Forbidden Beauty (Coffin Cheaters Motorcycle Club) by Abriella Blake Page B

the
humidity might have been sucked up out of the city. It was cold, here in hell.
    “We think we've found out where the Knights of Styx are
camping,” Dog said then, slowly, as if I were pulling the secret out of him
against his will. “And Flap wants us to attack ASAP. They've got the whole
operation cooking about two hundred miles inland. Rumor has it they're headed
into the city to pick another turf war—just like the one that killed your
father.”
    “Wait. No. No. You've got it all wrong, Dog—I have new
information! I told the council not to plan an attack last night. Because we
don't know for sure that it was the Knights of Styx who killed Rodney.
In fact, I know who it was—they're a new club.”
    My old friend looked at me like I was soft in the head. “It
couldn't have been anyone else, Gizzy. Use your brain. Why are you being so
resistant to a fight? Don't you remember that these sons of bitches killed your
Pop?”
Not all of those sons of bitches, I wanted to say. But I bit my tongue.
Dog seemed about to turn away from me, too, but I reached for the scruff of his
jacket.
    “Wait one second, Dog. Please. Where's Dixon?”
    “Oh. See, that's the other thing.”
    “What?!”
    Bowing his head, the rider met my gaze for the first time.
“This is another reason people won't be taking too kindly to you today, Gizzy.
Last night? After the council meeting? Somebody shot Dixon in the throat. We
found his body in the swamp, late. Tried to tell you before, but you were
'out.'”
    Jesus Christ. Shot in the neck ? What kind of sicko—and
Dixon? Amiable, blowhard, drinking Dixon? We'd never exactly been friends, but
I hated to hear that the guy was out. I thought of how we'd run into one
another at Casablanca. How I'd ignored him, when all he'd wanted to do was say
hello.
    “And they think it's another Knight? Well, they're wrong!
You've got to help me, D. Help me tell everyone. They're fucking wrong about
this one, and I know it for a fact! There's a new MC, and they wear masks –”
That's when Dog wheeled on me. He brought a grubby, powerful hand up to my
throat and dug his fingers into the soft flesh of my neck. Startled and
horrified, I immediately began sputtering for air. His grip only tightened
around me.
    “I think the lady doth protest too much,” Dog said, his eyes
hard. Flecks of his spittle landed on my face, but I didn't flinch—it was as if
my whole body had gone limp. I was suddenly so, so afraid of my old friend.
    “Viper is right, you know, Gizzy. I think you'd be a lot
safer and happier, a lot less trouble, if only you'd realize that your rightful
place in this club is on your knees.” Fury surged behind my eyes. For the first
time in my life, I wished I had a gun. Right then, I could have reached for a
weapon at my hip. I could have shot that literal son of a bitch in cold fucking
blood.
    But instead, when Dog released me to the moist earth, I felt
a sob well up in my chest. Try as I did, I couldn't contain the sounds that
followed.
    My old friend wandered away from me in disgust, just as
Viper had. The engines swelled all around. Though it was barely morning, the
ground was already coated with a layer of crumpled beer cans. It could have
been a tailgating party, only ever biker that passed me had such fury in his
face. These men were out for revenge.
    Collecting myself, I scanned the area for Tall Man: my last
hope incarnate for a reasonable case. I practiced the words on my tongue: The
Knights of Styx didn't kill Dixon or Rodney. You've got it wrong this time. And
they would just have to listen to me. They had to.
    “What are you doing down here in the dust, little girl?”
wheezed an unwelcome voice. I righted myself fully and saw Flapper, in full
leather regalia and a creepy grin. He looked like he'd been up all night.
    “I need to tell you something, Flap. Please listen—it's
important.”
“We've been looking for you.”
“You're about to make a terrible mistake, sending the