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Hawk shrugged. “Banger, Steel wants to waste Shack’s pathetic fuckin’ ass. You down for it?”

A loud shriek bounced off the wall as Banger plunged the knife in Dustin for the final, fatal cut. “Go for it. Then we gotta move our damn asses.”

Hawk pointed Steel to the back room. He went in and found Throttle leaning against a wooden table, a trussed-up Shack on the floor. “Banger comin’?” Throttle asked.

“Nah. He’s given me the pleasure.” Steel went over and kicked Shack full force in the face with his steel-toed boot. “That’s for kidnapping and fucking a fifteen-year-old.” Then he pulled out his knife, knelt down, grabbed Shack by the hair, and placed the knife against his throat. He pushed the tip of it into his flesh and a tiny red line trickled down. “And this is for bringing fucking smack to my county. For making my little girl an addict. Rot in hell, you motherfucking maggot.” The gleaming knife sliced across Shack’s neck. Torrents of blood flowed as he gurgled for a few seconds, then went limp.

Throttle clasped the back of Steel’s neck. “I seized a bunch of paperwork from these bastards’ files, as well as their computers. Hawk’ll go over it all. He’s a pro at this computer shit. He’ll find out who the dealer is and you can gut the sonofabitch. Let’s go.”

They walked through the carnage as they exited the clubhouse. Several of the brothers had already left, heading back to Pinewood Springs. Doc and the wounded had left nearly twenty minutes before. Their clandestine operation was a success—all the Demon Riders dead. As far as Steel knew, the young girl crouched in the closet upstairs was the only survivor. He hoped she’d make a good life for herself, especially since she’d been given a second chance.

As they stood there, the silence returned far more thickly than it was before the attack, as if everything around them was collectively holding its breath. A few of the brothers had run off to get their SUVs and bring them closer. Steel and the others were drenched in blood, and as the frosted grass crunched under their heavy boots, they heard the very low whine of sirens. They jumped into the waiting vehicles and drove away.

They drove fast, taking the backroads and using the police scanners to track the badges. They drove on different roads, scattering so as not to draw attention from the highway patrol. Each mile they logged was one more farther from the carnage.

Steel settled back as Diablo stared straight ahead, concentrating on the road. He took out his phone but couldn’t get any reception. When they stopped somewhere to refuel, he’d try again. He wanted to know how his brothers fared in Alina with their attack on the Skull Crushers; they’d planned to attack on the same night. The Skull Crushers had to be reminded who was in control of the territory, so the goal wasn’t to annihilate like it’d been with the Demon Riders.

Steel put his phone away and closed his eyes, his body aching for Breanna’s softness. He smiled and drifted off to sleep with her tumbling golden hair and sparkling eyes on his mind.