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Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Isla

I bent to grab a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar in the clubhouse. The women were upstairs, putting babies and young kids to sleep for a midday nap, and entertaining their other children. Over the last few days I met a few more women, Susie, Daisha, and Tori, and their kids. They were just as sweet as everyone else I'd already met. They'd been out of town on a quick trip together when all of this kicked off.

I could've joined the women if I wanted, but I needed a break from all the estrogen and sobriety. Holding the bottle close to my chest, I sighed in relief. I'd been with them for four days straight while the guys followed leads. It pissed me off that Butcher wouldn't let me go with them, but he kept saying he needed me to stay here and help watch the others.

It was hard to decipher whether I should be offended or not. On one hand, the people inside this clubhouse were more important to these men than anything else. Them trusting me to help guard their families, especially after trying to kill Butcher, should be an honor. But I had the feeling Butcher wanted me out of the way. Out of danger.

So far, what was happening outside these walls hadn't touched this place yet. I hoped it wouldn't. I didn't want to be responsible for that. On the other hand, Butcher and the rest of the men in the MC were keeping me from doing what I did best. I should be out there helping to find the fuckers coming for us.

Us. Try as I might, I wouldn't be able to deny that forever. But today wasn't the day to examine the relationship Butcher and I seemed to be forming. We'd been learning…things…about each other during this time. Talking. And I was excited to know more. It was a slippery slope.

The guys had managed to find a few assassins and take them out. Amateurs, not even B team, but every little bit helped. Butcher had shown me pictures so I could ID the men and cross them off the list I'd made of every known assassin that might take part in this. It was a long damn list. It made my stomach churn just to see the names written down. Not because I cared about those men and women, but because I was starting to care about these men and women.

Damn it, my heart was going rogue and I didn't know how to stop it. I couldn't seem to get myself to realize that Lockout was going to toss me out on my ass after this and I'd be the one left trying to mend a broken heart. Nope. The stupid organ just kept pumping away inside of me, except of course when Butcher showed up, then it fluttered and jumped like a spastic puppy excited to see its true love in human form.

"Holy shit. Hello, Baby."

I straightened, the bottle shattering against the floor as I dropped it in favor of going for Stabby. In one graceful move, I turned, raising my knife as I eyed the man standing near the door.

His brows shot up and he raised his hands up in a universal sign of peace.

Inwardly, I snorted. Like I was going to trust that. I didn't recognize him. He was wearing a cut, but that shit didn't matter. Assassins were smart. If they wanted to get the drop on me, they'd end up dressing like all the men typically did, just to blend in. And that's what this guy had done. Boots, jeans, white t-shirt, and a cut. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes. The tattoos obviously weren't just for the costume; those were all him. They covered his throat, forearms, backs of his hands and his fingers. He had a smug grin on his face. One of those smiles that said, ‘don't worry I'm harmless.'

Bullshit.

The neck tattoo was a dead giveaway that this man wasn't harmless. The nice, safe men never had tattoos there. Bob from accounting didn't just get a wild hair up his ass to go get a neck tattoo. Nope, it was always the guys who had the ability to kill people who tatted themselves up like that. Sure, there were probably exceptions, but this stereotype had helped me stay alive in this business for years.

When I'd turned with my weapon his eyes had hardened and he'd dropped his right foot back, blading off in front of me. He wasn't attacking, but it was obvious he knew how to fight.

Score one for my tattoo theory.

"You're new here," he said, his voice low and deep as he watched me, waiting to see what I'd do.

"So are you." My grip tightened on my knife as I took a slight step out, positioning the bar between me and him, but leaving me room to maneuver.

"I'm a friend," he told me.

It was possible. The guys kept talking about waiting on some guy named Cypher. "Yeah? Name?"

"I'm Warrant, beautiful."

He was the smooth type. Kind of like Toxic. He was absolutely gorgeous and clearly expected any woman to melt at his feet with one well-aimed smile. Might have worked if I wasn't a little crooked in the head. Unlucky break for him. He'd snuck up on the wrong woman. There was only one man who seemed to have any effect on me. This just wasn't his lucky day. "Never heard of you."

I cursed to myself, my guns were upstairs, locked in Butcher's safe. I wasn't about to keep them laying around with Jenny's girls loose in this place. Most everyone lovingly referred to them as the hellions. And for good reason. Plus, there were the other kids to worry about, too. It just wasn't safe to have them anywhere but locked up. And clearly keeping them on me wasn't a good option given what little pickpockets they were.

He opened his mouth to reply, then cursed as I made my move. I ran a few steps, dropped, and slid across the floor, knocking his feet out from under him.

Warrant hit the floor hard, but I didn't give him a chance to gain his composure. I wrapped around him like an octopus. A deadly, pissed off, octopus.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people," I growled as I brought my knife down toward his neck.

He managed to block my motion, knocking my hand away.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he bit out, his breath coming in pants as we struggled against each other.

It was saying something that he could breathe at all with my arm wrapped around his neck. I only needed a few more seconds and I'd be able to grab my other arm, completing the choke hold. I hadn't really planned to hurt him, the knife was just a diversion so I could get into place. But now that he'd knocked it away I really had no choice but to choke him out.

My legs were wrapped around his waist, so when he struggled to his feet, I clung to him. There it is. I grabbed my left bicep. "Nighty night," I whispered in his ear as I applied pressure on his throat. I loosened my legs and let my weight pull against his neck.

"Bitch," he managed to swear with his last breath.

He was thrashing below me, trying to dislodge me, but I had the upper hand. He wasn't expecting me to fight. I wasn't sure why. He should have gotten my file when Randal hired him to kill me. His fuck up was my gain. I wasn't about to let him take me out. It wasn't even about me not wanting to die. If I was dead, then the women and children upstairs were vulnerable. This asshole wasn't going to get to them on my watch .

He stumbled around, slamming me backward into the bar, then lurching forward as his skin took on a reddish hue.

"Just go out," I snarled. How long could he go without oxygen? Jesus. He was just dropping to the ground when the door opened. Another imposter in a cut and white shirt.

"Warrant, you in he- What the fuck?"

I didn't have time for this. I let go and Warrant's body slumped to the floor. I needed to tie him up before he came to. Only now there were two of them. So I was going to have to take care of the newcomer first.

The man looked from his accomplice to me "Bitch, you done fucked up now."

For the first time in days my feral side was awakened. I smiled up at him, "You're going to be taking a nap just like your friend," I vowed, then I launched myself at him.

Air rushed out of my lungs as I was slammed up against the wall. My attempt to choke this second man was being seriously impinged by Warrant waking up. It was hard enough to choke a two-hundred pound man all by yourself, but when his accomplice was trying to pull you off of him, well, it didn't work as well. It didn't matter that I was clinging to the newcomer like starfish to a rock.

Lucky for me I was flexible, and a well-placed side kick to the groin had Warrant back on the ground, for now. This other man was currently trying to turn me into a pancake by slamming me against the wall. And he was succeeding.

I wheezed in pain as my insides rattled around when he threw me against the wall again. Despite having the air knocked out of me I held my grip on him. I planted my feet against the wall and pushed, Throwing the two of us to the ground. Planting my knee on his back and leaning against it while I used his own t-shirt as a makeshift noose, I tried my best to hold him in place. I would either choke this fucker out or rip his head off. Either way was fine with me at this point. I couldn't keep fighting them for much longer. And Warrant was struggling to his feet, coming back for round three.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

I glanced up to see Toxic rushing toward us. "Get my knife!" It was back in my hiding place, but I had no problem with a friend grabbing it to end a threat. I opened my mouth to tell him where it was when the guy managed to get his feet under him and flipped us, sending us both sprawling onto the ground with him landing on top of me. I groaned but my attention turned to him once more as I pulled Stabby out, ready to end this fight.

Confusion clouded my mind when the guy on top of me went airborne, crashing into a nearby wall. There was no way he'd given up, and he certainly hadn't tossed himself away from me. I glanced up and saw furious hazel eyes.

Hands went under my arms and picked me up like I was light as a feather. "Easy, Terror," Butcher warned in my ear as he pulled me back against his chest, almost cradling me in his arms.

The rumble of his voice sent a shiver down my spine and made my pussy throb. Ugh. Stupid, traitorous body. "What're you doing?" I snapped. Though I was glad he was here, he wasn't letting me jump back into the fight.

"He's a friend," Toxic said from where he was squatting next to Warrant, who was holding his balls with one hand while he knelt on the floor. "Both of them are. That's Warrant, and Scythe." He nudged Scythe with his boot. "Get beat up by a girl did ya? Fucking pussies."

Warrant shot him a glare. "Fuck you. I'd like to see you fight her."

That took the rage right out of me. "They are?"

"Wake up, Big Guy," Toxic said, smacking Scythe's cheek after he rolled him over. "That's it. Come on back." He'd hit the wall headfirst and Butcher hadn't held back when he tossed him off me.

I was sure that Scythe wouldn't have been so easy to knock out except he hadn't been expecting to be attacked. Especially since Toxic said they were friends.

Scythe came up swinging, catching Toxic right in the face. "What the fuck! "

"That's my question," Toxic snapped, holding his face. "You hit the fucker who's helping you?"

"Sorry, Tox," Scythe muttered. His eyes flashed over and found me. He scowled at me. "What the hell, lady?"

"Not a lady," I sneered.

"Clearly."

"Can I get some ice?" Warrant muttered. "If you keep me from having babies, I'm going to-"

"Like any woman is going to let you close enough to impregnate her," Toxic cut in, chuckling at his own joke.

I doubted either man had trouble in the dating area. What was it with these guys? They were all gorgeous, stacked with muscles, and tattooed from head to toe.

Butcher let my arms drop, then snagged my knife before I could decide whether I should go after Warrant and Scythe again. "What's your problem?" Butcher growled, glaring at him.

"My problem?" Warrant barked. "Ask her, she fucking attacked me first."

They all looked at me. By this point, more of the men had come into the clubhouse, only there were more I didn't recognize. I was starting to get the feeling I may have fucked up. "He snuck up on me."

"I announced myself," he muttered, getting to his feet. "And I'm wearing a fucking cut."

"So would anyone who was smart enough to be an assassin," I pointed out. Then, because despite how bad this was, I couldn't help myself, "Besides, you hit on me."

"You what?" A dark cloud came over Butcher, and for just a second all eyes were off of me.

"Easy, Big Guy," Toxic was in front of Butcher, hands held up in a calming manner.

Warrant looked from Butcher to me. "I told you I was a friend." Back to Butcher "I didn't hit on her much."

I didn't respond, but gave him a look that said that my earlier answer about assassins still applied. I looked over my shoulder at Butcher, but he was still glaring at Warrant .

All eyes were on Butcher now, the tension was thick as molasses. As though he might explode into a murderball at any second. I might have pushed this too far. I reached out gently and touched his arm. Instantly, and thankfully, he relaxed. "I'd say I'd kick your ass for touching my woman, but it looks like she already did that," Butcher said with a feral grin.

"Fuck you!"

He moved around me, advancing toward Warrant, but before he had the chance to do...whatever he was about to do, Lock's voice cut through the room. "Enough. Isla, this is Cynic, Rotor," he said, glancing over at the still angry man "and you already met Scythe and Warrant. They're our friends from Wyoming."

Oops. Yeah, I'd messed up. "No Cypher?" That was the only name I'd kept hearing the whole time. Cypher and the guys. How was I supposed to know these were some of the ‘guys'? I mean, I guess I could have taken Warrant at his word when he said he was a friend, but that wasn't my style. I was more of a knock them out and tie them up, then question them, kind of girl. It was safer that way.

Lockout didn't seem too upset. I didn't need a crash course on MC culture to know that what he said went in this place. He could toss me out on my ass in a hot second. "There's a lot of shit going down right now," Lock told the newcomers. "I'd rather that she was…cautious…than complacent."

I shot him a grateful smile. The last thing I wanted to do was piss these men off. With each day that went by I respected them more and more.

Toxic put a hand on Butcher's shoulder because he was still tense as hell and glaring at Warrant. "Come on, man, he didn't know Isla was yours."

His? I looked at Butcher, but the only emotion I could read on his face was contained fury. Toxic seemed to be the only other one to recognize it. Butcher wasn't the type to keep that bottled up for the guys, was he controlling himself for me? I didn't want to examine the way hearing I was Butcher's made my heart race, so I stepped forward toward Warrant as Toxic tried to convince Butcher not to pound the man's face in. "Sorry." I wondered if Warrant realized I didn't utter that word very often. Then I turned to Scythe to include him in my apology.

He glanced over at me, and he nodded in acceptance, though his face was still grim. It seemed to be his default. "No worries. I have to admit, I'm impressed."

"That's because you didn't take a hit to the balls." Warrant complained, but then he broke into a grin and I knew I was forgiven.

"She's the assassin the others are after," Toxic told them.

Warrant focused on Butcher. "Didn't mean to touch your girl, Bro. Was just fighting for my life, ya know?" he chuckled. He held his hand out and after a tense moment, Butcher shook it. The trouble seemed to be over. "Not surprised that you chose her though."

"Isla."

I turned and sent Lockout a questioning look. I was grateful for the interruption because I wasn't sure what he meant by ‘chose'.

"Now that we're all here, why don't you run through that plan you mentioned."

I'd told him a few days ago that I had the perfect plan to take out the assassins once and for all. Then we could focus solely on Randal. Nodding, I followed the others back into the meeting room. Once they were all seated, I started in. "I have a cabin in the White Mountains. It's about five hours north, and very remote."

"A much better place for a showdown than in the city," Hush remarked.

"Exactly," I replied with a nod. "And they're going to expect me to go there."

"Why do you say that?" Riptide asked.

"Because it's always been my backup plan. And I made sure everyone knew it." I shot him a smile.

"That way you would have a place to lay a trap," Butcher added.

"It's only one of the places I have up there," I admitted, ducking my head when I saw the pride in his eyes. It made me all giddy to know he liked my backup plan. Stupid girly feelings. "But it's the only one they know about. "

"So we go there and kill them all."

I looked over at the man who spoke. He hadn't said a word yet, but I liked him immediately. "That's the plan," I replied. Lockout had introduced him as Rotor. I had a feeling he and I would get along just fine.

Movement caught my eye, and I locked gazes with Warrant, who shot a smirk my way. Even though we hadn't started out on the right foot, I knew deep down I'd end up liking him, too. These Berserkers, as the others called them, were my kind of people. And I knew without a doubt Warrant would've easily kicked my ass downstairs if I hadn't gotten the jump on him. It was why I always tried to make the first move, and to make it count. It was also why it all went downhill once Scythe showed up. None of the men Cypher had sent to help us looked like they'd hold us back in a fight.

Lockout looked around the table, then his eyes settled on me. "It's a good idea. Go ahead and give us the details."

I ran them through the area, what systems I already had in place, and where the high points were. I figured they'd like this plan because it took the threat, and the fight, far away from their families. It was the reason I'd brought it up. This way we could do what we needed to without worrying about any innocent bystanders being caught up in the mess.

As soon as I stopped talking, the men began, and I listened as they began to fill in the gaps. This was going to work. I glanced over and smiled at Butcher, happy to be helping and to soon have this over with. The last four days of doing nothing but being here at the clubhouse had made me antsy. I was ready to go kill some bad guys.

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