Sienna's P.O.V.

The knock came while I was trying to convince Butter that the carrier was not, in fact, a torture device. He had all four paws braced against the opening. I had both hands around his middle. Neither of us was winning. Then someone knocked again. Three slow hits. Not a neighbor. Not Mrs. Greer asking if I had seen her package. My whole body went still. Butter took advantage of the distraction and launched himself under the coffee table.

"Traitor," I whispered.

Another knock. I grabbed my phone off the counter and checked the camera app connected to the cheap doorbell I installed myself. Knox. For one second, I forgot how to breathe.

He stood on the landing in a black leather cut, older and broader than the boy from my memories. His hair was shorter. His jaw had a rough shadow across it. The patch over his chest read **JUDGE**. Of course it did. Behind him, the stairs were empty. That did not make me feel better. I stared at the screen until he looked directly at the camera.

"Sienna."

The speaker crackled. I didn't answer.

"I know you're in there."

"Congratulations."

His mouth almost moved. Not a smile. Something close.

"Open the door."

"No."

The almost-smile disappeared.

"We need to talk."

"That sentence has never made anyone want to open a door."

"Sienna."

"Still no."

Butter darted from under the coffee table toward the bedroom.

I pointed at him. "You are not helping."

Judge's voice came through the speaker again. "There's a black SUV circling your building."

My hand tightened around the phone. I said nothing.

"The plate is stolen."

Still nothing.

"Kai checked it."

That got me. I stepped closer to the door but kept the deadbolt and chain in place.

"How does Kai know what car I'm worried about?"

"I saw it."

My stomach tightened.

"When?"

"Five minutes ago. Same SUV passed twice."

I looked toward the curtained window. The lights outside shifted. A vehicle passed the building. Slow. Too slow.

Judge lowered his voice. "Open the door."

"No."

He closed his eyes for half a second like I was testing whatever patience adulthood had given him. Good. I had a lot of material to work with.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"To get you somewhere that isn't already compromised."

"My apartment is not your problem."

"It became my problem when somebody with stolen plates started circling it."

"That's not how ownership works."

His expression changed. Good. Let that word sit there. Ownership. Control. Problem. All the things men liked to wrap around you before they told you it was for your own good. Judge seemed to hear it too. He took one step back from the door.

"I'm not saying I own you."

"Great start."

"I'm saying somebody else knows where you live."

"So do you."

"Fair."

That surprised me enough to shut me up. Judge looked over the railing toward the lot. Then his phone buzzed. He checked it.

"Riot's here."

Of course he was. Because apparently the universe had decided one ghost from my past wasn't enough for tonight. A dark SUV turned into the lot. My pulse jumped. Judge moved immediately, hand going beneath his cut. Then the driver's window rolled down. Maddox. I exhaled through my nose. Wonderful. At least his vehicle had actual plates.

Judge glanced back at the camera. "I'm going downstairs. Look out your window."

"Why?"

"Because Kai wants the car checked before you move it. That SUV kept finding you after you changed routes."

My stomach tightened. "Checked how?"

"Riot brought a detector. I'm going to show you what we find instead of asking you to trust me."

That sentence bothered me more than the others. Because it was smart.

I watched the feed as he walked down the stairs and crossed toward my Corolla. Maddox got out of the SUV holding a little handheld scanner. He swept it slowly around the rear quarter panel, stopped, checked the screen, then crouched near the bumper.

"What the hell?"

I moved to the side window and pushed the curtain back just enough to see. Maddox lay on the pavement, followed the scanner's signal under the car, and reached up behind the bumper. A few seconds later, he stood holding something small and black between two fingers.

Magnetic. Flat.

My stomach dropped. No. No, no, no.

I unlocked the deadbolt before I had time to talk myself out of it, but I left the chain on. Judge came back up holding the little black box inside a plastic evidence bag.

"Tracker," he said.

I stared at it through the crack.

"Could be yours."

His eyes hardened.

"If it were ours, I wouldn't be showing it to you."

"That is exactly what somebody using a tracker would say."

From the stairs, Maddox called, "Jesus Christ, Peaches."

My head snapped toward him.

"Don't call me that."

He stopped halfway up the stairs.

"Fine."

Judge held the bag closer to the gap. "Kai says it's live."

"Of course Kai says that."

"You want to call him yourself?"

I hesitated. Judge unlocked his phone, opened Kai's contact, then held the device toward the crack. I stared at him.

"What?"

"You said call him yourself."

His jaw worked once. Then he handed the phone through the gap. I took it. That mattered. More than I wanted it to. I hit call. Kai answered immediately.

"Judge?"

"It's me."

Silence.

Then, carefully, "Sienna."

"You said the tracker is live?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Model number. I can walk you through it if you want. Don't destroy it yet."

"Why?"

"Because whoever put it there may still think your car is moving if we relocate it."

I looked at Judge through the gap. He did not say I told you so. Smart man.

"Can you tell who owns it?"

"Not yet."

"Can you tell if it's Inferno's?"

"No. And before you ask, I don't use that hardware."

"Could one of your brothers?"

"No club tracker is registered through that carrier."

That was an answer. Not proof. But better than nothing. I hung up and handed Judge his phone.

"Now what?"

"Now you get out of here."

I almost shut the door. He put one palm flat against the frame, not the door. Not stopping it. Just close.

"Sienna, listen."

"I have been listening."

"Then hear this part. Your face and job are online. Somebody called your work before the video hit. Somebody watched you yesterday. Tonight a stolen-plated SUV follows your routes, and we find a live tracker on your car."

I hated that he was right. I hated it enough that my eyes burned. Not tears. Anger. Mostly.

"I had a plan."

"Your plan got compromised."

"By you."

"Partly."

Again, not the answer I expected. Maddox reached the landing but stayed several feet away.

"We found you because of the video," he said. "Not before."

"So the phone call wasn't you?"

"No."

"The rider yesterday?"

Kai wasn't here to answer, but Maddox shook his head.

"Not me. Not Ghost."

Judge's expression darkened. That should have made me feel better. It didn't. It made everything worse. I looked toward the bedroom. Butter had reappeared and was watching from the hallway. My duffel sat by the couch. Passport. Cash. Documents. Everything ready. I had options. Just not the ones I wanted.

"Where?" I asked.

Judge didn't pretend not to understand.

"First, the motel where Ghost has a clean vehicle waiting. Then the compound."

My laugh came out sharp.

"No."

"Sienna—"

"I'm not going back to that clubhouse."

"It's secure."

"So was my father's house, technically."

Silence. Maddox looked away. Judge's face changed. I had not meant to give them that. Too late.

"Then pick somewhere else after we get off this block," he said.

I blinked.

"What?"

"You don't want the compound, fine. We get you away from the tracker, the stolen SUV, and whoever is watching the roads. Then you choose the next stop."

Maddox looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Judge ignored him. I studied both of them.

"Phone stays with me."

"Yes."

"Passport stays with me."

"Yes."

"Cash."

"Yours."

"Butter."

Judge looked past me at the black cat.

"He goes where you go."

"Nobody touches my bag."

"Fine."

"Nobody searches my phone."

Judge's eyes flicked toward Maddox.

"Fine."

"And if I tell you to stop the car, you stop."

Maddox finally spoke. "Within reason."

I looked at him.

"Then you can stay here."

He opened his mouth. Judge cut him off.

"We stop."

Maddox swore. Judge didn't look away from me.

"You get final say once we're clear of immediate danger."

"Once we're clear?"

"If somebody starts shooting at the car, I'm not pulling over because you're pissed."

I stared at him. That was annoyingly reasonable.

"I hate you."

Something moved in his face.

"Yeah."

Not defensive. Not angry. Just yeah. That almost hurt more. I shut the door. Maddox swore louder.

Judge said, "Give her a minute."

I locked the deadbolt again. Then I stood there with my forehead against the wood, breathing. Butter rubbed against my ankle.

"I know."

He meowed.

"I know."

I had spent five years building a life where nobody got to tell me what car to get into. Now somebody had put a tracker on mine. That changed things. Not everything. But enough.

I shoved the old prepaid phone from the dresser into my duffel, left the unopened envelope where it was, then fought Butter into his carrier. He screamed like I was murdering him.

"Drama queen."

He screamed louder. I slung the duffel over one shoulder, put my passport and wallet into the inside pocket of my jacket, grabbed the carrier, and checked the apartment one last time. Tiny kitchen. Secondhand couch. Cheap blinds. Everything I had built because it was mine. I didn't know if I was coming back. That thought made my chest ache. I opened the door. Judge and Maddox were exactly where I had left them. Neither reached for me. Good. I stepped onto the landing and locked the door behind me. Judge looked at the carrier.

"That's Butter?"

"Do not judge his name."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm judging the fact that he sounds possessed."

Butter hissed from inside the carrier. Maddox barked out a laugh. For half a second, the sound hit somewhere old. I ignored it. We went downstairs.

Judge took the duffel only after I handed it to him because I needed both hands to keep the carrier level. That mattered too. Annoyingly. At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped. The black SUV rolled past the far end of the street. Same one. I knew it immediately. Judge's body went hard beside me. Maddox opened the rear door of his SUV.

"Get in."

My instincts screamed. Don't. Never again. I looked at the stolen-plated vehicle disappearing around the corner. Then at my Corolla with the tracker bagged on Judge's phone hand. Then at Butter. This was not trust. I needed that clear, even if only to myself. This was strategy. Temporary. Chosen. I got into the SUV. Maddox shut the door after me. Judge climbed into the passenger seat. Before Maddox pulled away, I leaned forward between them.

"If either of you locks me in this car, I will make your lives miserable."

Maddox glanced at me in the mirror. A slow grin started. There was the bully I remembered.

"Pea—"

"Finish that nickname and I'll open this door at sixty."

The grin widened. Judge rubbed a hand over his face.

"Drive, Riot."

The SUV moved. My apartment disappeared behind us. I held Butter's carrier against my legs and watched every turn. Nobody had kidnapped me. Not yet. But I wasn't stupid enough to pretend I was free either.

Maddox's P.O.V.

I used to know exactly how to get a reaction out of Sienna. Call her Peaches. Steal her fries. Pull her ponytail.

Tell her she was too short to do something and wait three seconds for her to prove me wrong out of pure spite. It had been one of my favorite hobbies.

The woman sitting in the back of my SUV didn't react to anything the way the girl I remembered had.

She sat behind Judge with Butter's carrier braced between her boots and one hand wrapped around the strap of her duffel. Her eyes tracked every turn I made. Not casually. Counting. Remembering. Planning. I hated it.

"You know I'm not taking you into the woods to murder you, right?"

Judge turned his head slowly. Sienna looked at me in the mirror.

"That's exactly what somebody taking me into the woods to murder me would say."

I almost smiled. Almost. There she was. Then she looked back out the window, and the little spark vanished. That bothered me more.

"Peaches—"

Her eyes snapped to mine.

"No."

One word. Flat. I tightened my hands on the wheel.

"You used to like it."

"I used to be thirteen."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant."

Judge stared out the windshield like he wanted no part of this. Coward.

I tried again. "It's a nickname."

"It's a name you gave a girl who doesn't exist anymore."

That shut me up. The road hummed under the tires. Butter made a low, miserable sound inside the carrier. Sienna immediately bent down.

"Hey. I know. We're almost stopping."

Her voice changed for the cat. Softer. Still guarded, but soft. I remembered that too. Sienna had always collected things that needed help. Hurt birds. Stray dogs. Kids nobody else sat with at lunch. Us, probably. That thought landed wrong.

I cleared my throat. "How old is he?"

She glanced up. "Why?"

"It's a cat, Sienna. I'm making conversation."

"Maybe a year and a half. The vet guessed he was around six months when I found him."

I nodded. "Right."

"Good job with the math."

Judge coughed into his fist.

A tiny curve touched her mouth. Victory. Then she caught herself and looked away. The smile disappeared so fast it pissed me off. Not at her. At whoever taught her smiling around us was dangerous. At least, that was what I wanted to blame. Blaming somebody else was easier. Kai had already made that harder. **She said she was taken.** Those words had been stuck in my head since the diner. I remembered the day she left. I remembered what we had been told. I remembered how furious I had been when she didn't answer. I also remembered saying things I couldn't take back. That part had nothing to do with anybody else. The motel sign appeared ahead.

Judge pointed. "There."

I turned in. Kai was waiting near a dark rental SUV with two coffees in his hands and a laptop bag over one shoulder. Sienna went rigid the moment she saw him. I parked but didn't lock the doors. That was deliberate. She noticed. Of course she did. Judge got out first. I stayed behind the wheel. Sienna didn't move.

"You getting out?"

"Eventually."

I bit back the first response that came to mind. Old me would've told her not to be dramatic. Old me was apparently an asshole.

"Take your time."

Her eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That sounded like something."

"It wasn't."

She studied me for another second, then opened the door herself. Butter came with her. The duffel too. She wouldn't leave either inside my vehicle. Fair enough. Kai walked over slowly.

"Hey."

"Hey," she said.

He held up one of the coffees. "I didn't know what you drink now."

"So you bought me coffee?"

"I bought Judge coffee."

Judge took it from him. Kai looked annoyed. Sienna almost smiled again. There. Gone. Fuck. Kai opened his laptop on the hood of the rental.

"I've got the tracker isolated. Whoever owns it thinks it's still moving south."

Sienna's eyes sharpened. "How?"

"I put it on another vehicle."

"Whose?"

"A club truck heading toward Kansas."

"You tell the driver?"

Kai looked offended. "Yes."

"Good."

I watched that exchange. She wasn't impressed by his computer shit. She wasn't grateful just because he'd done something useful. She wanted to know who had consented. Who knew. Who had control. Judge saw it too.

"Black SUV?" he asked.

Kai turned the screen.

"Stolen plate. Vehicle description matches one tied to a motel camera forty miles from here three nights ago. Can't prove it's the same crew yet."

Sienna folded her arms. "And the biker?"

"Nothing."

"So you don't know who's following me."

"No."

"You don't know why."

"No."

"You don't know if there's more than one group."

Kai paused. "No."

She nodded. Not happy. But satisfied that he had actually said what he didn't know. That was new too. The old Sienna would've trusted Kai if he told her the sky was green. This one wanted sources.

Judge leaned against the hood. "We need to decide where we're going."

"I already did," Sienna said. "Not the clubhouse."

Here we go.

"The compound is the safest option," I said.

Her eyes cut toward me. "For you."

"For anybody."

"My father's house had locks, cameras, and men with guns."

My mouth closed. Judge had told me she'd said something like that at the apartment. Hearing it myself was worse.

Sienna shifted Butter's carrier to the other hand. "Safe for the people controlling the doors isn't the same thing as safe for the person inside."

Kai looked down. Judge didn't.

"What do you need for it to be safe enough for one night?" he asked.

I stared at him. One night? He was negotiating with her like she was a hostile chapter president. Maybe she was. Sienna didn't answer right away. Then she started counting on her fingers.

"My own room. A lock on the inside. I keep the key. Nobody enters without asking."

Judge nodded.

"My phone stays mine. Kai doesn't clone it, track it, or install anything without asking me."

Kai nodded too.

"Butter stays with me."

"Obviously," I said.

She looked at me.

I raised both hands. "Sorry."

"No surprise family reunion."

That one hit.

Judge's jaw tightened. "Your mom lives near the compound."

"I know."

"Rook too."

"I know."

"They'll find out."

"Finding out isn't the same as showing up in my room."

Judge nodded slowly. "Fair."

Sienna looked at him like she still expected the trap.

"And I can leave."

"Once we know the road is clear."

Her expression hardened.

Judge held up a hand. "Meaning I tell you if there's an active threat at the gate. I don't chain you to the floor."

"Very comforting."

"I try."

I snorted. Both of them looked at me.

"What?"

Sienna shook her head.

"I'll do one night."

Judge went still. Kai blinked.

I said, "Seriously?"

She turned to me. "Do you want me to change my mind?"

"No."

Too fast. Her eyebrow lifted.

I corrected myself. "I mean, no. One night is fine."

"Glad I have your approval."

There she was again. Sharp. Mean. Familiar. It should've made me happy. Instead, I realized how badly I had wanted proof that some part of the girl I knew was still there. That wasn't fair. She didn't owe me thirteen-year-old Sienna. She definitely didn't owe me the version from before we fucked everything up. We transferred the bags into the rental SUV because Kai had confirmed it clean. Sienna inspected the back seat herself. Checked the handles. Checked the child lock. Checked the floor. I pretended not to notice. Then she looked straight at me.

"If you say one word about me being paranoid, I'm taking your bike."

I laughed. A real one this time.

"You still can't ride."

"Who says?"

That stopped me.

"You can ride?"

She smiled. Not warm. Not soft. A challenge.

"Guess there are a lot of things you don't know about me anymore."

She got into the SUV. That one hurt. Probably deserved it. Judge drove this time. Kai took front passenger.

I sat in the back beside Sienna, with Butter's carrier between us like a tiny furry border patrol. For the first twenty minutes, nobody talked. Sienna watched the road. I watched her when she wasn't looking. There was a pale line near one wrist. Another small scar along the edge of her hand. Nothing dramatic. Nothing I could ask about without being told to fuck off. So I didn't. That was new for me too. At one point, Butter shoved a paw through the carrier door. Sienna slipped a finger through and rubbed his paw. I remembered her doing that with my hand when we were kids. Any time I got hurt, Sienna acted like she was the doctor and I was dying.

Once I scraped my knuckles on pavement and she made me sit still for twenty minutes while she cleaned them.

Then, two years later, I had watched her walk past us at school and said something cruel enough to make her eyes fill. I had told myself she deserved it. I couldn't remember the exact words anymore. I remembered her face. That was worse.

"You keep staring at me," she said.

I looked away. "No, I don't."

"You were never a good liar."

"Neither were you."

Her expression changed. Just a fraction. I immediately knew I'd hit something. Old me would've pushed. I didn't.

"Sorry."

That surprised both of us. Sienna stared at me.

"For what?"

"That."

"What part?"

"The part where I said something without knowing what the hell it means to you now."

She looked out the window again.

After a long silence, she said, "That's new."

"What is?"

"You stopping."

I swallowed.

"Yeah."

She didn't say anything else. But she didn't move farther away either. Small win. I would take it. The first sign for Inferno territory appeared forty minutes later. Sienna saw it. Her whole body changed. Shoulders tight. Hand on Butter's carrier. Eyes fixed forward. Judge noticed in the mirror.

"We can turn around," he said.

Kai looked at him. I did too. Sienna's face stayed blank.

"Can we?"

"Yes."

No hesitation. She looked at the road ahead. Then at the phone in her hand. Then down at Butter.

"One night."

"One night," Judge agreed.

The compound gates came into view. Same black steel. Same flaming demon emblem. Same place that used to be her second home. The gates started opening. Sienna whispered something so quietly I almost missed it.

"I'm not coming home."

Judge heard her too. His hands tightened on the wheel.

"I know."

The SUV rolled forward. And for the first time since we found her, I understood something I should have understood years ago. Finding Sienna was the easy part. Getting her to stay would have to be her choice.

Maddox's P.O.V.

The compound gates closed behind us, and Sienna didn't look back. That bothered me. Not because I expected some dramatic homecoming. I wasn't that stupid. Mostly.

But this place used to be hers almost as much as it was ours. She knew which porch board squeaked