Death Kings

Chapter 9

Callum

In alphabetical order, we all take the stage Saturday morning to receive our diplomas. Callum and Ryder's fathers sit side by side. Neither of them acknowledged those men. Thiboux Moreau disowned his son after all, so I don't even know why he bothered to show up.

I see Etienne's mother's face. She is so immensely proud of her son. Genuine pride and joy show on her face. With her is her new husband, the President of the Louisiana chapter of the Death Riders MC, Axel Hughes. On his face, I see the same look we give Natalie. It says we would make the world bleed for her as well as die for her with a smile on our faces. Beside him is his son Nathaniel and Nate's eight-year-old daughter Sawyer. Sawyer is an adorable little brown-headed girl with honey eyes. Her hair is in a ponytail and her floral dress poofs out around her calves with white sandals on her little feet.

It isn't hard to miss Natalie's family at all. The bikers hold a powerful presence, that, and the Raider Prep alumni legends, the Knight twins, sit squarely amongst the bikers. Owen and Remington are mixed in with them. They are all there with joy apparent in their faces. Each time one of us was up to receive our diplomas, they whooped for us, causing all kinds of confusion.

Ryder is the Valedictorian, and Natalie is the Salutatorian. Those two were neck and neck, with Jaxson hot on their heels as far as grades go. We all graduated with honors, so there's that. After giving his speech, Ryder told us all to come on the stage, the curtain behind him opening up to our instruments.

That's right, the Kings of Death are going to give our graduating class a private concert. The song we chose is our twist on The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls. It's throaty with a more punk rock sound that's much more, us.

We are all finally leaving Raider Prep and the town of Buckskin. It's perfect since the only adults who understand who the Kings and their Queen truly are are Natalie's family.

When we finish the song, the crowd calls for an encore. We oblige by singing Here's To Us by Halestorm but give our more edgy twist. The faculty was not thrilled, but what could they do? We are out of Raider Preparatory Academy tomorrow and Ali sounds phenomenal on lead vocals. With the last performance of our song for Natalie, the ceremony is over finally. Not that our graduating class of 35 people was all that sizable.

I didn't notice Owen's father until Owen motioned for us to join him and Remington. Owen introduced us all, and we shook hands with his father. He is a decent man. It's a shame his son is now tied thoroughly with a bunch of crime lords. Oops. The only one of us the man seems concerned about is Dominic. Dominic is the most strait-laced one out of all of us. When he sees Jaxson, though, he has to do a double-take.

"Supervisory Special Agent Logan Brooks. It's nice to meet you. Owen has told us a lot about his father and growing up in such a wonderful home," Ryder says, breaking the silence. "You seem shocked at seeing Jaxson. He and your son are biological siblings. I'm guessing you and your wife did a private adoption with Tomas O'Dwyer that kept the man under the FBI radar, hm?"

Logan's eyes zeroed in on Ryder, just before Jaxson's maniacal grin appeared on his face. That smile sends a shiver down my spine. My brother/husband is a very terrifying individual. Natalie takes Jaxson's hand, digging her fingernails into the top while giving him a stern face. Her gaze says she is about to stab him in the thigh or punch him in the arm if he doesn't behave.

"I've done some research on all of you," Logan says.

Ryder smirks. "I would expect nothing less," Ryder replies, fully expecting that.

"I'm not thrilled that Logan's girlfriend is tied to an MC, but the records on her sister and her husband are clean and that of her sister-in-law," SSA Brooks reveals.