Passing the Torch (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation Book 1)

by Winter Travers

  “I’m assuming they are going to head to the lake. I talked her into looking for a new cabin to buy so she would get off Dad’s back about fishing all of the time. She putters around a new cabin decorating and whatnot while Dad gets his fishing time in.”

  “She fell for it hook, line, and sinker, huh?”

  I closed my eyes. “Lame.” Totally a joke I would have made, though.

  Hero’s palm cradled my face, and I opened my eyes.

  “Let’s go eat breakfast with your parents and see what the day has in store for us.” He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “It can’t be worse than Luna getting arrested and another waitress dying, right?”

  “You’re jinxing us,” I mumbled.

  Hero led the way back to the kitchen when all I really wanted to do was fall back into bed and not wake up until Sunday.

  “There you two are,” Mom sang. “Dad turned on a game and the bacon is almost done.”

  I smirked knowingly at Hero. I said my parents would do that exact thing. I grabbed two coffee cups and filled each. “So, what are you and Dad up to today?” I handed Hero his cup, and I opened the fridge for the creamer.

  “We found a cabin with five acres the other day. We have a showing at noon. We thought we would stop by and see if you wanted to come with us.” She cleared her throat. “We didn’t know you would have company, though.”

  “Where at?” Hero asked.

  “Harris Lake. Best fishing around,” Dad shouted from the living room.

  “We found a cute four-bedroom right on the lake.” Mom tossed two pieces of bread in the toaster. “If it looks as nice as the pictures, we’re gonna put an offer in.”

  “Four bedrooms? That’s bigger than your house.”

  “Tell her,” Dad boomed.

  Mom cracked two eggs into the pan and sprinkled salt and pepper on them. “Uh, well, your Dad and I were thinking of, well, selling the house and just living at the cabin.”

  “Really?”

  Mom glanced at me. “Yeah. We think it’s time for a change.”

  I couldn’t really argue with that. Mom and Dad still lived in my childhood home. It had only two bedrooms and was on a tiny lot. The house was nice, but it was definitely dated. “Falls City is an hour away.”

  “And you have a car. You can come visit whenever you want,” Mom chided. “You were the one who told me to start looking at cabins, Rev.”

  I had, but it was to help Dad get Mom off his back. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Mom flipped the eggs in the pan. “Your dad can fish all he wants, and I can spend my time decorating the place and going to the little thrift shops in town.”

  “Well, I mean, that does sound kind of great for you guys.”

  “Told ya,” Dad drawled.

  “Oh, shut up, Brian. Come get your eggs.” Mom grabbed a plate and slid the eggs on it. Dad trudged into the kitchen. He grabbed the plate, picked three pieces of bacon, and waited ‘til Mom finished buttering the two pieces of toast.

  Hero had camped out on one of the barstools and was just watching Mom and Dad. I sat down next to him and sighed. Finding out Mom and Dad were moving to Falls City did not fall under the category of having a chill Saturday. Hero reached over and rested his hand on my thigh. “Smile, Sunshine,” he whispered.

  I stuck my tongue out at him.

  He shook his head and smirked.

  Dad headed back into the living room, and Mom finally turned from the stove. “So, what will you two have?”

  Hero threw me a wink. “Reva told me you are the originator of the bacon sandwich.”

  Smartass.

  *

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hero

  “What time does she see the judge?”

  I filled Reva’s coffee cup and pushed it toward her. She grabbed the creamer and added a glug to the cup.

  “Eleven thirty. Rod said she should be bailed out by noon as long as she keeps her mouth shut and does what he told her to.”

  “What did Rod tell her to do?” she asked.

  “Keep her mouth shut.”

  Reva cringed. “I’ve only known Luna a short time, but isn’t that pretty hard for her?”

  It sure was. Part of me didn’t think she would be granted bail and would have to sit in jail for a while. Ransom would be happy as hell to see that happen. “Time will tell.”

  After Reva’s parents had left Saturday morning, things were surprisingly quiet. I had left for a little bit Saturday night to grab dinner and had detoured to the club to make sure everything was under control with all the girls staying there. Thankfully, with half of the club vacationing in Arizona, there were plenty of beds for everyone. Though I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when King flew back in.

  I had broken the news to King that Luna had been arrested for stomping on Ransom, and he was surprisingly not as pissed as I thought he would be. Troy and Marley, Luna’s parents who were with King, weren’t as okay about it. If she would have been arrested on a Tuesday or Wednesday, she would have only been in there for the night, but since she had been arrested on a Friday night, she had to sit there ‘til the judge came in on Monday.

  Today was the day, and I just hoped Luna kept her mouth shut.

  “I’ll let you know what happens.”

  Reva pushed up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I gotta run. I’ve got a schnauzer for my first appointment, and he always shows up ten minutes early.”

  “I thought you opened at nine? Why don’t you just schedule the schnauzer for ten and then when they show up early, you don’t have to be early.”

  She laughed and grabbed her coffee. “His owner has to be at work on time so I figure I can be ten minutes early once a month.”

  I grunted. “Taking my time with you away. I’ll be over later to see this schnauzer.”

  Reva laughed and grabbed her purse. “Come visit him after Luna’s judge thingy so you can bring me a sub.”

  I gave her a two finger salute. “You got it, Sunshine. As long as Luna doesn’t freak out on the judge, I’ll be there around lunch.”

  She breezed out the door with a wave over her shoulder at me.

  Ten minutes later, I twisted the lock on the door handle and pulled it closed behind me. I thought back to a week ago, before I met Reva, and shook my head. It was crazy how much things could change in such a short time. Now I was thinking I needed a key to her house.

  Some of those changes weren’t great, but that was just life.

  Frost had messaged me yesterday that he found some stuff out about Tanya from the girls staying at the clubhouse, but he didn’t think it was anything that was going to pan out. Detective Ransom had also gotten in touch with me and had told me a couple of deputies were going to stop out at the clubhouse today to talk to the girls.

  This time, we had the upper hand by having all of the girls under one roof.

  We didn’t want to get in the way of the investigation, but with two waitresses dead, we didn’t really want to have to wait for answers.

  I threw my leg over my bike and turned the key. The engine roared to life, and I slid my sunglasses over my eyes.

  It would be ideal to get those answers before King stepped foot on the plane to come back home, but I was running out of time.

  *

  Chapter Eighteen

  Reva

  “Luna’s out of the clink, and we need to celebrate,” Greta shouted.

  I moved the phone from my ear. “Uh, that’s great.” But did Greta have to shout it in my ear?

  “Wednesday night. We’re coming to your house because we can’t really go out because of the waitress killing psycho on the loose.”

  I grabbed the broom from the closet and swept up the hair on the floor. “Uh, I guess that’s okay? Hero is probably going to be there, though.”

  “Boo,” Greta groaned. “He can go hangout at the clubhouse for the night. Luna needs a night to unwind and not have one of the guys looming over her.”
r />   I laughed and reached for the dustpan. “You know he’s not going to go for that.”

  “Sure, he will. You wanna know why?” she asked.

  “Uh, why?”

  “Because you’re going to tell him if he gives us one girl’s night at your place then he gets unlimited blowjobs for the rest of his life.”

  “Greta,” I laughed, “you’re crazy.”

  “I am, but you know it’s going to work.” A beep sounded on the line. “I gotta go. I’ll see you Wednesday, seven pm No boys allowed!”

  The call ended, and I dropped the phone on the front counter.

  “Unlimited blowjobs for life?”

  I glared at Hero. “You would hear that.”

  He shrugged and balled up the wrapper from his sub. “I mean, I guess I’m not completely against you having a girl’s night.” He tossed the wrapper in the garbage. “Though I’m not staying the night at the clubhouse. Right now, some other chick is sleeping in my bed.”

  “Oh, well,” I laughed. “I guess if you just give us a few hours alone, I can sneak you into my bedroom when Greta and Luna aren’t paying attention.”

  Hero snickered. “Sneaking a boy into your bedroom. What would your parents think?”

  I emptied the dustpan and dropped the broom back in the closet. “You answered the door wearing only jeans. I’m pretty sure my parents know I have a boy in my bedroom now.”

  “That is something I will never forget,” he laughed. “If looks could kill, your dad would have murdered me when I opened the door.”

  The bell above the door dinged, and my next client trotted in. “Barbara!” I called.

  I don’t know why I called her name. It was like she knew Hero was there before she even walked in the door. She beelined straight to him and catapulted herself at his chest.

  “Barbara!” Mrs. Saunders scolded. She yanked on Barbara’s leash, but Barb had eyes only for Hero.

  Barbara licked Hero’s face and panted happily.

  “Hello there, pretty girl,” Hero cooed.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Saunders apologized. “I don’t know what got into her, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, she just started going crazy.”

  I laughed and moved over to Hero and Barbara. “Remember how I told you the last time she was here she escaped and I had to have someone help me?” I reached out and scratched Barbara behind her ear. “Hero was the one who helped me. She’s pretty smitten with him.”

  “Oh,” Mrs. Saunders laughed. “She must have picked up your scent when we pulled in.”

  Barbara whined and tried to get closer to Hero.

  “Is it okay to leave her?” Mrs. Saunders laughed. “Not like it looks like she’ll miss me.”

  I smiled as Barbara laid her head on Hero’s shoulder. “I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine.”

  Mrs. Saunders left shaking her head and laughing.

  “I still think you have sausage or something in your pocket to make her jump on you.”

  Hero snorted and crouched down on the floor to put down. “The only sausage I have in my pocket is for you, Sunshine.”

  “Well, right now, it looks like you’re hanging out here all afternoon because as soon as you walk out that door, Barbara is going to try to follow you.” I turned on the water to warm it up for Barb’s bath.

  “You really give her a haircut every week?” He ran his hands over Barbara’s fluffy white coat.

  “Trim once a month. A bath every week.” I grabbed Barbara’s leash and tried to pull her over to the sink. “Barbara has a penchant for digging holes and rolling in them.”

  Hero grabbed the leash from me and led her over to the sink.

  “You do know you’re going to have come every time she has an appointment, right?”

  Hero lifted her into the sink and leaned against the wall close to Barbara’s head. “What can I say? The bitches love me?”

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed the sprayer. “You know Greta made that same joke about you?” I pointed the sprayer at him and smiled.

  “Don’t even think about it, Sunshine,” he warned.

  I laid my finger on the trigger of the hose. “Or what?” I laughed.

  “Or you’re gonna have to add something else to that blowjob list.”

  I rolled my eyes and hit the trigger. I was okay with the forever blowjobs. And whatever else he wanted from me, I was more than willing to give him.

  *

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hero

  “I gotta swing by the clubhouse. You wanna come with me?”

  “Uh, I have my car.” Reva hitched her thumb toward her car outside. “It’s not one of those fancy ones that drives itself, either.”

  “I’ll have Snapper drive it back to your place.”

  “Uh, he’ll do that?”

  I smirked and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. “Sunshine, he’ll do whatever I tell him to do.”

  “Is this the alpha biker coming out in you?” she laughed.

  “Yes, but he’s a prospect. He does what any of the full patch members tell him to do.”

  Her mouth turned down into a frown. “That doesn’t sound fun.”

  “We all go through it. It’s a rite of passage into the club. Snapper knows he needs to do it, and he’s fine with it.”

  “Well, can you please be nice when you tell him he has to drive my car home?” She batted her eyes at me.

  “I’m gonna tell him to drive your car to your place, not shove the keys down his throat.” Reva might have the wrong idea about what actually went on at the club. I was the one in charge and telling the guys what to do, but I wasn’t walking around the clubhouse swinging my dick like I was King fucking Kong.

  Reva slapped her keys in my hand, flipped off the lights, and pulled the shop door closed behind us. “Then let’s get going, handsome.”

  I locked up the door, grabbed her hand, and led her over to the bike. “I just gotta do a couple of things and then we’ll head home.”

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed the helmet off the seat of the bike. She strapped it on and threw her leg over the seat. “However long it takes, Hero. You don’t need to rush just to get me home. It’s not like we had any plans tonight.”

  I hopped on the bike in front of her and started it up. I had hoped she would have been fine going to the club because it was where I spent a lot of my time usually. Although, right now, I wasn’t there much. A bunch of girls I didn’t know wandering around wasn’t exactly ideal. I much preferred being at Reva’s house until things get back to normal.

  I drove across the parking lot and into the clubhouse lot.

  Reva laughed as she got off the motorcycle. “I was wondering if you were going to take the long way here.” She unsnapped the helmet and set it on the seat.

  “Next time, Sunshine.”

  “Well, hell,” Easy called from the front porch. He was smoking a cigarette and Zag was with him. “You do know to turn left and not right.”

  Zag chuckled and high-fived Easy.

  Reva had been saying she wanted to meet more of the guys, and it looked like this was going to be her chance. I grabbed her hand and led her to the front door.

  Zag studied Reva as we walked closer. “I know you,” he declared.

  “Uh, you do?” Reva asked, unsure. She obviously didn’t know him.

  He tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, stepped on it with the toe of his boot, and smiled wide. “Yeah. You were two years ahead of me in high school. Quiet, never really talked, still hot.”

  Reva looked up at me. “He’s right about the quiet.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “I’m sure he’s right about all of it.”

  Easy nodded to Reva. “I don’t know you, and I’m Easy.”

  Reva waved awkwardly. “Hidy-ho. I’m Reva.”

  “I’m Zag. Seeing as you don’t remember me from high school, I’m not going to embarrass myself by telling you my real name.”

  Reva laughed lightly. �
��High school wasn’t the greatest time of my life. I don’t think I could tell you half of the kids' names that were in my class.”

  “I can respect that,” Zag laughed. “I only remember the names of the hot chicks and the dicks I wanted to punch in the face.”

  “Please tell me you’re not bringing your girl here to stash her away. We are at max capacity up in here.” Easy hitched his thumb toward the clubhouse. “The idea of living with a houseful of strippers sounds a whole lot more appealing than actually living with a houseful of strippers.”

  I figured that was the case. Reva hadn’t believed me when I said that sounded like Hell. “Hopefully this won’t be for forever.”

  “Yeah, “ Zag laughed. “We just have to find a murderer and we can go back to normal. Easy.”

  A pizza delivery car pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of the door.

  “Oh, yeah,” Easy smiled, “we’re gonna need some more money for food. These chicks eat a whole hell of a lot more than I thought they would.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Have you tried actually cooking something and not just ordering for every meal?” I pulled some money from my wallet and handed it to Easy.

  “Indiana keeps bugging to go to the store but Frost told her no.” Zag shrugged. “Maybe she can make a list or some shit. I could run to the store just to get the hell out of here.”

  “I think that may be your first good idea,” Easy laughed.

  Zag flipped him off.

  Easy handed the money to the pizza guy, and we all grabbed a couple of boxes.

  “This is a lot of pizza,” Reva whispered to me.

  I opened the door to the clubhouse and motioned for her to go in. “Eighteen girls and six guys. That’s a lot of people,” I laughed.

  Reva followed me over to the pool table that doubled as the dining room table when there was a lot of food. A few girls were sitting on the couch in front of the TV while a couple of others were around one of the poker tables.

  “Dinner,” Easy called when he walked in. “Come and get it, ladies.”