Dark Fury: A Dark Saints MC Novel

by Blue, Jayne

  I couldn’t believe I’d been so trusting of Rudy. He had sold me out twice, once to the Saints and then to the Hawks. I knew he needed money. I obviously didn’t know how much or how little he thought of me. He’d put me in the middle of this mess and didn’t think twice about it.

  And now he was dead. I closed my eyes and all I could see was him getting shot. These men, these Hawks, didn’t care who they hurt or killed. Kade was right about that.

  I wondered if I could signal the border crossing agent. How would I do it? Would I be able to? I had to think about getting myself out of this mess somehow. Was my best bet being quiet and getting back into the country?

  It wasn’t long before my only thought was holding on to something as the truck swerved left then right. I heard popping; it had to be gunshots or maybe tires blowing? I didn’t know. What I did know is that Kade was coming for me. I knew it in my bones. It terrified me. He was one man versus at least ten and those ten didn’t have a conscious. They seemed ready to kill or rape or steal on a whim.

  My head slammed on the side of the truck and I tried to decipher Talon’s swearing and the yelling he was doing at the Hawk he had driving.

  “Shit! STOP!” Talon yelled, and I was hurtling forward and slamming into the back of the seats. Our fast getaway had come to a screeching halt.

  Talon and the driver were now shooting out the front window of my truck. I tried to get as low as I could.

  “You fucking keep firing, assholes and this little bitch is the shield I need.”

  I didn’t dare lift my head above the window line at this point. I didn’t know who was shooting what. Even if there were police out there, they didn’t know I was only with the Hawks by force.

  But we had stopped. I hoped this was good. The hail of bullets had stopped as well so I ventured a tiny look outside.

  There were bikers and their rides positioned in front of the truck. I could only assume they’d blocked the way.

  Maybe I could run? But Talon hadn’t forgotten about me, not by a long shot.

  “I’m going to fucking stop this right now,” Talon said and he grabbed a hunk of my hair and pulled me out of the truck.

  I looked around and didn’t see Kade. Where was he? Had he been hit by bullets or crashed his bike? I had a hard time focusing on anything. Hot tears filled my eyes as Talon yanked me around. I reached up to his fist and tried to stop it but he wasn’t letting up or letting me go. He practically lifted my entire body by my hair.

  I scrambled to try to stand at least somewhat upright instead of being dragged. It was then that I got a better look at what had stopped the truck.

  There was a wall of men and bikes.

  They stood side by side. Their fury seemed a physical thing. Their power was something you could see.

  I didn’t know their names but I knew they were The Dark Saints. I recognized the same patch that I’d seen on Kade’s jacket on each of their leather vests and jackets. There was no doubt.

  I didn’t have a count of how many Saints versus how many Hawks were on this stretch of deserted Mexican backroad. I hoped the numbers made some sort of sense. I also hoped the Saints realized I wasn’t a Hawk.

  Because one thing was crystal clear. I did not want to be on the wrong side of The Dark Saints. Where The Devil’s Hawks seemed dirt caked, crow like, and mean, The Saints projected something else.

  None of them looked like the other, but the men standing in front of the truck, unflinching, were almost mythically huge. It wasn’t just the muscles; there was a broadness to each one, a solid stance that dwarfed the wiry looking Talon and his crew.

  I had thought Kade’s size was some sort of fluke, but it wasn’t. To ride with The Saints, at least these that I was seeing, you had to be able to shake the Earth.

  I was at once hopeful, that they were there to help me, and terrified that they would just think I was a Hawk’s old lady.

  The Saints formed a ‘v’ with a man named Axle at the apex of the ‘v.’ I tried to read all their patches, to get a fix on who they all were.

  “Let the lady go,” Axle said. His voice was low, like Kade’s. Hearing it gave me a fresh spike of worry. Where was Kade?

  “Fuck you, Axle,” Talon said and he pulled back my head and exposed my neck. He leaned over and I felt his tongue score the skin from my chin to my collarbone. I kicked at his shins and he laughed.

  “I know she’s real special to Kade. I can see why ” Talon snarled. How was I going to get out of this? If they shot Talon, there was no way I was escaping without a bullet too. He held me in close to his body and I gagged at his sweaty smell.

  “How about this? You take those guns and get out of here. Leave the lady,” Axle said. I looked in his eyes. They were kind. I was so confused by the biker gang war that I’d stumbled into, but if I ran, I’d run to The Saints. That was the only plan I had.

  “I’m in no need of negotiating for something that’s already mine. I’ll take her as payment for what you tried to steal.”

  I scanned the faces of the other Saints. One looked like a wolf come to life, huge, with wild hair, and veins popping on his massive arms. He was terrifying looking. But his eyes were trained on mine, not on Talon. Every single other Saint was fixed on Talon but this one. His patch read Maddox. Maddox was holding my gaze.

  Something about Maddox made me think we were communicating. What was he trying to tell me?

  His eyes slowly focused on something behind me as the threats between Axle and Talon got more intense. I felt compelled to keep looking at Maddox for a clue on what to do, and when.

  Talon’s grip was strong and the wall of Dark Saints was at least two dozen feet away from me.

  Slowly, Maddox nodded and it made me think I needed to be ready for his next signal. I hoped it was a signal.

  Whatever I did, I’d have one chance at it. Either Talon or The Saints or one of the other Hawks was going to shoot and I was going to be in the middle of it.

  Maddox and the rest of The Saints were still as statues. Slowly Maddox lifted his arm to stroke his jaw. It wasn’t out of place, it was a normal gesture. Except it was totally out of place.

  I watched for whatever sign there might be for whatever opening I could squeeze through and somehow make it out of this.

  I stayed focused on Maddox and the smallest of gestures. And then he did it. I watched the casual motion turn definitive as he pointed his index straight down. That was it. I slammed my body down to the dust-covered road. I used all the force I had and it was enough to break Talon’s grip. At the same time, a dark blur launched toward Talon and gunshots rang in my ears.

  I rolled away with no regard to where I was or what I might land on. Then I felt scooped up.

  “I got you, Curly.” It was the wolfie biker, Maddox. He took what only seemed like a few big strides away from the dust-up.

  There was a full-on skirmish between The Saints and The Hawks. But I was being spirited out of it.

  “You need to stay down,” Maddox said as he deposited me behind his bike.

  “I, what?” I looked around him at what I hoped was The Saints overwhelming The Hawks. And then I focused. It was Kade. He was standing over Talon. Thank God. He was alive.

  It only took another beat to realize, he was bleeding.

  Kade had taken a bullet for me.

  But Talon looked worse. Talon looked dead.

  15

  Kade

  I was one hundred percent sure the bullet had gone clean through my shoulder. I’d had bullets hit bone before, and it was worse than this. I knew Mama Bear could probably patch this up with the stuff in her kitchen.

  But I had killed Talon. He was an officer for The Hawks. This was going to leave a mark on the entire club.

  I walked over to where Maddox had Harlow. She looked as shaken as I’d expected. Her skin was white and I could see fresh bruises forming along her jaw. I wanted to kill Talon again.

  “Thanks, Brother,” I said and Maddox nodded. He’d hel
ped me save Harlow and it was another thing on the list that bonded me to him and The Saints.

  “Yep, Chase sent us out on these relics as soon as you called.”

  Maddox patted the seat of the vintage Harley. Chase had said most of the bikes had been destroyed in a Hawk firebomb, but they hadn’t banked on the vintage bikes that E.Z. and Bear liked to restore.

  “They’re a thing of beauty. Better not get a scratch on ‘em.”

  “Not a chance. I’m going to leave you here with Kade, that okay, Curly?”

  Harlow nodded at Maddox.

  “We’ve got a lot more than scratched bikes to deal with,” I said, noticing that, of the ten Hawks we’d faced, at least three were dead. The others? They were running back to Texas, most likely to make sure everyone knew what had happened here. It was a mess, and our long-running fight with the Hawks was finally going to come home to roost.

  “Yeah, Bear’s gonna lose his shit.”

  Maddox was right and I wasn’t looking forward to the blowback I’d face. This could look like a disaster that I was responsible for creating.

  “We have a lot to deal with in Church,” I said. I hoped I had time to tell my side of the last few days. Maddox smiled at Harlow and again I was overwhelmed with relief that they’d made it here in time.

  “I’d do it again in a heartbeat though, Curly. Nice to meet you. Good job catching my sign language.” And Maddox turned to help deal with the mess left behind. The Saints would make quick work of this scene. We knew how to clean up.

  “Are you okay?” Harlow said and put a hand out to my shoulder. She focused on the blood that had spread across my t-shirt. I’m sure it looked worse than it was.

  “Oh, this? For sure, went straight through.”

  “I have first aid in the truck.”

  “Why don’t you wait a minute before you go back there. We’ll get that truck cleaned out.”

  “The guns?”

  “Yep, The Saints will take those off your hands.”

  The Saints had come prepared. This truck, Harlow, and her dogs had paid too much of a price. I was ashamed that every detail of this job had blown up in Harlow’s face. Since the second they put the guns in her truck, this job had been off course.

  I wished I could go back and change that moment those guns were hidden in her truck, except then I’d never have met Harlow.

  “What will happen?”

  I watched Harlow’s eyes as she processed yet another strange scene. It had been one after another since the moment I had spotted her in the diner.

  I wrapped my arms around Harlow and for a second I felt her body stiffen. When I thought about what she’d seen the last through days, what she’d survived, especially after learning her history, I felt like garbage. She was raised with violence and we’d made that look pale by comparison.

  But then she softened. I felt her body sink into mine. I wanted to shield her and I’d failed. I vowed never to fail at that task again. It was a mission, a new mission: one that I didn’t know I wanted two days ago.

  The thought of what could have happened at Talon’s hands flashed in my brain. I had spent the last few years working on my anger issues, my temper, but today’s violence against Talon? I didn’t regret it a stroke.

  No one was going to mess with Harlow again if I could help it. If they did, they’d get what Talon got. Or worse.

  “I love you, Harlow. I’m so sorry about all this. I’m so sorry you had to go through this.”

  “It’s not all your fault. Rudy set me up, let’s not forget that.” There was a hurt in her voice and a hardness. Was it directed at me? Or was that for Rudy? Or was it just the product of being in my world, seeing what it could mean.

  “Yeah, turns out Bear, my Prez, paid him, and so did The Hawks.”

  “Asshole,” she said and I felt her pull away.

  “Me or him?” I asked her, though I didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “You’re not an asshole, Kade. But you’re too much for me.”

  I knew where she was going with this. I knew it from her eyes and the way her body was closing off from mine. I knew, but it didn’t make it any less harsh.

  “Your life is too dangerous. I know you took a bullet for me today, and I’m… I don’t even know what to think about that.”

  “It was a bullet you wouldn’t have been in line for if it wasn’t for me.”

  She nodded, but with every second she was taking steps down some path away from me.

  “Yeah, that’s right. I can’t do this. I need my truck, my puppies, my life back. I lived with violence once. I’m not cut out for it.”

  Harlow looked away from me and I wanted to grab her and kiss her. I wanted to wash away the doubts she had about us.

  But everything she said was completely right. I had put her in danger, so had my club. Whether we meant to be or not, we were violent men in a bloody line of work.

  How could I ask Harlow to stay anywhere near that?

  How could I ask any woman?

  I felt a tear worse than the bullet going through my shoulder; it was in my heart. And I knew Mama Bear wasn’t going to be able to fix it. This was brutal.

  But it was right. I wasn’t going to try to stop this instinct that Harlow had to run from me. She should run. I needed to let her go.

  “I’m going to get my new puppies on my own and I think that’s it,” Harlow said, holding her own arms.

  “I need to see you safely out of Mexico and back home.”

  “Can Maddox do it? I don’t think I should be near you.”

  The tear in my heart got more jagged. This was going to be harder than I thought.

  “Sure, that’s probably for the best. I’ve got guns to deliver.”

  I wanted to grab her and tell her she was mine. I knew I was hers, even if I never looked at her face again.

  I did none of those things. I willed my body to be stone cold. I would let her think I had a hard heart. I hadn’t made anything easy for her since we met, so at least I could make leaving me easier. I stood up straighter and stopped staring at her like I was one of her lost puppies.

  “Yep.”

  Harlow ran her hands through that curly hair and I saw her get stronger. I saw something heal in her. The woman was resilient. It was how she had survived her father.

  I loved that about her but I knew what she was getting over right now was any feelings she had for me.

  “Thanks for the adventure though. You’re good with dogs, you should get one someday.” And with that, she left me at Maddox’s bike and walked back to her truck.

  I saw her talk to Benz and Axle and look around her rig to be sure it was up to snuff. She’d have to drive it with no front window but they’d cleaned up the glass. She did her own safety checks, too. She was a good driver. As long as bullets weren’t flying, she could handle herself. And I was the only reason bullets were flying these last few days.

  I watched her every move. She was spectacular and focused. I even saw the edges of a smile at Maddox as she climbed into the rig. I was instantly jealous. I wasn’t going to be on the receiving end of any more smiles from her.

  In two days she’d turned my life around. I would never be the same. But Harlow was going to be fine, just fine, without me.

  I was not.

  My mission was to protect her, and that meant letting her go.

  16

  Harlow

  I focused on what kept me sane, what kept me alive, and that was my animals. I picked up ten scruffy new friends and loaded them. I drove to the border and crossed.

  All the while, the biker named Maddox stayed a safe distance behind me.

  When we got a good one hundred miles into Texas, I pulled into a state rest stop to do what I always did: manage my cargo.

  Maddox got off his bike and walked over to me. Part of me wanted to learn more about The Dark Saints, about Kade’s story, about Maddox, but I shut that down. I needed to keep all The Saints a safe distance behind me.

/>   “So, am I in the clear now? No Hawks to accost me at every turn?” I said as I refreshed water for my new passengers. I looked at the empty crates and wondered how the hell had I not inspected them before. That was going to be on my checklist from now on, to make sure I don’t have any unwanted cargo.

  “Here’s some real talk: no one’s ever safe. You get to Port Az, and you’re in our territory. That’s the best advice.”

  “Is that Kade’s advice? Stay in Port Az?”

  “The Devil’s Hawks are everywhere; The Dark Saints are in Port Az.”

  “Well, that’s comforting.”

  I refused to be pulled into this biker war, or whatever it was.

  “You shouldn’t have been in the line of fire. You were. Saints will be sure you don’t keep paying. Now keep your head up and stay alert. As far as your co-workers are concerned, you don’t know anything about your old boss. You had a normal run.” Maddox was a man of few words, somehow even rougher than Kade, but where I was drawn to Kade’s raw sexuality, with Maddox, there was no extra tension. This big bad wolf-looking man was just there to keep other wolves away, not take a bite. I’d been bitten quite enough for a while.

  “How the hell am I going to explain this truck?”

  Maddox whistled and I whipped around to look. There was a pick-up truck nearby and two guys who looked vaguely familiar were getting out. They grabbed something wrapped in a tarp from the back.

  “This is Fitzie and Machop,” Fitzie was tall and skinny, and Machop was all muscle, but they were both puppies in their own right in comparison with The Dark Saints I’d just encountered.

  “Hi, Miss.”

  “Hi.”

  “They’re going to need about a half an hour to fix the windows. When they’re done, you don’t have a thing to explain.”

  “Except Rudy Walls.”

  “Again, don’t say shit to your friends at work about anything. We got this. You go to cops, you’re dead.”

  “Is that a threat from The Saints?”

  I didn’t think so but what the hell did I know. I had just driven hundreds of miles with illegal guns on me.