“Beth, please, I won’t be mad at you anymore. I’ll be good, I promise. Please, Beth. I want to go home. Please. Beth!

“Shade! Help me!”

While Shade nearly broke down in front of The Last Riders, Beth cried, her shoulders shaking as she held Lily’s hand.

“Razer? Razer! You promised me no one would hurt me. You broke your promise. Razer, please help!”

Razer fell down next to him. The tough brother had tears sliding down his cheeks.

“Shade! Shade!

“Pastor Dean! Please, help me!

“Vida? Sawyer? Where are you? Why did you leave me? Vida! Sawyer! Please, help me.”

Shade didn’t recognize the names and Beth shook her head, indicating she didn’t, either.

Cash let the doctor in who had been treating Lily since she had almost died and again after she had the panic attack at the diner. They had told him then what Rachel had done for Lily.

The doctor crouched down, taking Lily’s vital signs.

“Shade … Shade…” She kept repeating his name over and over.

Shade picked up the glass she had dropped and threw it across the room, feeling helpless to do anything for her. He had promised to protect her but he couldn’t, not from her own demons.

All of a sudden, Lily seemed to calm down, like she was hearing something no one else could. Shade hoped that somehow Rachel had finally reached her.

“I’m here! I’m here! Help me!”

Rachel’s face twisted as if she actually saw the horror Lily was seeing in her mind.

“Help me! I’m lost! I can’t find my way back!”

Beth sobbed at Lily’s tortured declaration.

The doctor sat on his knees, watching carefully, his hand on Lily’s pulse.

“The flames won’t let me pass, and I’m afraid to go the other way in the dark. I’m afraid I’ll get lost!” Lily screamed in terror.

Rachel’s brows furrowed.

“But you’re on the other side of the flames!” Lily cried out.

The members in the room stared at each other then looked back at Rachel. Everyone came to the same conclusion: Lily actually believed Rachel was with her.

“How did you do that without getting burned?”

Rachel shook her head.

“I want to get out of here,” Lily whimpered. “Can you help me?”

There was a pause.

“Then we’re both lost. I want to go home.” Lily started crying again.

After another pause, Lily screamed, “I can’t go through there!”

Rachel’s hands tensed at Lily’s temples, her face appearing heartbroken.

“No, I can’t!”

“Lily, your memories have broken free. There is no locking them away anymore. The only way to avoid it is to stay lost. You have to go through the flames,” Rachel spoke aloud that time, barely whispering.

“They’ll hurt me again!”

“No one is ever going to hurt you again. Didn’t The Last Riders save you tonight? They’re not going to let anyone hurt you again. You know that deep in your heart.” Rachel raised a hand in a turning motion then dropped it back to Lily’s forehead.

“I can’t,” Lily sobbed.

“Not alone, but together we can. I’m beside you. I won’t let you go. Shade is here and so are Beth and Razer.”

As Rachel spoke, Shade moved as close as he could to Lily, placing his hand on her shoulder. Next to her, Beth and Razer each held her hands tightly. “We’re all here for you, Lily. Lead us home.”

The doctor moved to the side, opening his bag and taking out a syringe before inserting it into her arm.

“It will relax her,” he said quietly so Shade could understand what he was doing.

Lily cried softly, her legs scissoring on the carpet as if she was actually walking.

Suddenly, a tortured scream filled the silence of the room as she withered on the floor.

Shade was about to yell at the doctor to give her something to knock her out when Rachel spoke loudly over her screaming.

“The pain will lessen as you go through the flames. You’ll leave the pain behind, Lily, because they can’t hurt you anymore. Keep walking.”

Lily began talking, revealing the monsters she had lived with while hiding them from the ones she loved. She had suffered alone with the memories of her childhood. Shade had heard most of it the night he had turned the lights out in the hospital. However, it wasn’t any easier hearing it again; it was actually worse because, this time, others were listening. He almost made them leave then decided against it.

For Lily truly to heal, she had to have others around her who loved and understood the horror she had survived. Keeping it a secret was driving her to lose her mind. The Last Riders were a family, and it was going to take a family’s love and compassion as strong as them to destroy her monsters.

Chapter 57

Shade carried Lily upstairs with the doctor following on his heels. He opened the third door down, thinking Raci could sleep with Rider or Jewell. He wasn’t letting Lily sleep in his basement room until the situation with the fire was sorted out.

He laid her on the made bed, brushing her hair back from her face.

“Go downstairs while I check her out,” the doctor ordered, pissing Shade off, but then Beth came into the room.

“Go ahead, Shade. I’ll stay with her in case she wakes,” Beth urged, coming to stand by the bed.

He nodded. “I’ll be right back. I want to shower and get some clean clothes on. I don’t want her to smell the smoke on me when she wakes up. Find something to change her into and wash her off when the doctor leaves.”

“I will,” Beth said, sitting down on the side of the bed.

Shade left the bedroom, going to Razer’s room where he showered quickly, looking through Razer’s clothes for jeans and a T-shirt to borrow before getting dressed.

Then he went downstairs to see if Viper had discovered where the fire had started, finding The Last Riders still standing in the living room. Viper was holding Winter who was crying. Bliss was sitting on a chair with her head buried in her hands, also crying. Train was holding Jewell while Rider had his arm around Evie. The rest were shell-shocked.

“We’re not going to let Lily know that we know she was abused when she was a kid.” Shade placed his hand on the banister, wanting to rip it to pieces at the things she had talked about happening to her. “She was too young to defend herself then. Fuck, she was too young to even know she was supposed to defend herself. We’re going to act as if nothing happened unless she wants to talk to us about it.”

Viper looked at him. “Anything you need for her, you tell me, and it’s yours. We’re going to find out who fucked with her, and then we’re going to fuck their lives up permanently.”

The members all agreed.

Shade nodded. “I’ve already been looking into it. Beth doesn’t remember much, and we can’t find her adoption papers. That’s why Lucky wanted the basement cleaned to see if we could find Beth’s father’s legal papers. Nothing’s turned up so far.”

“Lucky knows?” Razer asked.

“Only that it was important to Lily’s safety that we find out about her adoption.”