Ink: Devil’s Nightmare MC

by Bourne, Lena

  “And him?” Josie asks wryly, as though reading my mind. I wish he’d been able to set my mind at ease regarding the trouble he’s in on his own, but that didn’t happen.

  “He’s always been very good at getting himself into the type of trouble other people see coming a mile away,” Josie says into the silence. “He gets that from his dad.”

  “I don’t think he’s very worried, so whatever trouble he was in might be past.” I hope I’m right about that with all my heart, and as I say it, a bubble of the purest joy rises in my chest at the memory of the passion we shared less than an hour ago. Passion I hope is just the precursor to the rest of our life together.

  “I hope you’re right,” Josie says in a softer voice. “I’m going to lie down now. I have the worst headache I’ve had in years.”

  She suddenly looks older than her years, and I offer to bring her something for the pain, offer to try and make her comfortable, but she dismisses me.

  It’s dark outside, but not very late yet. Despite that, I could sleep. I’m weary enough to sleep for days. The fear, the uncertainty, all my anger at Ink turning to love of the sort I haven’t felt for him since before he left me, have drained me. But the fear and worry I saw etched into Josie’s face made me aware of another loose end I still have to tie up.

  Sure enough, I’ve had about twenty missed calls from my dad. He didn’t call this morning after sending those thugs after me, but he’s been calling constantly since late afternoon. I swallow the lump in my throat and call him back before anger at him gets the better of me again, and I change my mind.

  The line doesn’t even ring, he just picks up. “Are you alright, Julie?” he asks breathlessly.

  “No thanks to you.” My voice just answers him on its own.

  He takes a loud, shuddering breath that’s full of fear and regret. “They didn’t hurt you, did they? I was so worried when they told me what happened this morning. I never meant for it to happen that way, Julie. I never meant for them to go after you when I told them about the documents you took. I told them I was handling it. But…but…it’s complicated. They…they have a stake in the Euphoria project now.”

  “The man threatened to kidnap me and keep me for his own,” my voice says again into the first pause he takes, ignoring the deflated way he’s speaking, ignoring the full implication of what he just told me.

  “But you’re alright now? You’re safe?” he asks, his voice forceful and full of feeling again.

  I’d be a lot safer if it weren’t for you, my mouth wants to say, but this time I stop it.

  “Come home, Julie, right now,” he suggests earnestly. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  “I’m at Ink’s house,” I tell him. “I’m as safe here, as I can be anywhere.”

  He takes a sharp breath, and I can just hear him swallowing whatever he was going to say.

  “I’m not coming back home. Not tonight and not anytime soon,” I say, kind of choking on the words, because my future is far from settled. I gave my heart to Ink tonight, so wherever he goes, I go. But what if he goes somewhere I can’t follow? I take a deep breath and will my mind to only tackle one problem at a time. “Leave us in peace. Please.”

  Another problem joins the ones already whirling in my mind. I might have made a mistake telling him where I am. What if he sends those thugs after me again? But he sounded so sincere in his apology.

  “Don’t send anyone to get me,” I add in a broken and quiet voice, since I know I don’t really have any control over whether he does or not.

  “I won’t, Julie, I swear it,” he says, and I let go of the breath I’ve been holding so long it turned painful.

  “Ink takes care of you, I understand that now,” my dad adds quietly and slowly, like he has to force the words out. “I’m sorry for everything.”

  He says it with so much feeling behind the words that I believe him, but I also know that nothing he ever says will make anything alright again, not after what he did. And suddenly there’s nothing more for us to talk about.

  “Tell Mom I’ll call her,” I say.

  “I never meant for you to get hurt, Julie,” he says. “What happened this morning…I never imagined they’d do something like that. I wish I could take it all back. I never thought they’d come and threaten you. I told them I would get the deed back and to stay out of it. They’re not who I thought they were.”

  “Yeah, no shit. I wish you realized that sooner,” I say even though there really is no more to say.

  “What’s done is done, Dad,” I add. “I wish none of any of it happened, but it did, and none of us can take it back.”

  He stays silent after that and so do I.

  “Tell mom I’m OK, and not to worry about me,” I finally say.

  This time he just promises he will and doesn’t lunge into another senseless and useless apology. I’m glad for it. No amount of apologizing will ever erase the past, and it won’t make me forgive him either. It’s a painful truth to face.

  As I lay down on the bed and close my eyes, the past doesn’t sting as much as it did all of last year. I suddenly realize it’s because I’m looking forward to the future that’s beckoning me in a way I haven’t for a very long time. I wish Ink would come back soon so we can start living it.

  27

  Ink

  The brother on the door tells me to go inside as soon as I reach the bunker, and I find Cross, Tank, Scar and Ice in the same room where I spoke to them before.

  “Hawk tracked the two sons to The Nowhere. Ace is already there, playing cards with them. He’ll be the one going in to join them. You three will make sure they take him in,” Cross says, meaning me, Ice and Scar.

  The two sons will know me, but I’m sure they also know Ice and Scar, since they’re the two most recognizable members of our MC. Cross clearly wants there to be no doubt about who came after the Sinners tonight. Scar and his nasty scar are legend, and Ice has a long and notorious career as the reigning Death Match champion. He didn’t lose a single fight in that underground MMA competition his captors, the Spawns, forced him to take part in. He’s also notorious for exacting a thorough and bloody revenge on them after the Devils freed him.

  Cross tells us what he wants us to do, and it’s a sound plan, but not without its serious dangers. I don’t spend too much time thinking about them. I just nod along as he reveals the plan, because I’ll do whatever he orders me from this point on and the less thinking and questioning I do, the better. I’ll make sure everyone who witnesses the fight I’m to instigate tonight will believe I’m willing to risk it all to avenge my family and my woman.

  We don’t speak as we walk to our bikes to make the ride. I’m not worried, because Ice and Scar are more than enough back up in any fight, but I am wary. It’s always good to be that. It keeps you alert.

  The gravel lot far from civilization on which The Nowhere stands is dotted with bikes, and noise mingled with smoke is coming out of the building. I’m guessing we’ll have a fairly sizable audience for this charade, which I plan to make look as real as I can. If I get a few solid punches at Honey and Precious, I’ll take them. I hate the Sinners for what they’ve done to my father, Julie and me, and tonight they’ll know it.

  I spot Precious and Honey as soon as I enter. They’re sitting with their backs to the door at a table next to the bar, playing poker with Ace and two more guys, one of which is Devil’s Nightmare MC too. Ace looks at us as we enter, but there’s no more recognition on his face than I’m witnessing from everyone else who looks at us. The glares are mostly directed at Ice, since he’s as close to a celebrity as our world has. I’ve seen him get this kind of reception at practically every biker bar I’ve come to with him. He ignores it, his face the hard, unreadable mask that gave him his nickname.

  “Hammer! Piston!” I shout angrily over the general ding in the room. “I’ve been looking for you all day!”

  Precious and Honey turn to me, as does the older guy next to them. He’s a Sinner too, an
d I’m pretty sure their daddy sent him with them as a bodyguard. There might be others in this room with the same task, but it’s too late to warn Ice and Scar now. I’m sure they’ll anticipate it on their own. They know their stuff when it comes to fights.

  “The Sinners went too far today,” I say aggressively, as I come to stand in front of them. Scar is by my side, and Ice takes his position behind the old bodyguard.

  “I won’t have my girlfriend disrespected and threatened,” I tell them. They’re trying to match the aggression on my face, but mostly they just look confused and scared. “I know neither of you rode out to do that today, since you’re a couple of pussies who never get to do anything important. But you’re good for sending messages to your daddy, and I’m gonna make sure he hears my message loud and clear tonight.”

  The three of us produced knives, scary, serrated things that reflect the poor lighting in this bar perfectly. Their eyes go wide in fear, and they both gasp in unison, but no other sound comes from them. I grip Precious’ greasy hair, pull his head back and press my knife against his jugular, hard enough to draw a drop of blood. Scar does the same to Honey, and Ice slams a well-aimed elbow at the back of the bodyguard’s neck when he tries to stand up and interfere. He crumples back onto the table and doesn’t move. Precious is shaking, so hard I feel it all the way up my arm. I hope he doesn’t piss himself, and at the same time kind of do.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Ink?” Honey asks, twisting just his eyes to look at me, but otherwise not moving a muscle, mindful of Scar’s knife against his throat. He always was the marginally braver of the two. We went to school together and he’s using that voice with me now. But those days are long gone.

  “Your father killed mine, his men killed my family, and now I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna kill you bad, so your father will think twice before messing with me and mine again,” I say loudly. My voice carries through the now completely silent room. Everyone is staring at us, and someone turned off the music. Good. We need tidings of this event to become gossip. “No one’s gonna stop me either. Your daddy should’ve made you stay safe in your rooms at home.”

  “This won’t end well for you and yours,” Precious spits, the aggression in his voice reminding me of a boy’s anger, not a man’s. “My father will kill everyone you know if anything happens to us.”

  I laugh coldly, and Scar chuckles too. The sound of his laugh is as scary as the sight of his face, and neither of those things are lost on Precious who flashed him a scared look. I think he’s about to piss himself now.

  “You don’t need to talk,” I say calmly and ominously. “I don’t care what you say so you might as well just keep quiet. You don’t even have to scream. You just have to die.”

  The guy Ice knocked down suddenly jerks to his feet. He swings at me with the knife in his fist but not accurately. I move out of the way, dragging Precious with me by his hair. Ice has the guy under control again in the next second, kicking him in the knee so he goes down, then slamming his head into the side of the thick wood table a couple of times. He won’t be getting up anytime soon now. The other Devil who was playing cards has backed away from us, but he’s watching intently. I bet his task is to help us out only if shit goes south.

  The draft against my back from the door opening is telling me people are leaving, and when I scan the room, there’s only about ten guys still left in it. Plus the whores, but no one’s gonna ask them anything about tonight.

  I keep my eyes on the room, speaking to the remaining people there. “When they ask what happened, tell them Ink was here with the Devils to avenge my father and his brothers from Road Knights MC. If Griller comes, tell him we’ll deliver the bodies of his sons to him before morning.”

  Precious and Honey are both shaking now. They’re trying to look tough, and Honey’s glaring at me with blind, hard hate, but his mouth is quivering.

  “Our father will kill you all,” Honey says again and I just laugh. Scar and Ice join me. It’s a weak threat and we all know it, including Precious and Honey. But clearly it’s the best they got, since they’ve both uttered it now.

  “Let’s take this outside,” I say. “No point messing up this place with their worthless blood.”

  Their chairs rattle as me and Scar pull the two sons to their feet by their hair. Ice goes ahead, walking backwards to the door in case someone jumps us.

  As soon as Ice turns his back on the room, Ace does just that.

  “Let them go!” Ace shouts as he shoots to his feet and knocks over the table, so it hits Scar square in the side. Honey uses the distraction to get clear of Scar, leaving a good chunk of his hair in Scar’s fist. But he doesn’t seem to notice the pain at all as he flies at me to free his brother. I back away, warning him not to do anything stupid by pressing the knife harder against Precious’ throat, drawing yet more blood.

  Honey halts just as Ace narrowly misses a chair flung at him by Scar. Ice is fighting three guys by the door, only one of which is a Sinner. The other two probably just want to pit their fighting skills against the champion. Guys wanting to do that are everywhere.

  Scar and Ace are going at it for real now, Ice has his hands full with his three challengers and the only thing preventing Honey to fling himself at me is the knife I’m holding to his brother’s throat. A very dark part of me wants to force my hand to plunge the knife deep into Precious’ throat and then do the same to Honey. I could do that. I could send the message I threatened them with to their father tonight. It’s scary how easily I could do it.

  But those weren’t Cross’ orders. He needs Ace to save them to put in a good word with their father. What the fuck is taking him so long?

  Ice has dealt with the three men who are lying by the door now, their faces more or less covered in blood. He’s coming towards me to help, but Scar is down, clutching his side as he kneels before Ace.

  “No, you fucking don’t, you Devil scum,” Ace roars and blocks his path. His eyes look wild as he looks from Ice to me and back again. He’s holding a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, brandishing both like a madman.

  He finally points the gun at me. “Let him go. Right now, or you die.”

  He’s slashing the air with his knife in Ice’s direction, preventing him from coming any closer. They both look cowed, and I know neither Ice or Scar would back down from a fight this easily, but I’m sure most men would.

  “Hand him over, right now,” Ace yells at me again. He’s already managed to put Honey safely behind his back.

  “I’d like nothing more than to kill the three of you right now,” he adds warningly, pointing the gun at me, Ice and Scar in turn.

  “Why the fuck you want to get in the middle of this, man?” I ask. “If you know them at all you know they’re not worth dying for.”

  “The only ones dying here today will be you three,” Ace snarls. “Anyone you want to kill deserves to live. I don’t know these kids, but I know the three of you. I know what your club does, and I know none of you deserve to live.”

  His cheeks are red, his eyes wild, and there’s spittle flying from his mouth as he speaks. If I didn’t know better, I’d believe every word coming out of his mouth. I get the eerie feeling Ace actually does believe what he’s saying.

  The tension keeps rising as he waves his gun around some more. I doubt this is the only gun in the place, but he’s the only one brandishing it for now. We better make this fast.

  I look at Ice who shrugs, then Scar locks eyes with me.

  “That’s a gun at a knife fight, kid,” he says. “We should live to fight this another day.”

  I put up a fight, cut Precious some more, and generally put on a good show of refusing to let him go. Ace keeps up his end of the argument. The more he talks, the more he sounds like the Devils have done him a great personal wrong, and he means to pay it back tonight. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but it sounds legit.

  “He’s a fucking Satan’s Spawn! That’s why he’s doing this,�
� Ice suddenly yells, glaring at Ace like he’s the only one in the room. “I recognize him.”

  Scar is looking at them both, and Ace’s hatred of the Devils finally makes sense. He’s gonna pretend to be a Spawn, a lone member of that MC we didn’t catch and kill.

  “Get him then!” Scar yells.

  “Like fuck you will,” Ace shouts and fires a shot at Ice, missing by at least a foot. The whole place erupts in shouts and anger after that. I get down after another shot rings out. I had to loosen my hold on Precious to achieve it, and he rips himself out of my grasp all the way, scuttling to run after Ace and his brother who are already on the way to the front door.

  “Let’s split!” Scar yells. “We gotta go before this shit gets out of hand.”

  The shouting and yelling is still rising in pitch and tension.

  I follow Scar and Ice who are headed after Ace and the sons.

  But as I pass the table where all this started, that damn bodyguard pulls me back. By grabbing my hand, of all ways. He’s bleeding from the cut on his forehead where Ice slammed his head against the table, but his eyes are burning with hate and anger. He’s slid to the floor, and seems unable to stand up, but his grip on my hand is strong and relentless. If he pulls me down to his level, he could do some serious damage. Maybe even kill me with that knife he’s reaching for.

  Somehow he dodges the first of my punches and almost manages to pull me to the floor beside him. I finally manage to kick him in the side of the head, which makes him lose his grip on my hand and his consciousness at the same time.

  Ace and the two sons are nowhere in sight when I finally reach the parking lot, where Ice and Scar are already mounted and waiting for me.

  I mount my bike and we ride off, making a good show of attempting to follow Ace and the rest. But we stop as soon as we’re far enough away from the bar to not be noticed.