Captured Devil's Blaze MC Book 1 (22 page)

I rake my hand down the side of my face.
Carnage
. It’s everywhere. There’s no other word for it. Fifteen dead in total. Three of my own. Prospects with the exception of K-Rex. He was a good man. A man who had barely begun to live… and he’s gone. Diesel lost his Vice President Bell and five other men. I feel the weight of their deaths, too. The rest of the casualties were civilians. Innocent bystanders who walked into the diner for lunch and will never leave. Their blood is on my hands, too.

“Boss?” Torch asks, worried. I pull my eyes away from the county coroners and paramedics who are covering bodies with sheets while the cops interview witnesses.

“Yeah?” I ask, my voice hoarse. I’m feeling fucking old.

“You going to let them look at your arm?”

I glance at my shoulder, the white cloth tied around it soaked in blood. I had forgotten it. It doesn’t matter. It’s nothing compared to what my men took, compared to the lives lost.

“Nah. I’ll get our man to stitch it up when we get back home,” I tell him, clearing my throat. My eyes can’t stop going back to all of the chaos in front of me.

“We’re coming with you,” Diesel growls. I turn to look at him. I can see the fury in him. He’s normally easygoing, reminding me more of Torch. Now he looks ready to kill everyone in his sight.

“I think this war has cost you enough, brother. I didn’t mean for—”

“Fuck that shit. You know what it means when we go to war. We live this fucking life for a reason. We’re the men our forefathers envisioned for this country. Not the watered-down bureaucrats who run it now.”

“I should have thought about snipers. This is on me. The Donahue’s calling card has always been ‘go big’. I had our men monitoring for bombs and toxins.
Jesus.
”

“Colin’s calling card is bombs,
ese
. This Redmond is different. All bets are off.”

“We’re going to need more intel on him, Torch,” I order, feeling old and tired. I want blood as much as Diesel does. I’m fucking wondering how many are going to die before we’re done here. “You sure about this,
hermano?”
I ask Diesel.

“We’re at war and we band together. I’m going to need a couple of hours to see to my men and have their bodies sent home.”

“Same here. You got a cage Pistol and Keys can use for transport?”

“Yeah. Got you covered. My connection with the state police and the sheriff’s office are running interference, too. You should be good to go.”

“I’m not sure it’s going to be easy to get the bodies right now, Skull. No matter what Diesel says. Besides, he was the one who picked this damn place. Perimeters should have been more secure,” Pistol says.

“Make it easy. Grease the wheels, use your charm if you have any, or fucking guns. I don’t care, I just want my men home.” My hand goes to Diesel to hold him back. He growls at Pistol, shooting him a look that could kill.

“Got it,” says Pistol, looking at Diesel, but not adding fuel to the flame right now.

“Okay, we’ll meet up at Pigeon River in two hours. Everyone have their shit together and be ready to move out. Torch, Sabre, and Briar, you’re with me.”

“Where’re we going, boss?” Briar asks.

“We’re gonna see if we can figure out where the snipers went. If we can capture one of them, that might be useful.”

“We’ve been looking for the last hour, Skull,” Pistol says. I’m really getting tired of the bastard. If I didn’t need Cade’s men right now…

“Then it won’t hurt for us to look some more. Didn’t I give you a job to do?” I ask over my shoulder, already walking off. I hear him grunt and take that as acceptance. 

Diesel slaps me on the shoulder, which jars my fucking arm and hurts like hell, but I ignore it. “Your man needs to be taught who is in charge.”

“I’ve taught him. He’s just too fucking thick to remember.”

“Cut off his testicles. That’s not so easy for a man to forget.”

My hand rubs my sack in reflex. 

“I’ll keep that in mind. For now he stands though, I need his brother’s firepower. See you in a couple hours,
hermano
.”

“See you then,” he says, slapping my back again before walking in the opposite direction.

I hop on my bike and take off, my men following me. I need to get this shit done and get back to Beth. I’ve got to keep her safe. This attack was different from anything the Donahues have done before. I have to tighten the circle around her even more…
and soon
.

Skull’s late. Dinner was hours ago and it’s dark outside now. I asked Latch if he had heard from them. He got this strange look on his face which worried me, but all he said was that they’d run into some trouble. He swore to me Skull was fine, but it feels like he’s keeping something from me. My phone rang three other times today. It was my father each time, and each time I hit the button to decline the call. I can’t talk to him. I have to keep holding on to hope.

It’s all I have. 

I spent all day cleaning the compound like a crazy person. The muffler bunnies were giving me the evil eye, and the men were all looking at me like I’d lost my mind. I have. Until I know if Skull can end this war and contain my father, I’m going to be certifiable.

“You’re looking better these days, Beth,” Latch says.

I’m organizing the back of the bar while Latch sits on a stool in front of me nursing a beer. I blow out a large puff of air because if Latch knew what a mess I was inside, he probably wouldn’t say that.

“I’m trying to have faith,” I tell him.

“Good to know,” he says, taking a drink.

“Tell me about your sister.” I need something to take my mind off of things.

“How do you know about Lucy?”

“I heard some of the girls mention that you help take care of your sister. They think that means you’re sweet and caring.”

“You know better?”

“I think you probably care about your sister, but the fact that you step up to the plate to help her doesn’t make you sweet.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Yep. I think it just means you use that to get into women’s pants.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t need help to get into women’s pants. They see me coming and that shit just magically falls off.”

“I’m sure,” I tell him, shaking my head. I’d argue with him, but after watching him and Sabre in action, I don’t even try. My phone beeps and I pull it out of my back pocket.

“Well, look there. Looks like Skull and the boys are back,” Latch says, using his drink to point to the security monitor that shows bikes and cars pulling into the parking lot outside. “You coming to say hi to your man?” he asks. I don’t look up though. I have a text from my father. It’s a file and I can’t see what it is because it hasn’t downloaded completely.

“What? Oh, go ahead. I’ll follow you in a minute. I want to… freshen up.”

“Women. Geez, you spend all day mooning over Skull and now you’re putting off going to see him. I can tell you he won’t care what the fuck you look like. He’d rather you meet him first, then freshen up.”

“Go on, will you? I’ll be there in a bit.”

He says something else, but I don’t hear it. My attention has turned to my phone. The file pops up; it’s a video. The screen shows a silver and red building that says Edna’s Truck Stop on the outside. My hand shakes as my thumb reaches up to hit the play button on the screen.

I watch as the scene unfolds, sending my body into shock. At first I can’t see what’s happening, but then it becomes all too clear. Men are diving to the ground and crawling behind bikes and cars as gunfire erupts everywhere. The camera zooms in, and from that angle I see a shattered window to the diner.

Then I see it. Skull is standing there and his arm is bleeding. The video shuts off, but another message arrived while I was watching. I hit play again—not wanting to know, but afraid not to. This time, Skull stands there looking out at a line of bodies. There are paramedics covering them in sheets and ambulances with their lights flashing. The video stops just in time for a text to appear on my screen:

I spared him this time. I won’t the next, Beth. The choice is yours.

My fingers shaking, I text back:
Why are you doing this?

One painstakingly long minute later, I get a response:
If I don’t take him out or end this,
Colin won’t rest until he has you. I can’t allow you to be used against me, Beth. You need to make a choice. Skull’s life is in your hands.

I hear voices coming through the doors. My heart pounds against my chest and a cold sweat covers my skin. It’s time. After what I just saw, can I truly make any other decision? At one point in that video, a red dot had been on Skull’s head. He could have killed the man I love; he had him in the gun-sight and Skull’s death would have been my fault.

I take a breath. I close my eyes. My hand grips the locket around my neck. I don’t think I have any hope or faith left. Now, all I have is the will to make sure that Skull doesn’t die for loving me.

I make my fingers move:
I’ll be at the hospital tomorrow morning.

Once I text him back, I put my phone up and walk around just in time to catch Skull entering the room. I run and wrap him up in my arms, letting the tears fall.

“Shh. I’m okay,
querida
. It’s just a small wound. Barely more than a scratch,” Skull says, trying to calm me. He thinks I’m upset over the wound. I am, but that’s not why the tears are flowing unchecked.

I’m going to have to give him up. I can’t keep Skull. He’s not mine. He never was. The truth of that nearly destroys me. I stand there in the middle of the room surrounded by his men and let him hold me while I cry out my pain—or at least a little of it. 

It’s been a fucked-up day. I just got Diesel and his men settled. They’re in sleeping bags in the main entrance to the bunker. Fucker refused my offer of bedrooms, told me I was getting soft. Hell, maybe I am. I’d take a warm bed over that fucking hard floor any day of the week.

A warm bed with Beth in it is even better.

I softly close the door to our room, hoping she’s asleep. I should have known better. She’s sitting up in bed doing something on her phone. She looks up when I come in and shuts her phone off, setting it on the bedside table.

“Everything okay?” she asks, her voice worn out and hoarse. She cried for an hour today after I got home. Even when I finally got her to calm down by showing her that the wound wasn’t that bad, she still cried. This is taking a toll on her. I see the worry and the pain etched on her face and I fucking hate it. I need to end this fucking war; I just don’t know how, short of cutting someone’s head off. Trouble is, I can’t tell whose head I should take. Colin’s or Redmond’s? And where the fuck has Matthew been all this time? I can’t even find the son of a bitch in France where Beth thought he was. I keep thinking I’m missing the big picture here. It’s driving me crazy.

“Yes,
querida
. Just had to make sure Diesel and his crew were settled for the night.”

“You have his men here and Cade’s. How many more do you think it will have to take? How many more lives will be on the line because of me?” she asks, her voice weak and quiet. I almost have to strain to hear the question.

I sigh deeply. I knew it would come to this. I hope I have the right words to tackle her worries. There’s nothing she can do about it now; I’m never letting her go.

“
Querida
,” I start, but she waves me off.

“You know I’m right, Skull. If not for me, none of this would be happening.”

I throw my clothes to the floor and join her in the bed. Getting settled under the covers, I pull her body next to mine.

“We didn’t start this,
mi cielo
. The only person to blame here is Colin and Redmond.” Her body tenses in my arms and I stroke her arm tenderly. 

“Redmond?” she asks.

“
Si
. He’s Edmund’s brother. Word has it that he’s the one pulling the strings, not Colin. There’s a pull for power going on in the Donahues’ camp,
querida
. I think we’re just getting caught in the crossfire.”

“What will you do?”

“Keep attacking until the main target slips up. He will; they always do.”

She doesn’t say anything else, so I just continue to stroke her skin, letting my touch calm her.

“No matter what happens, Skull, I want you to know that the day you walked into that small coffee shop and sat down at my table was the best day of my life.”

Something in her tone worries me. I pull back and lift her face up to talk to me. “We’re going to be okay,
querida
. This will pass and things will get better. I need you to believe that.
I need you to believe in me.
” 

Her eyes seem to bore into mine, and I see a million questions, but she asks me none of them. Instead, she buries her head into my chest and places a kiss above my heart.

“I know you’re extending the lockdown and tightening security, but do you think you could let me go to the hospital to spend the day with Beast? They’re removing his bandages tomorrow and checking out the results from the first surgery.”

“Is he talking to anyone yet?” I ask. They brought Beast out slowly, but he’s not talking to anyone. The doctors are starting to worry his voice has been affected.

“No. He ignores everyone. I just don’t want him to be alone. You have the place surrounded. I’d be okay.”

“I don’t know,
mi cielo
. I don’t like the idea of you being away from the compound.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise to keep at least one of your men with me at all times.”

I smile. She doesn’t know it yet, but she won’t have a choice. I don’t feel right letting her go, but Latch spent the evening telling me how she cleaned the place from top to bottom. If I don’t give her something to do, she’s going to work herself to death.

“Okay,
mi cielo
. But you will come home early. Tomorrow, I will be busy early on setting up our next attack, but after that, I want you in my arms for the remainder of the day.”

“I’m pretty sure that can be arranged,” she says with a smile, but the smile doesn’t touch her eyes. Gone is that playful front she had before I left. I know it’s because I was shot. I just don’t know how to fix it.

“It better be. I’m practically wasting away from lack of attention here,” I tell her, trying to lighten up the somber mood.

“Is that so?”

“Complete truth,” I sigh.

“I’ll have to see if I can fix that then,” she says, sliding under the covers. My baby does like sucking on my cock. When I feel her hand wrap around it, I groan.

“I like a woman who takes matters into her own… hands,” I whisper, my fingers combing through her hair as she loves on my cock, my shaft disappearing into her mouth. I don’t even mind the sting of pain that comes with using my arm.

It’s more than worth it.