raptor replied as he squeezed the back of his neck.

“Understood,” Phoenix replied.

Raptor leaned forward onto his forearms. “I have a question. You all are aware that this property is in my name.”

Everyone nodded or agreed verbally.

“This is all hypothetical, butifthe Ankeny chapter stays here, I want to look into buying the ranch next door. I would like to start allowing members to build there. The chapter would buy it, and members could buy off parcels to build houses on. Only problem is that it would require higher dues. If the Ankeny boys stay, then that hit won’t be as hard because there will be more of us. What do you think?” Raptor glanced around to get a read on our responses.

No one jumped up shoutingyes!But I think we all were weighing the pros and cons.

Phoenix was rubbing his chin. He drove in from Sloane’s house most days and I know it was a bit of a hike for him. I also knew that it was Sloane and her mom’s place and with their little one getting bigger now, they might want their own place. He and I had discussed them getting a bigger place, closer to the clubhouse, that Sloane’s mom could possibly have her own second master bedroom.

“You think they would want to stay?” One Short asked as he stroked his graying beard.