Irish exchanged a look with Savage, who nodded reluctantly. Pulling out his tablet, Irish queued up the video and handed it to Blade.
Jose's face filled the screen, his eyes gleamed with malevolent certainty.
"Greetings, Spartan Watchmen," he began, his voice smooth. "By now you've discovered what happens to those who cross the Rejects. Tim was just the beginning. A warmup act, if you will."
The camera panned to show a room behind him, some kind of industrial space, concrete walls, metal support beams. And hanging from one of those beams, bloody and barely conscious, was a man Blade recognized immediately.
"Fuck," Irish breathed. "That's Kylie’s brother, Marcus."
Blade's blood ran cold. Kylie was the club's secretary, one of their most loyal members. Her brother wasn't a patch holder,but he'd always supported her involvement with the club. He was a civilian. An innocent.
"As you can see," Jose continued as the camera returned to his face, "I've acquired a new guest. Marcus here has been quite informative about your club's operations, your security protocols... and about a certain little blonde you're protecting."
Blade's hands tightened on the tablet, rage building in his chest.
"I want the girl," Jose stated flatly. "In exchange for Marcus's life. Simple trade. You have forty-eight hours to deliver her to the coordinates I'll send separately. Come alone, Blade. Just you and the girl. Any sign of your brothers, any hint of a trap, and Marcus dies slowly."
Jose leaned closer to the camera, his eyes burning with hatred. "And after him, I'll start working my way through every person connected to your club. Wives. Girlfriends. Children. No one will be spared."
He smiled then, a chilling expression devoid of any real humor. "Forty-eight hours, enforcer. Tick tock."
The video ended abruptly, leaving Blade staring at a black screen, his mind racing with implications and possibilities.
"When did this come in?" he asked, his voice deadly calm.
"Twenty minutes ago," Irish replied. "Lucky's already called an emergency church meeting. We need to decide how to handle this."
"There's nothing to decide," Blade said, already pushing back the covers, ignoring the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. "We're not giving him Lily."
"Of course not," Savage agreed, moving to stop Blade from getting up. "But we need a plan. A way to rescue Marcus without endangering Lily."
"And we need you at full strength," Irish added. "Which means you stay in that bed until Doc clears you."
"Fuck that," Blade growled, though he allowed Savage to push him back against the pillows when a wave of dizziness hit him. "I need to be at that church meeting. Need to make sure everyone understands that Lily is non-negotiable."
"No one's suggesting otherwise," Savage assured him. "She's under our protection. But Marcus is family too. We need to find a way to save both of them."
Blade knew he was right, but the mere suggestion of using Lily as bait, of putting her anywhere near Jose's reach, made something primal and protective rise within him. Something that went beyond his duties as enforcer, beyond his loyalty to the club.
Something that felt dangerously close to love.
Focus, asshole. This isn't about your feelings. It's about keeping her safe.
"We need more information," he said, forcing his emotions aside to think tactically. "The compound's layout. Security measures. Number of hostiles. We go in blind, we're all dead, and Marcus along with us."
Irish nodded. "Lucky's already reached out to some contacts. Former military guys who might know something about Jose's operation in North Carolina."
"And Jay is digging through property records, shell companies, anything that might give us the exact location," Savage added.
"Good," Blade acknowledged. "But Jose's not stupid. He'll be ready for a rescue attempt."
"Which is why we need something he's not expecting," Irish mused.
The germ of an idea began to form in Blade's mind. Something risky, potentially catastrophic if it went wrong, but possibly their best shot at saving both Marcus and Lily.
"What if we give him what he wants?" he suggested slowly. "Or what he thinks he wants."
Savage frowned. "You mean use Lily as bait? Not happening, brother. Even if you were in fighting condition, which you're not."
