Unraveling Fayth (Devil's Knights Book 8)

by Winter Travers

  “I’d like to take that as a compliment, and not an insult.” Troy moved in close, inches away from Cherry’s face. “You know why I’m taking that as a compliment?” Cherry shook her head. “Because if I took it as an insult, that would mean you were also insulting Meg, too, and Demon told you not to do that. I’d hate for you to find out the reason behind Slider’s name.”

  The blood drained from Cherry’s face, and she swallowed hard. I tighten the grip I had on her arm, and she arched her back. “I don’t know anything,” she gasped.

  “I find that hard to believe. You have to know something, otherwise you wouldn’t have strutted in here the way you did,” Gambler said.

  “I swear. I’ve only talked to Alfonso three times since he’s been in jail.”

  “Alfonso?” Gambler scoffed. “I can see why he goes by Big A.”

  “It was my grandfather’s name,” Cherry bit out.

  Gambler shrugged and laughed. “I feel bad for your grandfather now, too.”

  Cherry snarled, and I twisted her arm. This girl needed to learn how to not show what she was feeling. She was going to end up with a broken arm in no time.

  “Tell me what your cousin has been telling you,” Demon demanded.

  “He told me you killed Nate,” she spit out. “You killed my brother, and you’re sitting here acting like you’re better than me and my family.”

  “I know we’re better than your family, because we don’t beat women,” Troy barked. “You ever wonder how Cyn got the shit beat out of her? YOUR MOTHER FUCKING BROTHER!”

  Troy’s words hit Cherry one by one, and the blood drained from her face. “He didn’t,” she whispered.

  “He did. He fucking did, Cherry. You can believe that your brother was some great guy, but when it comes down to it, he was a cheater, a liar, and fucking coward who beat women.” Troy slammed his fist down on the table.

  “My brother wouldn’t do that. He was an asshole, but he would never hit a woman.”

  Demon shook his head. “It’s good for you that we’re not asking about that, because you’re not seeing that shit clearly. We need to know what your cousin has been telling you.”

  “There hasn’t been anything except for just normal stuff,” Cherry said, shaking her head.

  “I want to hear it all, even if you think it has nothing to us,” Demon demanded.

  A lone tear streaked down her cheek. “I really don’t know anything. I swear I haven’t known anything this whole time. He just told my family a couple of months ago that Nate had gone back to Mexico, and he had died in a fight. I swear I had no idea he had tried to hurt Cyn.”

  “He hurt her, not fucking tried to,” Troy growled.

  Demon held up his hand, silencing Troy. We were all pissed off about the fact that Cyn had been hurt, but we had taken care of that problem by getting rid of Asshat, now we had to deal with Big A. “Just tell me every word he said to you, Cherry, and nothing will happen to you. We know that you have nothing to do with this, but if you don’t tell us what you know, this might not end well for you.”

  Cherry looked around and nodded. “Fine, but I don’t think me telling you about him finding a new doctor is really going to help with anything.”

  “How the hell does he have a new doctor if he’s in jail?” Gambler asked.

  “I don’t know. The last two times I visited him, he told me I couldn’t stay long because his doctor was also coming.”

  “Did you ever see this doctor?” I asked.

  “No. I was always gone before he showed up,” Cherry replied.

  Demon nodded and leaned back in his chair. “What else did he tell you?”

  “He always asked about my mom and me. We really didn’t talk about much. My visits were only ten or fifteen minutes. The first visit he said he was sorry about my brother, and that he was going to make everything right. I didn’t think much of what he said, because he’s in jail. What the hell can he do while he’s in there?”

  “Apparently, enough,” I mumbled.

  “Look, I swear to you that I have no idea what Alfonso is planning. I wish none of this would have happened, and Nick was still here,” she sobbed.

  Troy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “I really doubt you’ve had a complete change of heart in the past ten minutes. You were mouthing off about Meg and Cyn not even five minutes ago.”

  “Honestly,” she said, “I don’t like them, but I don’t want them dead. They both seem to get everything they want, while I’m sitting in a strip club begging for my life while wondering where my next meal is going to come from.”

  “So, that makes you a raging bitch?” Troy shook his head and sat down at the table next to us.

  “Did he ever tell you what the doctor’s name was?” Demon asked.

  “No. All he said was he had an appointment with his doctor. I didn’t ask any questions, because I’ve learned not to question Alfonso, even if it’s an innocent question.”

  “You think we can figure out who this doctor is?” Gambler asked Demon.

  Demon shrugged. “It’s more than what we had before.”

  “Am I done?” Cherry asked.

  “Is that all you know?” Demon asked her.

  “That’s all. I had no idea my brother was an ass, and that Alfonso was an even bigger ass.”

  Demon nodded at me, and I let go of Cherry's arm. “Better not be lying,” I whispered.

  She glared at me and rubbed her arm. “I don’t have a reason to lie.”

  “You also really don’t have a reason to be a bitch to the girls, but you still are,” I replied.

  Cherry rolled her eyes. “Can I go now? I have to find another job, and you guys just wasted my night.”

  Demon nodded at her, and she flounced over to the door.

  “Come back next week, maybe we can find a waitressing job for you,” Demon called.

  “Really?” Cherry asked.

  “If what you just told us pans out, and you don’t go running back to your cousin, then we’ll see what we can figure out, but just know, your attitude is going to have to do a one-eighty if you have any hopes of working here.”

  Cherry nodded and disappeared out the door.

  “Fucking really?” Troy asked. “You do know that Meg and the girls are going to flip their shit when they find out you offered her a job, right?”

  Demon shrugged. “It’s not like the girls or any of us are going to be hanging out here. Besides, King has the final say.” Demon picked up his beer. “That’s not really the issue at hand right now. We need to figure out who this doctor is.”

  “I doubt he even is a doctor. It’s gotta be code for something,” Gambler said.

  “He must still have some of his men working for him. Hammer and Turtle said that no one was with him anymore, but I find that hard to believe,” I replied.

  “Well, whatever, or whoever the doctor is, we need to figure it out.” Demon glanced at the clock and shook his head. “King said we need to head over to the tattoo parlor when we were done. He said the girls were up to their normal antics.”

  “I bet ya it’s Meg,” Gambler mumbled.

  “He didn’t really say who, but it sure was fucking loud when he called earlier,” Demon laughed.

  “Gwen hasn’t texted me in a while, so I can only imagine what’s going on there.” Gambler grabbed his phone off of the table and shoved it in his pocket. “I’m heading over there. The rest of you fuckers coming too?”

  “Rolly, lock up for us, would ya?” Demon called to the bartender.

  Rolly walked out from the back and nodded. “Will do. You want me to call back any of those girls you saw tonight?” Rolly was going to be the general manager of the club, and also a bartender when need be.

  Demon pointed to the list on the table. “Circled ones are the ones you can call. There ain’t many of them, though. We’re going to have to run another ad in the newspaper.”

  Rolly nodded and chuckled. “I didn’t figure you woul
d have too many. Falling off the stage really isn’t something we want.”

  “True that. Brother,” Troy said, raising his fist in the air.

  “What about the last one?” Rolly asked.

  “We’ll have to get back to you on that one. King is going to have to decide,” Demon replied as he slid his leather jacket on.

  “She had an attitude on her, but she had the look to her that would draw men into here,” Rolly replied.

  Rolly was right. Cherry wasn’t bad to look at, it was just when she opened her mouth that she became ugly.

  We all agreed but didn’t like to.

  “It sure feels good to be on the bike,” Gambler said when we walked outside.

  It was late April, and there was still a chill in the air, but we felt it was time to get back on our bikes. Winter was hell on a biker who couldn’t ride.

  “I was surprised that you actually got yours out, Slider. You were moping around so much the past months that I thought you were hanging it up.” Demon swung his leg over his DynaGlide.

  I shrugged. “Just didn’t feel like riding before.”

  “But now you do?” Troy flipped his keys up in the air.

  “Just finally felt like getting her ready,” I replied as I straddled my bike.

  “I think he means he finally got Fayth straightened, so now everything else can go back to normal,” Gambler said, laughing.

  I flipped him off and cranked up my bike. The motor roared beneath me, and it felt damn good. What would feel even better would be when I had Fayth on the back with me.

  “Meet y’all at the tattoo place,” Troy called, walking over to his truck.

  Demon and Gambler both started up their bikes, and Demon circled his hand in the air and we took off towards town.

  The tattoo parlor was only ten minutes away, but it felt like ten minutes too long. I missed Fayth, and I needed to see her again. I had told her she was going to have to wait until the Big A situation was under control, but I wasn’t sure I could wait that long.

  I needed to make her mine.

  ********

  Chapter 29

  Fayth

  “Ow.”

  “Good lord, she hasn’t even touched you yet.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Sweet Jesus. I need a drink, Axel,” Meg called from the table she was sprawled out over.

  All of us had our tattoos done, Paige included, and we were just waiting for Marley to be done. Well, it was more like we were waiting for Marley to even start.

  Darby turned on the tattoo gun, and Marley about jumped out of her skin.

  “Oh hell. I can’t do this,” she gasped.

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed the half-empty bottle of wine off of the floor. This had been happening for the past hour, and we were all about to lose our minds.

  Meg stood. “Good, we can go home.”

  “But I really want it,” Marley whined.

  “Oh, Mylanta. We’re never going to get out of here,” Cyn sighed.

  “Look, either you’re going to get it, or you’re not. Decide, woman,” Axel barked. The quiet man we had first met was gone and was replaced by an impatient giant who just wanted to go home. Marley had played musical tattoo artists for a bit, going from one to the other trying to decide who she wanted to tattoo her.

  “I’m sticking with Darby. I know that,” Marley said confidently.

  Axel stood. “About fucking time. Good luck, Darby. Hopefully you aren’t here when I come back in the morning.” Axel headed out the backdoor with Imogen and Keegan following him.

  “And then there was one,” Gwen mumbled.

  “Okay,” Marley said before she took a deep breath. “Let’s do this. No turning back. She closed her eyes and put her wrist on the table in front of Darby.

  “Girl, grab that wrist and tattoo something on it before she changes her mind again,” Paige said from the floor.

  Cyn was sitting in the same chair she had started in, while I was sitting on the floor next to Paige, and Gwen and Meg were sprawled out on the tables. Three bottles of wine were being passed around, and the last of one was now firmly in my hand, and I didn’t want to give it up.

  “I’m going to have to run to the liquor store if we don’t get this thing going soon.” Gwen held up her empty bottle of wine.

  “I have some up front,” Darby replied, poising the tattoo gun over Marley’s arm. “Last time, chick. You chicken out, you’re going to have to come back, and I highly doubt you’ll get anyone to tattoo you.”

  Marley shook her head. “I’m ready,” she whispered.

  We all held our breath, praying this would be the time Marley did it.

  Darby gently pricked Marley’s skin, and nobody moved.

  Marley peeked open one eye and looked down at her wrist. “Is that it?” she asked Darby.

  “For the most part, chica. Just about twenty more minutes of that, and you’ll have your first tattoo.” Darby dunked the needle back in the ink and looked up at Marley. “Ready for more?”

  “Phfft, hell yes. You guys made it seem way worse than this.” Marley smirked.

  We all groaned, and I tossed back the last of the wine.

  “How bad did the one on your neck hurt?” Cyn asked me.

  I shrugged and held up my pinky and thumb a little apart. It had hurt, but not more than any other tattoo I had gotten. I had angel wings on my back for my mother who had passed away when I was sixteen, a firefly on my thigh, and Marco’s initials on my ankle. I counted the angel wings as two because those suckers are huge.

  “Can I see it again?” she asked.

  I held back my hair, exposing the lips on my neck.

  “Those are sexy as hell,” she mumbled. “Why did you decided on those?”

  I shrugged.

  “It’s about time the Cavalry got here,” I heard King call from the front of the shop.

  “Yeah, yeah, you know how shit goes,” Gambler replied. “Where’s the women?”

  “In the back getting ready to kill Marley,” King said, laughing.

  “No shit, I would have figured it would have been Paige chickening out.”

  I looked over my shoulder and watched Gambler heading down the short hallway with Demon, King, Troy, and Slider following behind him.

  “Hey, I’ll have you know that I knew exactly what I wanted when I got here,” Paige replied, pointing her finger at Gambler.

  Troy stood next to Marley and looked down at her wrist. “How the hell were you causing trouble?”

  “Well, you know. I wanted to make sure I got just the right tattoo, and in the right place,” she said, beaming up at Troy.

  “Your woman took almost two hours to get her ass in that chair with a needle in her skin,” Meg called from the table. “I was ready to pour a bottle of wine down her throat and strap her to the chair.”

  “How’d you end up on the floor, Firecracker?”

  I looked up, and Slider was standing over me, a smirk on his face.

  “Slider,” I said softly.

  “You get a tattoo?”

  I nodded and tilted my head to the right.

  Slider kneeled next to me and brushed his fingertip across my neck. “Damn,” he uttered.

  “Sexy, right?” Cyn said.

  “Sexy as hell,” he whispered. He threaded his fingers through my hair and looked me in the eye. “You ready to go?” he asked quietly.

  I nodded, and he grabbed my hand to hoist me off the floor.

  He looked down at me. “You have fun?”

  I nodded. I really did have a good time when I was with all of the girls. They were all funny and different in their own ways.

  Creed walked through the back door. “You taking her home?”

  “I planned on it,” Slider growled.

  “Good. I got some shit to take care of tonight, and I won’t be around. You think you can keep an eye her while I’m gone?”

  “Not an issue.”

  “Good. I’ll see ya in the morning.�
�� Creed left without a glance at anyone.

  “That man is an ass,” Marley blurted out.

  “Amen, sista,” Gwen agreed. “A hot body, and an assy attitude.”

  “Hey,” Gambler said, “you mind not looking at his hot body?”

  Gwen grinned like the Cheshire cat. “So, you agree he has a hot body?”

  “Burn,” Paige said, laughing. She reached up, holding her hand out to me. I slapped her hand and she hooted, “Woo!”

  “I don’t think that was really a burn, baby,” Demon said with a smirk.

  Paige waved him off. “In my head it was, and Gwen is my sister.”

  “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Demon asked.

  “It’s the ho code,” Cyn piped up. “Just like the bro code, but you know, with hos.”

  We all looked at each other and busted out laughing.

  “The ho code sounds more like something you don’t want to be a part of,” King chuckled as he scooted Meg over and sat down on the edge of the table.

  Meg elbowed him and rolled her eyes. “I’ll be part of your ho code, Cyn.”

  Cyn turned and looked at Meg. “You didn’t have a choice, you were in no matter what.”

  “What the hell are you getting a tattoo of?” Demon looked down at Marley’s wrist. “Is that brown?”

  “Yeah, it’s a cowboy hat.”

  “Oh, yeah, I totally see it now if I turn my head to the side.” Demon twisted his head to the right and squinted. “Yeah, totally a cowboy hat.”

  Darby stopped tattooing and glared at Demon. “You might want to sit down by your woman if you know what’s best for you.”

  Demon raised his hands, moved over to Paige, and held his hand out to her. “Let’s get out of here, the natives are getting restless,” he said, motioning to Darby.

  Paige shook her head and stood. “I think you need to keep your mouth shut around the native who had a tattoo gun in her hand,” she giggled, and he grabbed her sweatshirt off the back of Cyn’s chair.

  “See, that’s why I need you around.” Demon wrapped his arms around Paige and pulled her into his side. “Lord knows what I’d get tattooed on me if you weren’t here.”