Zero Read online

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-843-4

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  The Skulls mean a great deal to me and I want to thank Evernight and all the team who bring these books to life. Without you all The Skulls wouldn't have a home.

  Thank you to my readers. Your support and kindness means the world to me.

  ZERO

  The Skulls, 6

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2014

  Prologue

  Ten years ago

  Lucas Blakely flicked his cigarette onto the pavement before exhaling the last puff of smoke into the air. Life was good. Life was fucking good. Becoming part of The Skulls was the best decision he ever made. They were all a family, and even though he was a prospect, getting all the shitty jobs, he didn’t care at all. He’d rather be shoveling shit for the club than doing anything else with his life. Zero knew how bad life could be without the club, and he wasn’t going to do anything to turn it to shit. For the first time in his life he felt like he finally belonged. His parents didn’t give a shit about him, and neither did any of the family in his life. The only real family he had besides the club was Prudence and Trevor. Prudence, however, always went by the name Prue. He’d do anything for the brother and sister pair. Thinking about his two friends, he wondered what Trevor had gotten himself into. His friend wasn’t known for making good decisions, but Lucas wouldn’t worry. Trevor wouldn’t do anything stupid to put Prue in danger. The one thing Lucas could guarantee was Prue’s protection. He cared about her more than any other woman in his life. She deserved true happiness after everything she’d gone through.

  Relaxing, Lucas stared up at the night sky feeling calm, relaxed, and alive. He wasn’t going to leave The Skulls. Getting his patch was going to be the best thing he ever achieved in his life. He dropped out of school at a young age without a single certificate to his name. Tiny made sure he achieved a mechanic’s certificate, giving him the excuse to work on cars in his free time. All of the men he met were qualified to work on the machines.

  With The Skulls he could be himself without any worry. They accepted him for who he was rather than what they expected.

  Feminine giggling caught his attention, and he saw Lash and Nash messing around. The two men already had their club names while he had to wait for his. They were also prospects and working to be patched in. Tiny was a fair leader and never showed favoritism even with the two brothers living with him. Running a hand over his face, Lucas threw the cigarette away and started back inside. His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out accepting the call.

  “Lucas?” Trevor asked, sounding terrified.

  Frowning, he looked around the grounds, not seeing anything suspicious.

  “Trevor, what’s up?”

  They hadn’t seen each other in over two months. The last time they were together they had spent the weekend drunk off their faces. He recalled Prue cursing and cleaning up the mess they’d created.

  “I’ve fucked up, man. Shit, I need your help. I’m so fucking fucked.”

  Lucas heard the nerves in his friend’s voice. Feeling his gut clench, he glanced down at the time. It was past ten on a Friday. The club was roaring with life. Men were fucking and drinking, the action finally starting to get good.

  “Where are you?” Lucas asked.

  “I’m in a hotel outside of Fort Wills. The, erm, fuck, er, it’s called The Central Point, whatever the fuck that means. I need your help. Fuck, it hurts,” Trevor whimpered over the line. The panic was clear to Lucas.

  “It doesn’t matter what it’s called. Just stay put. I know where you are. I’ll be there soon. Don’t go anywhere.”

  He pocketed his phone, grabbed his bike, and drove out of the compound. Lucas tried to think about what was going on with his friend. What had Trevor gotten himself into? Lucas didn’t want to think about it, but he knew it was bad.

  Lucas climbed off his bike seeing the name of the hotel was the same that Trevor said.

  One of the doors in the corner opened, and Lucas paused as he saw his friend. Trevor was usually so full of life, running everywhere. No one could stop him or hold him down. Staring at his friend, Lucas saw him holding his stomach. Even in the dim lighting he spotted the blood and the paleness on his face.

  Panicking, he ran to Trevor’s side.

  “Fuck, what are you doing? You should be in the hospital.” He pulled his cell phone out ready to call for an ambulance.

  Trevor stopped him. “No, no hospital. If I go then Prue doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “What? What the fuck is going on?” They were on the ground outside of Trevor’s room. Tears filled Lucas’s eyes as he looked down at his friend. The fucker was dying in his arms, and Lucas couldn’t let that happen. They were best friends. He needed to save him. They had been together forever, and Lucas intended to get him patched in with The Skulls.

  “I fucked up.” Trevor gasped, groaning.

  “Stop talking.”

  “No! No hospital. I’m not going to the hospital. They’ll kill me, and then they’ll be after Prue. I can’t do that to her. She deserves so much better. Fuck!”

  Lucas lifted up the shirt and gasped. There was no saving the man in his arms. No, he couldn’t let his best friend die. This shit was not happening.

  “Who did this?”

  “I thought I could handle it. The money was good. Fuck!” Trevor was wheezing, and there was a pause after each word.

  The tears in Lucas’s eyes fell thick and fast. “Don’t die. Let me take you to the hospital.”

  “I’m a dead man, Lucas. I worked for Alan, Alan Lynch. He’s … he’s a man I never want Prue to meet. He makes your biker gang look like kids’ play.” Trevor coughed. “He’s a type of mafia man. Drugs, guns, girls, money, he does everything. I worked for him. I took some drugs to a rival. Fuck, I was stitched up, Lucas. I was stitched up bad.”

  He listened to his friend knowing it was only a matter of minutes before Trevor died.

  “He takes out all the loved ones. I need you to promise me you’ll keep Prue safe. She doesn’t know anything about this. I kept it from her because I’m a fucking idiot.” Trevor cried out. “Promise me.”

  “I promise. I’ll do everything to keep her safe.”

  Trevor smiled, and his whole body started to shake. “End this, man. I can’t handle it, please. With Prue take care of, I don’t need this shit. I fucked up.”

  Lucas watched as Trevor reached into his pocket. “Take this. Read it when you get the chance.”

  Taking the letter off his friend, Lucas couldn’t stop the tears falling thick and fast. His best friend had asked him to end his life. Why hadn’t he checked in sooner with Trevor? He should have known something had gone wrong. Closing his eyes, Lucas covered Trevor’s mouth, stopping the air. Though his friend fought, within minutes he was dead in his arms, the fight gone completely out of him.

  Pocketing the letter, Lucas stared at the man in his arms. His best friend was dead, and the man responsible was Alan Lynch. He’d never heard of the man before. Wiping the tears from his face with the hand not covered in blood, he looked around him. Fuck, he didn’t
know if there were any witnesses.

  “Prue.”

  Dumping the body in the hotel room, he climbed on his bike and rode for Prue. He knew some guys who’d keep her protected. Trevor wouldn’t lie about her protection. She would need to disappear. Tears fell down his face, but he ignored them. There was no time to cry or think about his dead friend. Fuck, Trevor was dead.

  The time passed quickly as he made his way toward Prue and Trevor’s house. When he saw the light on in her bedroom, he parked the bike. What was he supposed to do? Protect Prue, and then deal with everything else. A dead body left in a hotel room was going to get way too much attention.

  You can do this.

  Getting to the porch he found the key hidden in the plant pot. Many years he’d known the two and they still hid a spare key in the plant pot. Letting himself inside, he called out Prue’s name. Should he get The Skulls involved? They’d know what to do. The moment the thought occurred, he rejected it. He was a prospect, and he didn’t want to bring this kind of shit to them. Within minutes she appeared at the top of the stairs looking ruffled.

  “Lucas, what the fuck?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and was clearly struggling to see. Prue had been wearing glasses for as long as he could remember. “What are you doing here?”

  “You’ve got to get dressed and pack your shit up. We need to move. I don’t know how long we’ve got before they come,” he said, going into the kitchen. Trevor hadn’t been particularly clear on how long he had to get her safe. Lucas didn’t want to waste unnecessary time.

  “Leave, Lucas, what the fuck?” She repeated her words making her way down to him.

  “Trevor is dead,” he said, forcing the words out between gritted teeth. “He’s in serious trouble. You didn’t fucking tell me he was in serious trouble.”

  “He said he was fine. Shit. I knew I should have asked him more. He was always so quiet, and he wouldn’t bring anyone back to the house.” Prue ran fingers through her hair. She was nineteen years old. Their parents had died in a fatal shooting when she was fifteen. None of them lived near Fort Wills at the time, and it was only a year ago when Trevor had got this house for her to live in, finally moving them out of their parents’ old place. Trevor had taken responsibility for her, and Zero helped bring her up since she was fifteen. Neither of them would let her go into care.

  “You need to leave,” he said.

  “Who was he working for? He wouldn’t tell me, but I know he’d tell you.”

  Should he tell her? What harm would it really do? Trevor had already put her in more danger.

  “Alan Lynch.”

  She gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “No, he wouldn’t. How the fuck could he do something like that?”

  “He worked for him and got killed for it. I need you to move.” Once Alan’s name was mentioned, Lucas didn’t need to fight her to move her ass. Prue packed up everything she needed, taking birth certificates and the necessary documents. When she was packed and on the back of his bike, he rode to a safe house he knew. The city was perfect for getting rid of folk who needed to disappear. With his focus on keeping Prue safe, he could stop thinking about the pain of losing his best friend.

  Lucas bundled her away with an old friend who specialized in fake identities. He knew a lot of people to help him. It was one of the reasons why Butch was securing him a position at The Skulls. They could use him to help them.

  He organized for Prue to disappear and that he’d come for her when he was ready. She didn’t want him to go, but he had no choice. He wasn’t finished with his own kind of business. Leaving her alone, he went back to the hotel where Trevor was lying, decaying, dead. Nothing would bring him back. His best friend was dead, never coming back to drink with him. No, I can’t allow that to happen, but it’s too late, and there’s nothing I can do. Alan Lynch had guaranteed that. Trevor was gone.

  Staring at him on the bed, Lucas couldn’t think of a single thing to say to his one true friend. The pain engulfed him, threatening to tear him in two. He let the tears fall not caring how weak it made him feel. His best friend was dead. The words kept ringing through his head, and he couldn’t believe it. An hour later, his cell phone rang.

  “Where the fuck are you?” Butch asked.

  “I’ve got stuff to do.”

  “What do you mean you’ve got stuff to do? Your life is the club. Lash and Nash are picking up the fucking slack. Get your ass back here.”

  Lucas was silent as he listened to his other friend berate him. “Butch, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure. I’ve got all fucking day for questions. Why not fire them at me?”

  Staring at Trevor, he felt the will to do something that would get him killed. “If someone you cared about was killed, what would you do?”

  “I’d kill the bastard dead, Lucas. No one fucks with me and gets away with it, and that means you. I’ve not been patched in that long, but the way you’re going you’re going to get me fucking killed,” Butch said.

  “You’d kill them?”

  “Yes, no one fucks with me.”

  Lucas knew what he had to do. “There’s something I’ve got to do this weekend. I’ll be back on Monday.”

  Hanging up the phone, he looked at Trevor. The only thing he could do was get rid of the body. He went to the gas station and loaded up a can. Inside Trevor’s room, he poured the petrol all over the body and across the hotel room. Striking the match, he left the room to burn, getting on his bike to make his way to the city.

  ****

  For the last twenty-four hours, Lucas had watched and gathered as much information as possible from everyone who hated Alan Lynch. Considering the man’s power, he didn’t have anyone who wanted to stick by his side. Most of the people Lucas spoke to were more than happy to give shit up for the man. Lucas knew Alan would be visiting his club, Pleasures, tonight. Pleasures was where he was going to get the man he needed. Leaving his bike and leather cut in a secure holding, he rented out a van.

  Lucas made all the arrangements to guarantee he’d get what he needed. The letter in his jacket still lay there unopened. Trevor had written him a letter, his last words. Lucas wasn’t ready to read them yet. First, he needed to get a little payback.

  You’re not going to make it out alive.

  He was going to take Alan out, and if he went down with him, he’d be happy. Lucas didn’t care if he made it out alive, as long as he hurt Alan in the process. Going unnoticed, he followed Alan to the club seeing his entourage of security men. From the age of ten, Lucas had been learning how to fire a gun. He learned with Trevor, and by fifteen he was an expert shooter.

  At twenty-three years old he was a machine, deadly. He could hold his own in The Skulls. It was the only place he wanted to be. Rubbing a hand down his face, he carried the weapons in the back of his jeans. There was no metal security detector on the way inside the club. He entered the bar and ordered himself a beer. Looking around the tight space he saw the women, the drugs, and settled his gaze on Alan. The man was in a VIP section, which was partitioned off with glass. The moment Alan stood, he’d be easy to kill.

  Was this some kind of power trip to show everyone else how powerful he was?

  Alan fucked with the wrong man.

  Sipping at his beer, he checked the security of the men. They were bored and used to working like this to keep him safe. The men were not even on their guard. Didn’t they expect anyone to try to take out their boss? Once he started shooting, he would have to work quickly to get out of there.

  He killed Trevor. No walking away, no backing out.

  Fight to the death.

  He and Trevor had promised each other a lifetime of friendship. Nothing could keep either of them from what they wanted—until this fucker had taken Trevor away from him.

  Kill him. Hurt him.

  Trevor died slowly. The only person he’d called was Lucas.

  Waiting for the right opportunity was his best course of action
. Sipping at his beer, he saw the right opportunity as Alan’s security guards turned their backs on the crowd, bored with looking after someone who wasn’t in danger.

  They were mistaken. Getting closer was easier. Lucas had learned to fire both guns at the same time. The summers growing up he’s spent the time practicing to fire both as he wanted to be like the cowboys in the movies. Not many men could fire two guns at the same time, but he’d trained to the point of ease.

  Drawing them out, he took out the first two men along with the three charging toward them. With them down, he ran toward the glass, knocked Alan out and dragged him out of the back of the club. He had learned the layout of the club easily. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Lucas continued to move, all the time thinking about his best friend.

  He dumped Alan in the back of his truck he’d rented and drove to the abandoned glass building he found in the outskirt of the city. The windows were smashed, and there were cobwebs everywhere. Securing Alan to the chair took little effort. Lucas stared at the man who had taken Trevor away from him and Prue. His morbid thoughts were starting to sound like a broken record.

  The man was handsome. Good for Alan. Lucas had practiced his carving skills.

  Pouring bottled water into the man’s face, he waited for Alan to come around.

  “What? What the fuck?”

  See, a criminal was just human and easy to get to. No one was above death, not even Alan.

  “Hello, sunshine.”

  Alan didn’t look a day older than thirty.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Alan asked.

  Smiling, Lucas grabbed a scalpel and impaled it in Alan’s leg. The other man screamed, cursing.

  “What the fuck?”

  Removing the blade, he stabbed it into Alan’s leg three more times. “So you are fucking human. People I’ve been talking to think you piss gold or some shit like that.”