FALLEN GOD_GODS OF CHAOS MC_BOOK EIGHT Read online

  FALLEN GOD

  GODS OF CHAOS MOTORCYCLE CLUB

  BOOK EIGHT

  HONEY PALOMINO

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 HONEY PALOMINO

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events, locations and incidences are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This book is for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content and is intended for adults only.

  FALLEN GOD

  GODS OF CHAOS MC

  BOOK EIGHT

  BY HONEY PALOMINO

  PROLOGUE

  Valerie’s eyes fluttered open, meeting the darkness.

  The smell of earth. The smell of death.

  The tight engulfing pressure gripped her soul, like the soil had fingers, squeezing the breath from her struggling lungs, an attempt to steal the tiny spark of life that remained.

  She fought. Curling her fists into claws, striking at the dirt.

  Desperation.

  Sheer panic.

  A flash of memory appeared then disappeared, flying away like a bird…

  Scratching, pushing upwards, she warred with death, slicing her fingers through the sticky mud, fighting for a life she’d barely begun to lead.

  There was still time.

  Time to make it all worthwhile…

  Time to make up for it all…the wasted days, the years spent wandering, aimless, lost, naïve, a decade of indecision.

  Her future lay just above ground.

  Like a wispy miracle, the edge of her cotton dress had fallen across her face before the first patch of dirt landed, gifting her with a tiny pocket of air, just enough to provide the promise of any future at all.

  A future that she was now forced to fight for, as if to prove she was worthy of more time, as if she deserved a second chance.

  The nutrient-rich, thick Oregon mud that gifted life to numerous species of trees, plants, bugs, and flowers, now cruelly imprisoned her with the threat of her story’s conclusion.

  An ugly and certain end, unless…

  Desperation hurled another shot of adrenaline through her veins, and like a wild animal, trapped and frantic, she hooked her tired fingers, the tips shredded and bloody, punching through the dense soil with her knuckles, then wiggling and pushing it to the side, grain by grain, clump by clump, working as fast as she could, the tiny increments of progress giving her just enough hope to keep going.

  Like a siren, darkness called again from below. Death beckoned, the promise of sweet relief, the end of all the pain dangled within reach. The young woman turned her thoughts away, wanting so much more than this horror-show ending for herself.

  When the first fingertip pierced through the surface, the cold air hit her skin like a strike of lightning. She stifled a cry, pressing on, pushing the dirt away until her index finger punched through completely, followed by her entire hand, the soil falling away from her fingers as she clutched at the wind.

  Her other hand followed, frantically pushing the dirt from her trapped body.

  Within moments, she was able to lift her head, her face breaking free of the darkness, her mouth sucking in the air in a silent, agonizing cry of life, a rebirthing of everything that could have been and now would be.

  Gasping with terror, she quickly worked to free herself from the grave that was meant to last forever.

  Emancipated, she flung herself from the hole liked it was filled with ghosts.

  With weak limbs, she crawled through the dark forest on all fours, screaming in fear as she searched for her sister, the dread of what she imagined she’d find etched deep in her bones. She’d heard Veronica’s cries, seen the blows raining down on her, she knew hope was thin.

  But still, she’d survived. There was a chance Veronica did, too.

  Maybe she’d find a miracle.

  She didn’t have to go far.

  Veronica lay in her own freshly dug grave, her hand jutted up from the earth like a sunflower searching for sun. The limp fingers told her everything she needed to know, confirmed everything she’d suspected.

  She was too late.

  There would be no miracle.

  Her twin sister was gone.

  Still, she clawed at the dirt, pulling her lifeless body from the shallow grave, embracing her, rocking her, drenching her in hot tears…

  Huge sobs of apologies violently tore from her chest.

  “I love you, Veronica. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she gasped, her mud-stained cheeks streaked with tears.

  A twig crunched behind her, and then another, causing a wave of fear to rise in her chest like an inferno. Fearing more danger, the urge to survive was a savage hunger that she couldn’t ignore.

  She clambered to her feet — dirty, frightened, lost, broken — leaving her sister there alone.

  With no sense of direction and no clue where she was, she stumbled from tree to tree, falling on each of the huge trunks like they were shoulders to cry on. One by one, they led her away from her sister’s body, holding her up, sharing their strength, breathing life into her lungs, until she could go on no longer.

  She collapsed, exhausted and frightened in the unrelenting wilderness of the Tillamook State Forest.

  But she wasn’t alone.

  Surrounded by wildlife, surveyed by camouflaged eyes, she was never alone.

  Perched high above in the swaying pines, two owls watched her fall to the forest floor, their yellow eyes blinking silently as she lost consciousness again. Her long blonde hair tangled with leaves, her alabaster skin streaked with mud, her heart broken with unmeasurable grief — she lay on a bed of fallen pine needles, sure this was the end.

  They stood guard till dawn, and as the sun rose in the distance and the first birdsongs began to ring out over the forest, they waited until the woman’s eyes fluttered opened again before silently flying away.

  CHAPTER 1

  SLADE

  “Is that the best you’ve got?” I teased, as I wiped the blood from my nose with the back of my hand. It stung a bit, but I knew Nate was holding back.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said with a careless shrug.

  “You won’t,” I replied, my fists raised as I danced around, kicking up the dirt under my boots. “Trust me.”

  “Hit him once for me,” Riot called out as he walked by, shaking his head at the two of us. A group of the Gods formed a loose circle around us, looking on in amusement as the young dude fought the old dude.

  I mean, I’m not old, don’t get me wrong, but compared to the rest of the Gods, Riot and I are ancient. We’re the old guard, I guess you could say — along with Ryder.

  The Gods of Chaos Motorcycle Club began a long time ago. Ryder, Riot and myself are the only original members left, and Bones and Wreck joined up not long after. But the rest? Nate and Eli and Fury and the other the new guys? We like to call them the youngsters, despite their various ages.

  They’ve only been with us for a few months, joining up after their old club broke up, and I’m stoked to have them here. We need them and they’re great guys.

  Even if they do hit like pussies.

  “Nate, try again,” I insisted, jutting my chin out to make it easier for him.

  “This just doesn’t seem right,” he said, looking at me with exasperation.

  “Who’s your worst enemy?” I asked.

  “I don’t have any enemies.”

  “Okay, well, what kind of
people do you hate the most? Murderers? Rapists? Child abusers?”

  “How the hell am I supposed to pick between those three evils?”

  “Right! Just imagine I’m all three. Come on, now,” I said, pointing at my chin.

  “Fine,” he sighed in frustration. He pulled his fist back, pursing his lips and wrinkling his brow in frustration before he let it fly, his fist flying through the air on a collision course with my ugly mug.

  I ducked.

  Just to fuck with him.

  The force of the empty blow spun him around, knocking him off balance and landing him on his ass in the dirt.

  The guys roared in laughter.

  “Very funny,” he muttered, glaring up at me. I reached out a hand to him, helping him to his feet, before patting him on the back.

  “Sorry, brother,” I said. “Couldn’t resist.”

  “Whatever, man,” he laughed, chuckling to himself as he started to walk away.

  “I couldn’t let you pummel me today, I have a hot date with Diana later,” I said. “She hates it when I come home with a black eye.”

  Diana’s my woman and the mother of my beautiful son. And what a fucking woman she is. All brains and kindness and feminine curves, she’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a whole lot of sexiness in my time. Lucky for me, she doesn’t mind my toothless grin, but once our son was born, she became a lot less tolerant of my favorite form of entertainment — fighting. I can’t help loving it, but I’ve curtailed my indulgences because I’d do just about anything to make that woman happy.

  “Maybe some of you guys should fight?” I said to the crowd that formed around us to watch. “It’s almost as fun to watch.”

  “No way, man,” Eli, Nate’s twin brother, said. “We get enough of that during training. You’re a freak.”

  “Got that shit right,” I replied proudly, wiping the last of the blood from my nose with my bandana, before shoving it back into the pocket of my Levi’s.

  A swoosh from above caused us all to look up, just as Oliver the owl landed right on my shoulder. I looked over at him in surprise, not to see him here, because visits from Oliver, and his bonded mate, Olivia, were very common, but him landing on my shoulder was a rarity. They’d become our mascots, basically, and their visits, while always a treat, had become just a part of everyday life here at the clubhouse.

  “What’s up, buddy?” I asked, as he leaned in close to my face. “What’s that in your mouth?”

  I reached up towards his mouth and he dropped the object that was sticking out of his beak right into my hand. I looked at it, wrinkling my brow in disbelief.

  “Is that a —?” I cried, bewildered.

  “Dude, what is that?” Eli asked, stepping closer. “No way! Is that a fucking finger?!”

  “Holy shit!” I screamed, throwing it towards him. He caught it, screamed like a little girl and threw it over to his brother. Nate caught it, but immediately threw it over to Wreck, who in turn threw it back to Eli, who refused to catch it this time, throwing his hands up and letting it land in the dirt.

  We crowded around it, staring down curiously.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered.

  Oliver had flown away in the chaos and completely disappeared back into the trees, offering no explanation for his unexpected gift.

  A finger.

  Not just any finger, either.

  A perfectly manicured finger — a bright pink fingernail caked with dirt around the edges, the bloody edge ragged and chewed up.

  “That’s fucking weird,” Wreck said.

  “It’s fucking gross is what it is,” Nate said, before looking around in a panic.

  “Did anyone see where Oliver came from?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Eli said, “little dude came outta nowhere.”

  “What the hell do we do now?” Wreck asked.

  “That’s a damned good question and I don’t know the answer,” I said. “And you know what I do when I don’t know what the hell to do?”

  “What?” Eli asked.

  “I ask Grace and Ryder.”

  CHAPTER 2

  RYDER

  I’ve seen a lot of shit since Grace and I started Solid Ground. When that phone rings and we spring into action, we never know what we’re going to find. From a mayor stabbed to death with the business end of a stiletto to a billionaire fed to a pool of starving piranhas, I’d grown to expect the unexpected.

  Anything could happen.

  That didn’t keep me from being a little perplexed when Slade knocked on the door of our cabin and told us Oliver had dropped off a finger.

  “A what?” I asked.

  He held it up in the air, the severed finger dangling towards the ground.

  “Jesus, Slade, what the fuck is that?” I growled.

  “I know, dude. I know!” he agreed.

  “What’s going on?” Grace asked, walking up behind me.

  “A finger!” Slade said, thrusting it towards us.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” Grace asked, wrinkling her nose.

  “I was just standing around with the guys and Oliver flew up, like he does, landed on my shoulder and dropped this little digit in my palm.”

  Grace blinked, cocking her head.

  “Huh.”

  “It’s wild, right?” Slade asked, his toothless grin lighting up his face. He was almost gleeful. “What should we do?”

  Grace shook her head slowly, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” she said.

  “Fire?” Slade asked. “You want me to burn it?”

  “No!” she cried. “I’m saying, if there’s a finger…”

  “…then there’s gotta be a body,” I finished.

  “Oh! Right! Shit,” Slade said, pausing. “But, um, what do we do?”

  “Get everyone together. We need to search the property.”

  “To look for other parts?”

  “Hopefully, just one big part,” she replied. “Or, actually, I’d prefer no parts at all. The last thing I want to do is deal with a dead body.”

  “I’ll get everyone together,” Slade said, wiggling the finger our way. “Do you want this?”

  “No!” I said. “Just put it in some ice. And stop fucking wiggling it, Slade!”

  He laughed, wiggled it towards us again, then ran off.

  “A finger?” I asked, looking down at Grace. She was beautiful, smart and fearless, but for a flash of a second, I could have sworn a shadow of fear crossed those big, beautiful eyes.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Ryder,” she whispered. I put my arm around her, pulling her close.

  “Everything will be alright,” I said, inhaling the sweet scent of her coconut shampoo. “It always is, babe.”

  She took a deep breath, leaning into me.

  “I hope you’re right,” she sighed, before pulling away. “Let’s get this over with.”

  The Gods and our thirteen new prospects were all crowded around Riot, as he drew a quick map in the dirt when we walked up. Next to him on the ground sat a small, closed cooler that I assumed had the finger in it.

  “Okay. So Nate, Eli, Ziggy, Crow and Blade, take the front of the property, along the highway,” Riot said, scratching in the dirt. “Slade, Bullet, Colt, Vick, take the back, and search along the creek. Wolfe, Striker, Shadow and Fury — you guys come with me and Wreck. We’ll take the far west side of the property.”

  “Grace and I will wait here. If you find anything, don’t touch it, mark the spot and report back.” I said, raking my gaze over them. Our club had grown a lot and it was still taking some getting used to. The only one missing today was Bones, who was always busy at the hospital.

  They rambled off in their respective directions and Grace and I sat on the front porch of the old clubhouse to wait. Cherry walked out, her russet curls bouncing around her face.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Hopefully it’s nothing,�
�� Grace replied. “Oliver found a finger.”

  “That’s a new one,” she said, wrinkling her brow.

  “Yep,” I replied.

  “They going to look for a body?”

  “Yep.”

  “Shit,” she said, shaking her head. “I was gonna make finger sandwiches for lunch. Maybe I’ll rethink that…”

  She wandered back into the cabin muttering and giggling to herself. Grace looked over at me and shrugged.

  “Never a dull moment around here.”

  “Don’t ever say I don’t show you a good time, babe,” I winked.

  CHAPTER 3

  NATE

  We spread out a little as we entered the woods surrounding the clubhouse. Eli and Ziggy came up behind us as Crow, Blade and myself took the front. The trail was wide and we scanned the surrounding forest as we slowly walked farther.

  The Tillamook Forest, near the Northern Oregon coast, is dense, cold, and dark. Dominated by Douglas-fir trees, the sturdy blue-green beauties tower high overhead, blocking out most of the light and lending an eerie ambient quiet to the air. Twigs snap underfoot and mingle with the songs of unseen birds.

  I’ve grown to love this place in the short time we’ve been here. Most of our time at the clubhouse is spent training or helping out with the construction of the two new cabins we’re building. Because they’d been so generous to welcome us into their club, we’re more than happy to help the Gods as much as we can. Sure, we’re still prospects, but that doesn’t mean I’m not fully committed.

  The Gods of Chaos aren’t just any motorcycle club and I’m proud to be a part of their mission.

  “Do you think there’s really a body out here?” Ziggy asked. He and I go way back. He was one of the first guys to join up with our old club, the Gentlemen, and my old man was quite fond of him. Broad-shouldered, with lush long blonde hair, that makes the many ladies he spends time with jealous, he’s way too pretty to be a biker, but despite his rock star looks he’s a solid dude.

  “You never know,” Eli replied. Eli’s my brother and my closest friend. Now that our dad, Asher, is in jail, he’s the only family I really have left to turn to. If he’d not been interested in joining up with the Gods, I wouldn’t have come myself. Luckily he did, because I’d almost screwed up the whole thing anyway when Grace went undercover a few months ago, not long after we showed up. She’d bravely gone into the Vipers MC’s clubhouse, pretending to buy a few girls they were trafficking. She’d taken me at first, but after getting my ass chewed up by a rabid pitbull and almost blowing Grace’s cover, Eli took over and saved the fucking day. I guess it was meant to be, because he’d found love at the same time. He and Sophia spend a lot of time together now and seeing my brother happy made the blow to my pride hurt just a little bit less.