Ace (Knights Corruption MC Series-Next Generation Book 3)

by S. Nelson

  For him to walk up to him and end him without an ounce of reservation screamed I didn’t know the guy as well as I thought. Had he killed before? Or was the revenge for Erin, a girl he barely knew, the only thing that prompted his action?

  Since Ryder was conscious and Tag wasn’t in any serious danger, I made my way toward Brick. With each step, I prayed he wasn’t dead, but he hadn’t moved at all in the past couple minutes. I willed his chest to rise and fall but I didn’t see any movement. Slowly falling to my knees, I pressed two fingers over his pulse point. Nothing. I moved them slightly to the left and still nothing.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shouted, lifting his shirt to assess the damage. His blood stain was so far spread I couldn’t tell exactly where the bullet or bullets pierced his skin. Tag was next to me seconds later, helping to lift Brick’s shirt. Our enforcer’s entire torso was painted red.

  “I can’t tell where he’s hit,” Tag said, feeling around with me. When the prospect moved to get closer, bumping Brick’s leg in the process, a sudden and guttural moan fell from the big guy’s mouth.

  “Watch the leg.” Brick’s words were choppy, but we heard him loud and clear.

  “You scared me, man,” I uttered, continuing to check him over. “Do you know where you got hit?”

  “My chest is burning, but I can’t tell you exactly where. But I do know one thing.” I impatiently waited for him to continue. “If you fuckers don’t stop tryin’ to cop a feel, we’re gonna have a problem.” A cough erupted, shaking his body and making him groan louder. “Fuck, that hurts.” His brief snippet of laughter died on his lips when he grimaced in pain.

  We withdrew our hands from beneath his shirt and gripped him underneath his arms. “Come on, big man. We gotta get you to your feet.” Brick’s head moved back in frustration and thudded against the drywall. Bracing for his weight, Tag and I struggled to lift him up. Goddamn, he was a heavy fucker. I was in great shape as Tag appeared to be as well, and still, we had a hard time. God love any woman who fell underneath him. I had no idea where that thought came from, but it amused me, and I needed the sentiment right now to deal with this shit.

  When Brick was finally upright, I left Tag next to him to ensure he remained vertical. Grabbing an oversized bag from the closet, I gathered the guns, theirs, and ours, as well as any shell casings I could find, packed everything inside, and slung the bag over my shoulder as I approached Ryder.

  “We gotta go.” I heard the faint sound of sirens in the background, and if we didn’t get out of here in the next two minutes, we were gonna be locked up for years.

  He pushed off the wall and moaned with each step, but he was able to walk with minimal assistance from me. Tag helped to support Brick, and the four of us made it downstairs and out the back door as the sirens crept closer. Cutting through several yards, we made it back to the vehicle and tucked ourselves inside without any attention. Tucked might’ve been another word for Brick and Ryder collapsing into the back seat. Yeah, that was more accurate.

  Three cop cars whizzed past us, and while I’d love to say we were in the clear, too much of our own blood was left back at the scene. I’d never been arrested, so my DNA wouldn’t be in the system, but I couldn’t speak for the other three. For now, however, we had other shit to worry about, mainly getting us all patched up and better because we still didn’t know what the Reapers meant when they said it would be easier for them to do it with us not around.

  I dialed Chelsea’s number, but the only thing I heard when the call connected was static, then the line went dead. I tried once more, but my battery conked out and I didn’t have time to search for a charger with the four of us bleeding and in dire need of medical attention.

  “Tag, can you call Lincoln and ask him to have his mom come to the clubhouse immediately? Then have him tell Marek to call everyone in.”

  “On it.” He pulled a face when he moved his leg, but he whipped out his phone and called just like I’d asked.

  Now, I just had to make sure we made it back in one piece, or with as many pieces of us that were left.

  34

  I barely missed ramming into the gate, slamming on the brakes before the large shield of metal crushed the front of the vehicle. Honking the horn like a crazy person because I couldn’t readily locate the remote, I impatiently waited for the arms to swing open. My head throbbed more than before, and if I didn’t get into the lot in the next ten seconds, I felt a wave of freak-out coming on.

  “Should I call someone to—”

  I punched the horn several more times, cutting off Tag’s question when I finally heard the creak of the metal hinges as the gate started to open.

  I parked in the middle of the lot and hopped out, pulling open the back door just as I saw Kaden rush from the garage. He was next to me seconds later, peering inside to see what all the commotion was about. Tag hadn’t given Lincoln details, just a curt order to call his mom to come here right away.

  “What the fuck happened?” Kaden took a step back, his eyes darkening in fear as he looked at the two men slumped in the back, blood smeared on the seats and doors.

  “Reapers.” I wanted to say so much more, but there was no time. While I believed Ryder and Brick would make it through, I wasn’t a doctor. The bullets could still be in them. They could have internal damage. Fuck, they could be bleeding out right now for all I knew.

  Lincoln’s truck barreled into the lot, pulling up next to us. Riley hopped out as soon as they stopped, but when she tried to advance toward my SUV, Kaden pulled her off to the side. A minute later, Stone pulled in, Addy in the passenger seat.

  For the next ten minutes there was a flurry of activity, more guys rushing out of the clubhouse to see what was going on. Marek and Stone shared a worried look, but the tension in their postures evaporated the second they reached inside and helped Ryder from the back seat. Trigger and Kaden rushed to the other side and scrambled to straighten Brick up before attempting to remove him as well. His skin looked paler than before, but I shoved aside all panic until Addy got a chance to look him over, to assess them both.

  “Did you get hit?” Lincoln walked in sync with me toward the door. I heard a bike pull in and turned to see who’d arrived, holding Lincoln in suspense as my eyes surveyed the lot. Tripp and Reece dismounted his ride, following the line of members into the clubhouse. “Well?”

  “Uh… I don’t know.”

  “What does that mean?” He stopped me with a firm grip on my shoulder. His eyes scoured my entire length. When he jerked me to the side, my hand flew to the back of my head.

  “Not so rough, man,” I grumbled, suddenly feeling woozy, my vision tunneling in, then out, then in again. My head felt like a million pounds on top of my shoulders.

  “Let me see.” Lincoln removed my hand and cursed. “Um… Ace?” He cleared his throat, his “um” doing nothing but amping up my nerves.

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t know how to tell you this other than to just blurt it out.” I closed my eyes and swallowed, waiting for his next words. “You got shot.”

  “Are you sure I didn’t just hit my head?”

  His fingers felt around the area one more time, making me wince from the pressure. “Yeah, pretty sure.”

  “Is the bullet still in there?” I smacked his hand away and replaced it with my own.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure my mom can tell. Let’s get you inside. I don’t need you passin’ out on me.” His strained chuckle helped to ease my worry, but not by much. As he helped me toward the door, even though I could walk on my own, minus the waves of dizziness that intermittently struck, I saw Tag’s arm slung over Hawke’s shoulder, hobbling in ahead of me.

  I supposed when it came down to it, a crisis put all other shit aside, the main agenda becoming whole again, individually as well as a club.

  35

  After tidying up the rest of my area, I busied myself checking the schedule for the following day. Jotting down some information onto
a piece of paper, I nearly jumped out of my chair when I heard someone pounding on the window. Then a voice accompanied another round of pounding, this person yelling for me to let him in. When I turned, I saw Tripp was the offender, his expression frantic, matched only by his incessant knocking.

  Braylen and Zoe rushed down the hallway, standing close behind me as I turned the lock on the door. I barely stepped aside before he shoved the door open with his large frame.

  “Somethin’s happened. I need to take you to the clubhouse right now.” A one-eighty change from what I’d just witnessed, his tone was eerily calm, his words making my heart slam to a stop inside my chest.

  “Who?” My voice hitched. “Who?” I repeated. I didn’t have to explain my one-word question to Tripp because he knew. I saw it when his green eyes darkened.

  “Ryder, Ace, Brick, and Tag.”

  Cries bubbled forth from both Braylen and Zoe as they hugged each other, but I stood frozen in place, silent. He didn’t go into any details about what happened or how it happened, and I doubted he was gonna stand here and rattle off specifics, if he even had them. Braylen grabbed my hand a moment later and pulled me into their small circle, but still, I couldn’t say anything. I never made a sound, refusing to allow my brain to believe Ace was fatally injured. He had to be all right. There was no way fate would do this to me. Then again, maybe this was exactly what I deserved for pushing him away for so long. I never appreciated what we had, chalking up our involvement as nothing more than a fling, as if he was just someone to pass the time with. As I chastised myself for my stubbornness, I also reminded myself I’d finally given in to him. I agreed to be his. I just hoped my actions weren’t too little too late.

  “Chels.” The far end wall held my focus. “Chels.” Zoe shook my shoulder until my eyes flitted to hers. “We have to go.” I glanced from her to Braylen, both holding up reasonably well given we had no idea if any of our men were still alive. Then my attention was on the large man in front of us. He was resolute in every movement he made, but there was a crack in his stoic demeanor. Worry pierced the haze of his attention, his breaths coming faster the longer we stayed tucked inside the salon.

  Tripp held up a finger, opened the door, and stepped outside, scouring the area before returning. “Let’s go.” We followed him out, and as soon as Braylen locked up the shop, he ushered us toward a van parked only feet from the front door. Zoe and I sat in the back, resting on the tire humps while Braylen buckled herself into the passenger seat.

  I would’ve loved to say the ride back was quick, but knowing something horrible awaited all of us made each mile stretch into oblivion. While I was concerned for the other three men, all I could truly care about was Ace. He was still recovering from being shot. He was in no way capable of handling anything more, was he? Had he been shot again? Or were they all in an accident? Not knowing drove me crazy, and I decided right then I needed details, otherwise I was gonna continue to think the worst and possibly give myself a heart attack.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” My words drifted through the small space, and there was no way Tripp didn’t hear me. The only other sound in the van was the outside world whipping by.

  I waited five seconds, then ten. When my lungs filled with air, I opened my mouth to ask again but pressed my lips together when I heard him start to speak.

  “All I know is there was an attack. All four of them are alive, or at least they were when I left to come get you.”

  I should’ve kept my damn question to myself because hearing his response did nothing but drive home the severity of what I thought to be true.

  The chances of Ace being dead seemed more probable than not right now.

  36

  “You have to take your hand away so I can see.” Addy’s tone was worried yet calm. “I can’t assess the damage otherwise.” I was reluctant to tear my fingers from the wound. Right now, I was fine, but if she did in fact determine I’d been shot in the fuckin’ head, my diagnosis could be more detrimental. Maybe it was the effect of the injury or simply my irrational way of thinking, but I kept my hand frozen in place, shielding the damage from her inspection. “Do I have to ask Cutter to help me convince you?” My hand was at my side in the next second. “Thought so.”

  There was no way I was letting that man anywhere near me. His loyalty to the club was fierce, but I didn’t need his intensity around me right now.

  “So?”

  “Give me a second.”

  “I gotta go. I gotta get Chelsea. So, if I’m not dying, you need to step back.” If Stone heard the way I talked to his wife, he’d put me on my ass, head injury or not. But I needed her to finish up so I could make sure my woman wasn’t in harm’s way. What was she gonna do once I told her I’d been hurt again? Would she still want to be with me, knowing the danger surrounding our club was gonna continue? Or would she walk away? And would I blame her if she did?

  Someone shouted Addy’s name and her movements hurried, parting a section of my hair before gently tilting my head forward. “Tripp went to the salon to get her, Braylen, and Zoe.” I didn’t bother to ask how she knew who was at Transform, too many other things plaguing my mind. “It looks like a bullet grazed the base of your skull but didn’t penetrate. I don’t think….” She stopped speaking, her fingers moving along the back of my head. She applied pressure and I barely held back the noise of my discomfort. “Yeah, you’ll be okay. You’re one lucky sonofabitch, Ace. You’ll need a couple stitches to close this up, though.” She removed her fingers and moved in front of me. “How’s your other wound?” she asked, pointing to my side.

  “It’s fine.”

  “Good.” She glanced around the room quickly before looking back at me. “I need to tend to the others right now. Don’t go anywhere. I don’t want you to move off this stool. Do you hear me?” She handed me a clean towel to press against the affected area and I gave her my silent response with a nod.

  Ryder was stretched out on the couch ten feet from me, several blankets placed beneath him to soak up most of the blood trickling from his body. Addy did a quick check of his vitals, and although his color had paled, she decided Brick needed more attention right now.

  She rushed toward Chambers where the big guy was laid out on our meeting table. The surface was the only viable option where Addy could work on him comfortably, given the man’s size.

  The only reason Addy had tended to me first was because Linc told her I’d been shot in the head, and even though I was walking and talking, I could’ve keeled over in the next second. Thankfully, all I needed was a quick patch when she was finished with everyone else.

  Tag sat two stools down from me at the bar, his injured leg dangling while his other rested on the rung of his seat. He’d brushed off Addy’s attentions earlier, telling her he could wait.

  While all of us were still breathing, things could go south at any time. Blood loss was a factor. Undiagnosed internal bleeding another. Then there was infection, after the fact.

  Drowning in worst-case scenarios for Brick, for our club, for my own damn relationship, I was relieved when Linc announced that Tripp was back.

  I slowly got to my feet, but a wave of dizziness prompted me to clutch on to the edge of the bar. Wanting to appear as intact as possible for when I saw Chelsea, I hadn’t been able to move one foot in front of the other before I heard Addy shout at me from the other room.

  “Sit down!” I looked over and saw her glare at me before going back to work on Brick. The woman didn’t miss a trick. Stone and Marek hovered over her as she worked, taking a step back now and again to talk.

  Planting my ass back on my seat, it took everything in me not to run toward Chelsea the second I saw her push past Tripp and head straight for me, Tripp disappearing inside Chambers.

  “Oh my God!” she cried. “Are you okay?” Her hands were all over me, checking for injuries, until she saw the placement of my hand. “Did you hurt your head?”

  “He got shot in the head,” Tag a
nswered for me, although I wouldn’t have put it quite like that. Yes, a bullet grazed the area, but like Addy told me, it didn’t penetrate, only sliced through the skin.

  Tears flowed down Chelsea’s face, and it was all I could do not to throw something at Tag for his bluntness. She tried to speak, but all her words came out in a jumbled mess.

  While keeping the towel pressed firmly to my injury, I wrapped my free arm around her waist and pulled her close, trying to show her I was alright.

  “Don’t cry, babe. I’m fine. The bullet only grazed me.”

  “The… bul… bullet,” she hiccupped, her words choppy yet coherent. More tears trailed her reddened cheeks.

  “Addy assured me I’ll be fine. Nothin’ for you to worry about. I promise.” I couldn’t assure her of anything anymore, but I needed to say something in order to get her to calm down. Her sadness and worry wouldn’t do me any good, especially considering I was restricted to this damn stool until Addy stitched me up.

  While Chelsea continued to cry in my arms, I watched Braylen and Zoe crouch over Ryder, their own worry amping mine more than before they arrived. There was something uneasy about watching his wife and daughter’s worry penetrate the thick air of disbelief surrounding all of us. Their appearance hadn’t changed his state of injury by any means, obviously, but their added stress and fear seemed to catapult the seriousness of what happened to another level. At least, to me.

  Chelsea was still clutching me, her face buried in the crook of my neck when I saw Marek and Tripp walk out of Chambers, and they were headed straight for me, Stone staying behind to help his wife with Brick. They briefly glanced at Ryder, then Tag before crowding around me. I didn’t have to ask what they wanted. It was obvious.