THE ROAD TO HELL
CHAPTER 1
SIX HOURS
THE NEST
The party hadn’t stopped so much as thinned inside the Nest.
Big Empty played low and warped through tired speakers. Bottles sat where hands had given up on them. Two hangarounds were passed out on the couch, one slumped sideways on the floor like he’d missed his mark and said fuck it.
Blaze lined up a shot at the pool table, tongue pressed to the corner of his mouth. Sunshine stood close behind him, her hand rubbing slow circles into his back.
Kode leaned on his cue, half watching, half already gone.
“Center pocket,” Blaze said.
Kode exhaled. “I’m callin’ it after this.”
Boots rushing through the double doors.
Blaze looked up first completely missing his shot.
Then Kode.
Sunshine frowned as soon as she saw Lane with a worried look in his face. He was pale as a ghost.
“Get Randy here. Now,” Lane said breathing erratically.
Blaze straightened fast, cue dropping to the felt.
“What’s up, man?” he said shock at seeing Lane look worried. That never happened.
Lane didn’t slow down. Didn’t soften it.
“Kait got bit by The Judge.”
That did it.
“What the fuck!” Kode was already moving, cue clattering to the floor as he reached for his phone. “Don,” he said, like it was a reflex. “I’ll get Don.”
“No. Get Randy,” Lane snapped. “Now.”
Kode nodded once and turned, already halfway to the kitchen phone.
Sunshine’s hand dropped from Blaze’s back. “Should I call an ambulance?”
Lane shook his head once. “No. You need to leave.”
Sunshine swallowed. “No, please. Let me help. I did two years in nursing school.”
Lane looked at her for a second then nodded once. No praise. No relief.
“Come on, then. Blaze, with me,” Lane said.
Blaze was already moving. The pool balls rattled where he’d bumped the table, rolling slow and aimless.
The music kept playing.
Nobody turned it down.
Lane didn’t say anything when he lifted Kait off the table.
He just did it.
Kait was dead weight now. Not limp exactly, but wrong, like her body wasn’t answering her anymore. Her head lolled once against his shoulder and he adjusted immediately, jaw tight, forearm locking her in closer as he moved down the walkway.
Blaze was already ahead of him, opening the door, clearing space on Kait’s bed.
Lane got her onto the bed and didn’t let go until he had her positioned on her side, pillows stacked fast and ugly behind her back to keep her upright.
Sunshine hovered at the doorway for half a second.
Then Lane nodded once.
She came in.
Lane stripped Kait’s kutte off carefully and handed to Sunshine.
Sunshine looked at Blaze almost panicking holding that piece of sacred cloth and set it on the chair like it might explode.
“She breathing okay?” Blaze asked.
“Yes,” Lane said. “Barely.”
Sunshine was already washing her hands in the bathroom sink. “That’s good, we gotta keep her elevated.”
“She’ll be fine, I’ll make sure of it,” Lane said no so much to Sunshine but to himself.
Blaze came back with more pillows, shoved one under Kait’s knees, another under her arm when it started to twitch.
Kait made a sound then— not a word, just a rough exhale that hitched wrong in her chest.
Sunshine was on her instantly. “Hey, Kait, can you hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered but didn’t focus.
Lane crouched near the bed, close but not in the way. “Pulse is fast,” he said quietly.
He looked at the alarm clock.
He counted in his head. Time since the bite. Time since antivenom.
Her pulse was too fast.
Kait’s skin had gone pale under the sweat now, lips just starting to lose color. Her fingers curled and uncurled like she was trying to grab onto something that wasn’t there.
Sunshine swallowed. “You guys, we should call an ambulance.”
Kait reached out to Sunshine and grabbed her wrist with all her might. “No,” she said.
“Okay,” Sunshine said nodding fast. “Just tell me what you need.”
“She can’t say much right now,” Lane said without looking at Sunshine. His eyes stayed on Kait’s face, watching every breath like it might be the last one she took. “Gotta get cold water and some towels. Kowboy, go.”
Blaze shifted by the door. “Yeah, for sure.”
When Blaze left, the room got quieter. Too quiet.
Sunshine adjusted the pillow under Kait’s shoulder, gentle. “Jesus, how did it happen?” she said softly.
Lane’s jaw flexed. “Get her boots off, make sure nothing’s tight. She needs to be comfortable.”
Sunshine nodded and obeyed immediately, forgetting he didn’t answer. As she began unlacing Kait’s boots, she watched him then — really watched him. The way his hands hovered even when he wasn’t touching her. The way he leaned in without realizing it every time Kait’s breathing stuttered.
She didn’t say what she was thinking.
She didn’t need to.
Kait’s eyes opened suddenly, unfocused, panic flashing hard and fast before she could stop it.
“Don’t…” Her voice broke. “Touch me.”
Sunshine heard her.
Lane frowned.
“Randy’s on his way. Is she okay?” Kode said appearing at the door.
No one answered. Her breathing slowed a fraction. Not much. Enough.
Blaze came back, set water and towels down, then stepped back again, giving space without being told.
Minutes passed like that. Measured. Watched. Unforgiving.
Finally, Kait’s breathing evened out just enough to stop scaring Sunshine.
“She’s stable,” Sunshine said. “Not great. But… stable.”
Lane exhaled for the first time since the chapel.
He straightened slowly, hands flexing once like they hurt.
“I gotta call Don,” he said to Blaze.
“Stay with her,” he said to Sunshine. “Don’t leave her side.”
Sunshine nodded immediately. “I won’t.”
Lane stepped into the walkway, pulled the door almost shut, then stopped and cracked it open again, eyes flicking back to Kait like he was checking she was still real.
“Fuck off my stairs,” Lane said to a couple hangarounds sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
“Shit. Sorry, Kount,” said one of them and they both made sure to disappear from Lane’s sight.
Lane reached the front office and called Don.
It rang once.
Twice.
Don answered, voice thick with sleep. “Yeah.”
“It’s me,” he said.
A beat.
“Kait’s been bitten.”
The line went very, very quiet.
By the time Don rolled into the lot, the Nest was sober.
The music was off now. Lights were on. Hangarounds had been cleared out with short instructions and no explanations. The air smelled like stale beer, smoke, and something sharper underneath it — worry.
Blaze met Don at the door and didn’t waste words. “In the room.”
Don walked past him.
He didn’t look at anyone else.
Klaus stepped out onto the walkway as Don reached Kait’s door. Kolton was there too, pale, wired, jaw clenched tight enough to hurt.
“She’s not breathing right, is she gonna be okay?” Kolton said, like he needed it to be confirmed again.
Don didn’t answer him.
He went inside.
Kait lay on her side now, blanket pulled high, skin pale under the sweat. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open fully. Sunshine sat close to the bed, two fingers at Kait’s wrist, counting.
“Breathing’s shallow but steady. She’s okay right now,” Sunshine said quietly when Don entered.
Don stepped closer, watched Kait’s chest rise and fall.
“Hey, kid. You good? You hanging in there? We’ll call the paramedics if—”
“No,” she said. “They’ll take… him.”
Kait’s eyes were focused on Don but she couldn’t move.
Don nodded. Then he straightened.
“She gonna pull through?” he asked Sunshine.
Sunshine hesitated just long enough to be honest. “I think so. She seems to know exactly what she needs.”
Don nodded and put his hand on Kait’s ankle. “You’re gonna be just fine. Talk about having venom.”
Don smiled gently and Kait blinked slowly acknowledging his remark.
With two final taps he turned to Lane.
“Chapel.”
Lane didn’t argue and followed.
The door shut behind them.
Don stepped fully into the chapel and stopped.
Glass crunched faintly under his boot.
He looked down. Shards from a broken votive scattered near the tank. Then he looked up at Lane.
“The fuck is this.”
The Judge’s tank sat silent behind them, dark water still, lid locked.
Don didn’t sit. Didn’t move further in.
“What happened here.”
Lane stood where he was. Shoulders squared. Face tight.
“We got into it.”
“You two actually fought? Jesus Christ, son.”
Lane swallowed. “No. Yes… sorta, I—”
“What? So, how did she get bit? Did you take the Judge out?”
“No… I, um… I dared her to.”
Silence.
Don stared at him.
“And she did it,” Lane said. “Put her arm straight in that tank. It was too fast to stop her.”
The silence stretched.
“Are you fucking shitting me right now?”
Lane’s eyes dropped. Just for a second.
The chapel door opened. Klaus stepped in and shut it behind him, gaze immediately scanning the room — the glass, the tank, Lane.
Don didn’t soften it.
“I swear to God, you two are driving me fucking nuts.”
Klaus went still. “What.”
“He dared Kait to get bitten by the Judge.”
Klaus blinked once. Slow.
“What.”
“I thought she was lying about taking the Bite in Denmark,” Lane said.
“Why the fuck would she lie about that?” Klaus asked, his accent thickening at the edges.
Lane didn’t answer.
Klaus stepped forward, closing the space between them.
“She took the Bite in Copenhagen,” Klaus said, louder now. “I was right there for it.”
Lane’s jaw flexed. He kept his eyes down.
“How is anyone supposed to believe something like that,” he muttered.
“You were the only one who didn’t,” Klaus shot back.
His voice sharpened.
“How the fuck was I supposed to know she’d actually do it?” Lane snapped.
“Because that’s what she does,” Klaus said. “She proves herself. She’s been doing that her entire life.”
Lane’s face tightened. He didn’t look up.
Don stepped between them.
“All right.”
The air dropped ten degrees.
“Un. Fucking. Real,” Don said.
No one moved.
Klaus looked like he had more to say.
He swallowed it.
Lane nodded once. Barely.
“Mack gets fucking shot,” Don said. “Now Kait’s out of commission.”
“I’ll address the table,” Lane said.
Klaus gave a short nod.
“No.” Don lifted a hand. “This stays here. Last thing I need is Kolton flying off the handle.”
“This is on me,” Lane said.
“Yeah, no shit,” Don said. “But we’re already down two members. Best thing we can do for now is say she got bit when she was feeding the Judge.”
“That is not fair to Kait. Now it’s gonna seem like she didn’t know what she was doing,” said Klaus.
“I said for now.”
Silence.
“I’ll fix it, VP,” Lane said.
Klaus crossed his arms and nodded once.
“You will,” Don said. “And until she’s on her feet, she’s your responsibility. You understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Klaus took a deep breath. “Don’t ever question that girl’s loyalty or commitment to the MC again. You can doubt me, anyone else in here. But not her. You have no idea what she’s been through.”
Lane turned slightly toward Klaus. “I’ll make it right.”
Outside, the Nest was quiet in a way it hadn’t been in years.
And down the hall, Kait’s breathing rose and fell.
The rest of the night didn’t move forward so much as stretch.
Don went back into Kait’s room first. Klaus followed. Lane came in last and stayed near the foot of the bed like he didn’t trust himself to get any closer.
Sunshine hadn’t moved. She sat cross-legged on the mattress, fingers resting lightly at Kait’s wrist, counting without looking like she was counting. Blaze stood by the door, silent, hands tucked under his arms to keep them from fidgeting.
Kait looked smaller somehow.
The blanket was pulled high under her chin. Sweat clung to her temples. Every breath lifted her chest just enough to make everyone in the room exhale with her.
“Still the same,” Sunshine said quietly. “Just steady.”
“Per emergency protocol,” Kode began reading off the brochure. “Upright position, continuous monitoring, no sedation, no alcohol,” Kode said. “If her breathing gets any slower, we’ll have no choice but to take her to the hospital.”
He looked at the alarm clock.
“First six hours are critical. At least we’re half way there.”
Don stepped closer, watching the rhythm for himself. He didn’t touch her. Didn’t need to.
“She’s gonna be fine. She’s been bitten before,” said Klaus glancing at Lane.
Kait’s lips quivered.
Lane leaned in without realizing he had and adjusted the blanket, carefully. His hand lingered a second longer than it had to.
Klaus saw that too. He smirked as if he was confirming his suspicion.
Lane straightened. “Keep her upright. Don’t let her drift.”
Sunshine nodded.
Kolton was let in a few minutes later.
He didn’t speak at first. He just crossed the room and dropped beside the bed, fingers sliding into Kait’s hand like muscle memory. His face had gone pale in a way no one had seen before.
“We should kill that fucking snake,” he said.
“It was an accident,” Don said evenly. “She’ll be fine.”
Kolton’s eyes flicked to Lane.
Lane didn’t look away. “Alright. We should give her room,” he said.
“Yeah, Lane is staying with her,” Don said as they started leaving.
“I’ll stay with her, too.” said Kolton.
“No, Randy will be here soon and he’ll help Lane. They know what they’re doing. We’ll just get in their way. Come on.”
Randy came in quiet, shut the door behind him, and took in the room — Kait on her side, blanket tucked tight, Lane sitting too still beside the bed.
“We got her, sweetheart. Go home and get some rest. Thanks for your help,” said Randy and Sunshine got up.
“Blaze’s got my number if you need me to watch her,” she said looking at him and Lane.
“Sure, honey. Thanks,” said Randy.
Lane had forgotten she existed.
“Bye, Kait. I hope you feel better,” she said on her way out.
Randy turned and sighed.
He looked at Lane once.
That was enough.
Lane stood. Didn’t posture. Didn’t explain it sideways.
“It’s my fault. I dared her to prove she took the Bite” he said.
Randy didn’t move.
The words just hung there.
“I didn’t think she would actually do it.”
The image hit him again — her reflection on the glass, the tank shaking, the strike. How fast it had been. How defiant she looked.
Randy’s eyes flicked to Kait, then back to Lane.
Randy exhaled through his nose and stepped closer to the bed, adjusting the pillow under Kait’s shoulder with careful hands.
“You don’t test your own, Kount. Female or not,” he said, not looking at Lane.
Lane swallowed.
“I know this is on me. I was wrong, and I will fix it.”
The only sound in the room was Kait’s breathing.
By 4:02 a.m., Randy decided he was more in the way than useful.
“You’ve got her, no point of me helping you monitor,” he said as Lane came out of the bathroom.
Lane nodded. “All right. Thanks, Kowman.”
When the door closed behind Randy, the room felt smaller.
Lane sat back down and watched her.
Every time her breath stuttered, something tightened in his chest so hard it felt structural. He hadn’t stopped seeing it — her arm sliding into the tank. The moment before the strike. The fact that she hadn’t hesitated.
He’d thrown a challenge and she’d answered it.
That took some balls.
Her fingers twitched against the sheet.
Lane was already leaning forward.
“Hey,” he said. Not soft. Just steady.
Her eyelids cracked open and found him.
Not by accident.
Not drifting.
For a second, there was recognition there. Awareness. Like she’d expected him to be the one sitting there.
His throat tightened.
If her breathing stopped, he would have to call 911. There would be lights outside the Nest. Questions. Police tracing the junkyard once they searched the Nest and found Mack. The Judge confiscated. Licenses asked for. Plates noted. Weapons confiscated. Threads pulled until something gave.
He knew exactly how fast things could unravel.
He also knew he wouldn’t hesitate to make the call if she needed him to.
Her eyes slipped closed again.
She was still breathing.
By 6:00 a.m., the edge of panic dulled.
Kait’s breathing stopped dipping. The pauses between breaths shortened. The rhythm found something close to normal again.
Not strong. Not safe. But holding.
Don came in as the alarm clock read 6:58 a.m.
He watched her for a moment.
“She stays like this a bit longer,” Lane said quietly, “she’ll be out of the woods.”
Don nodded slowly.
“Good. When Loraine comes in, make sure to get some rest, son. Maybe something to eat.”
“I’m fine. I’ll stay with her. No need to bother Loraine.”
Don nodded once and stepped out.
Lane changed his posture and sat forward, elbows on his knees, eyes on her chest like it was the only thing in the world that mattered.
Every rise.
Every fall.
He counted them without meaning to.
By 7:47 a.m., he wasn’t sure if he’d been counting her breaths or the things he wished he could take back.
Diablo’s words still echoing in his head.
You’re in love with her…
“Yes.” He whispered.
…and you have no idea how to deal with it.
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t.”
