The SUV tore through the darkness.
Titan kept the accelerator pressed steady as the narrow coastal road curved through the marshland. Wind buffeted the vehicle, and the engine hummed hard beneath his hands.
Ahead of them, Ghost's motorcycle carved a path through the night, his headlight cutting a bright tunnel into the darkness.
In Titan's mirror, Riot clung to the rear bumper like a shadow.
Escort formation.
Tight.
Disciplined.
Professional.
A wet choking sound filled the cabin.
Elena.
"Don't you dare pass out on me," she snapped.
Titan glanced in the rearview mirror.
She was kneeling sideways across the back seat, one knee braced against the door as the SUV bounced along the road. Her gloved hands pressed thick gauze into the gunshot wound in Raptor's side.
The gauze was already soaked red.
Raptor groaned weakly.
"…trying."
"Stay with me," she said, tightening the pressure.
Titan's voice remained calm.
"How bad?"
Elena didn't answer right away.
Her fingers moved to Raptor's neck.
Pulse check.
Her brow tightened.
"Bad."
Titan kept his eyes on the road.
Behind him Raptor coughed.
A thick smear of blood touched the corner of his mouth.
Elena swore under her breath and rolled him slightly onto his side before the blood could choke him.
"Don't talk," she told him.
Raptor blinked slowly.
"…who are you?"
"Elena."
"…angel?"
Riot's voice crackled through the comm.
"Kid's flirting while bleeding out."
Elena ignored them.
She leaned forward between the front seats.
"You need to slow down."
Titan didn't move his foot.
"No."
"You're hitting every bump on this road."
"We slow down, he bleeds longer."
"That's not how trauma works."
Titan's eyes flicked briefly to the mirror.
Her gaze met his.
Sharp.
Focused.
"You a trauma surgeon?" Titan asked.
"Yes..."
"Then keep him alive."
She stared at him.
"You're unbelievable."
But she went back to work.
Her hands moved quickly.
Fresh gauze.
Compression wrap.
Direct pressure.
Raptor gasped when she tightened the bandage.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"No you're not," he wheezed.
Ghost's voice cut through Titan's helmet.
"Road split in two miles."
Titan nodded slightly.
Elena leaned forward again.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Titan didn't ask which one.
"The men shooting at us."
"Cartel."
She blinked.
"You say that like it's normal."
Riot laughed over the comm.
"Pretty close."
Elena studied the motorcycles escorting them.
They didn't ride like bikers.
They moved like trained operators protecting a convoy.
Her gaze shifted back to Titan.
"You're not a motorcycle club."
Titan didn't answer.
Behind her Raptor suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.
Elena froze.
Her hand pressed against his chest.
His breathing had changed.
Short.
Shallow.
Her stomach dropped.
"Oh no."
Titan heard the shift instantly.
"What."
She looked up.
"His lung collapsed again."
Titan's grip tightened on the wheel.
"Can you fix it?"
"Not while the car is moving."
Ghost's voice returned.
"Turn coming up."
Titan slowed slightly as the road curved into a smaller branch leading away from the coast.
He turned the wheel.
The SUV left the highway.
Elena noticed immediately.
"Where are we going?"
"Safer place."
"That road doesn't lead to a hospital."
"No."
Her head snapped forward.
"Then turn around."
Titan didn't.
The road narrowed as the forest closed in around them.
Branches leaned over the pavement, scraping softly against the roof of the SUV.
Ghost accelerated ahead.
Riot drifted farther back behind them.
Rear security.
Elena leaned forward again.
"If he doesn't get surgery soon, he will die."
Titan's voice stayed calm.
"He won't."
"Not unless you take him to a hospital."
Titan glanced at her in the mirror.
"No."
The word hung in the air.
Elena stared at him.
"You're insane."
Ghost slowed ahead of them.
Titan saw it too.
Large steel gates emerged from the darkness at the end of the road.
Floodlights snapped on overhead.
The forest exploded with harsh white light.
Elena blinked against it.
"What the hell is this?"
Beyond the gates stood an industrial compound surrounded by tall fencing and reinforced walls.
A massive warehouse loomed in the center of the yard.
Motorcycles lined the lot.
Men stepped out of the building as the engines approached.
More riders.
More leather vests.
More guns.
The gates began to open.
Elena stared at the compound.
Her voice dropped.
"That's not a hospital."
Titan drove through the gates.
"No," he said calmly.
"It's better."
The gates slammed shut behind them.
And Elena realized she had just entered the territory of Black Trident MC.