by Jade Kuzma
“It’s over,” he said.
I sighed a deep breath to calm all of the adrenaline surging through me. The other Devils helped me back up to my feet.
“What do we do with him?” Ezra said.
Everybody turned toward the last man standing. Emerson’s bodyguard. Through it all, he still looked as defiant as ever.
“Aden?” I said.
“I’ll get on it,” he responded. “It might take some time though.”
“We got time now. Right now, all I wanna do is get back to Ivory. I have a promise to keep.”
Chapter 26
KRISTEN
I swallowed down the whiskey like it was water. At this point, it didn’t even burn. My whole body was numb to everything.
I fiddled with my glass between my fingers then sighed softly to myself.
“Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?”
“Is this what what’s supposed to feel like?”
“This. Being an old lady. Sitting around and drinking myself while the man I care about is out there doing God knows what.”
Danica was in the same position I was in but you wouldn’t be able to tell. She leaned up against the bar and gave me a smile like this was all a joke.
“Aden can handle himself,” she said. “So can the rest of the club. I’m not too worried about them.”
“You’d be worried if you knew what they were getting involved in—”
“Kristen. That’s just it. We don’t know what they’re getting involved in. At this point, there’s nothing we can do. And I refuse to worry about something that I can’t do anything about.”
I wasn’t as relaxed as I wanted to be but Danica calmed me down enough that I could think straight.
“How do you do it?” I asked.
“For one, I know Aden is capable. He’s a good man. He wouldn’t get involved in something if he didn’t have a good reason.”
“But what if something happened to him?”
“It didn’t matter if I was dating a club member or not. Life in Ivory… It’s never simple. Something could always happen, even if he was just an ordinary guy. I’m grateful for what I have now. I’m grateful for all of it. I won’t waste time thinking about what might happen rather than celebrating what I already have.”
“I guess that’s one way of putting it…”
“Here.”
She grabbed the bottle and poured me enough to knock out a bear.
“Keep drinking. The night will be over before you know it.”
“I don’t know if I want this night to end…”
Danica left me to tend to all of the other patrons. Hades was as busy as it usually was, with everybody laughing, drinking and having a good time. It looked like every other night even though it wasn’t.
I sighed as I held the glass up and examined it. I stared at the brown liquor and my mouth started to water. It was funny how it suddenly looked like the most appealing thing in the world.
“I guess that’s one way to get my mind off of things…”
I put the glass to my lips. Just before the first drop hit my tongue, the front entrance to the club burst open. The Devils all walked inside. They moved with the kind of confidence that slowly started to fill my heart with hope. Everybody else in the bar ignored them but I kept staring, waiting for Sebastian to appear.
Suddenly, he walked in with Roman by his side.
“Sebastian!”
I jumped up to my seat and rushed over to him. His face was bloodied and bruised. His shirt was off and the rest of him was covered in red.
“Are you all right?” I said.
“Never felt better.”
He gave Roman a nod and the vice president left us so we could be alone.
“Jesus, Sebastian… You’re bleeding.”
“You should see Emerson.”
I looked down at Sebastian’s hands. They were stained so red that I couldn’t even see his skin underneath them.
“Emerson… Is he…”
“It’s taken care of,” Sebastian said. “I promised you I would fix things.”
“Oh, God…”
I wrapped my arms around him. I didn’t care that he was covered in sweat and blood and God knows what. Having him near me… Smelling him… Touching him… Knowing that he was alive was more important to me than anything else.
“I can’t believe it,” I said as I looked up into his eyes. “I can’t believe you actually did it.”
“Emerson didn’t know who he was fucking with—”
The entrance to the bar suddenly opened up again. All of the conversations turned to a murmur when they saw the old man in uniform slowly stroll inside. I pulled away from Sebastian as the town sheriff walked up to him.
“Sheriff Sutton,” Sebastian said. “How are you doing this fine evening?”
Sutton looked Sebastian up and down. The blood was still trickling down fresh from the cut on Sebastian’s eyebrow.
“Better than you,” Sutton replied.
“Oh, this? It’s just a scratch. A bandage… Maybe a few stitches and I’ll be as good as new.”
“Right… You know, there was a rumor going around. Said that something went down tonight.”
“I never much paid attention to rumors. That sort of gossip is something that housewives deal with.”
“Is that right? Still, I thought maybe I’d come here to see if you had anything for me… What’s with the blood on your hands?”
“Oh, this,” Sebastian said as he held his hands up. “Boys and I did a little hunting. Just about to get cleaned up. Don’t worry. We didn’t leave a mess out in the woods.”
Sutton stared at Sebastian skeptically but didn’t say anything.
“What can I help you with, Sutton?”
“…I just wanted to make sure that everything is all right on your end and you’re not causing any trouble. These rumors are serious. I wouldn’t want you to be involved in something like this. It wouldn’t be good for you.”
Sebastian looked at me. Through all of the damage on his face, I could still see the confidence in his eyes.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about from me,” Sebastian said. “Not anymore. We’re not the Devils you’re used to.”
“Thank God for that.”
Sutton took a step back, his eyes still locked on Sebastian, before he eventually turned around and walked away.
“What was that all about?” I said.
“Sutton knows what’s really happening in this town.”
“He could arrest you if he finds out what you did.”
“He could. But he won’t. I might not be a cop like him but he knows whose side I’m on.”
My heart beat slower inside of my chest. All of the tension I felt just a few minutes ago. Even with Sebastian in the state he was in, all of the stress from the past few weeks had disappeared.
“Any problems?” Roman said as he walked up to Sebastian.
“No problems,” Sebastian said. “Sutton was just checking in. You know he and Murph were close.”
“Sutton won’t admit he wanted this. Not in front of us. But I’m sure he’s in his patrol car right now with a smile on his face.”
“Then that’s it,” I sighed. “Everything is done. It’s all finally over.”
“Well…”
Sebastian and Roman looked at one another.
“What?” I said. “What is it?”
“There’s just one more thing I need to take care of,” Sebastian said.
“What?” I exclaimed. “But you just said—”
“Don’t worry…”
He put his hands on my shoulders and smiled through all of the blood on his face.
“…It’s nothing you need to think about. Right now, I just need to get rid of all this blood.”
“Yeah… Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Chapter 27
SEBASTIAN
Two days later…
“You sure about this?”
&
nbsp; “Of course I’m sure.”
“This would be a lot easier if we just put a bullet in his head.”
“Easier. But not satisfying. Why? You not up to it?”
Aden cracked his knuckles in his hands. Out of all the Devils, he was the man that was more serious than everybody else. And when he was serious, you had good reason to be worried.
“I’m still up to it,” Aden said. “I just don’t think—”
“Don’t worry,” I said as I put a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t make you go that far.”
“Right…”
In the middle of Old Town, it was easy to find a place where you could be all alone. The cops were too busy patrolling the more important parts of Ivory and everybody else was too scared to go looking around. The empty warehouse was the perfect site for what was about to go down.
And judging from the crowd that had gathered, they seemed to be in agreement.
A middle-aged man approached us. Clothes messy. Hair unkempt. Dirt on his face like he hadn’t washed in days. He looked homeless or close to it. But he still smiled like he was on top of the world.
“All right, Mr. Mercer,” the man said as he rubbed his hands together. “What do you think?”
“Not bad, Yates,” Aden said to him.
“Not bad? You asked me to book a big fight for you with barely any notice. I think I did a damn good job. Look out there. A bunch of savages, thirsty for blood.”
“We about set?” I asked.
“Almost,” Yates replied. “Everybody just needs to finish placin’ the rest of their bets.”
Roman, Hunter and Ezra stood off to the side of the small warehouse. They surrounded the man in front of them, who, despite wearing a pair of handcuffs behind his back, still looked capable.
I walked right up to the asshole, that psychotic look still in his eyes, and burned a hole right through him.
“It was you, Blackwell,” I said. “You’re the one who took Murph out. I know because a man like Emerson would never get his hands dirty. He has other people squeeze the trigger for him. Any last words?”
“What’s this?” Blackwell said as he looked around. “A public execution for everybody to see?”
“That’s right. I can put a gun to your head and squeeze… End it just like how it ended for Murph. I’m giving you a chance. A chance to experience the beating you gave him. You beat an old man bloody. Now it’s time you picked on someone your own size.”
I stepped aside and looked at Aden across the way. He had his shirt off, covered in sweat as he bounced in place and warmed up. Even if you didn’t know who Aden was, it was easy to tell he had a good idea about what the fuck he was doing.
“Him?” Blackwell scoffed. “The rest of you joining in, too?”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “Just you and Mercy. One-on-one. Let’s see how you deal with someone who doesn’t have one foot in the grave already.”
“And this guy over here… This… Mercy… I beat the shit out of him and you let me walk. Same deal you gave Emerson?”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “You died that same day you killed Murph. Emerson lived his life like a coward, using and manipulating people to do his bidding with his wealth. I’m giving you a chance to go out like a man.”
“Careful now, Cain. Your friend might end up in a bad state. You don’t know what I can do with my fists.”
I couldn’t help but smile back at Blackwell.
“Saying something like that, I’m guessing you don’t know my friend Mercy very well.”
“He looks like a dead man.”
“We’ll see about that… Oh, and don’t try anything. My friend Roman is more than willing to put a bullet in your skull.”
“You sure about this?” Hunter asked.
I gave him a nod and he shrugged as took the cuffs off of Blackwell. The bastard took a step toward the center of the crowd in the warehouse and Aden moved closer to him.
“All right, all right, all right,” Yates said as he took his spot in the middle. “Settle down everybody. I’ve got something special for you tonight. A grudge match. A chance for you all to throw some money down. Over here, we got my man, Blackwell. Scary-looking motherfucker. Looks like he knows a thing or two…”
Blackwell kept his eyes locked on Aden.
Yates turned to Aden and pointed at him.
“…And over here… Coming out of retirement, one night only, the one and only, Aden No Mercy Mercer!”
The crowd was already cheering and shouting so loud that Yates couldn’t say much else. The cops would probably come and shut this fight down if they actually gave a shit. But there was nothing else to stop the two men from going at it like they were about to now.
“Let’s go, baby!” Yates shouted.
He moved away from the center and the two men put their fists up.
Aden was slick. He bounced around on his feet, moving back and forth in a way that made it a wonder how anybody was able to hit him.
Blackwell stalked forward, his hands down confidently.
“Let’s go, Mercy!” Roman shouted. “Teach this motherfucker a lesson!”
Blackwell charged toward Aden and reared back with a right hand. But Aden met him before he had a chance to throw it. A violent left hook that caught Blackwell right on the temple. He hit Blackwell so hard that his legs wobbled like I’d never seen it before.
“Don’t stop!” I shouted. “Keep going!”
Blackwell looked like he was already out of it. As soon as he was able to get back up to his feet, he was met with another punch that made him stumble again.
“Get up!” Aden motioned with his hand. “I’m not done with you!”
Aden had never looked so confident before.
Blackwell’s face was already bloodied. Through the crimson mask, his eyes were full of anger. He charged back forward again but was met with another left hand that sent him falling back hard to the floor with a thud.
The crowd was at a fever pitch. Everybody had placed their bets but it was becoming more and more apparent that this fight was only going to end in one way.
“Come on, Blackwell!” I said to him. “This is what you asked for. Go out like a man.”
He pressed his fists into the ground and glared at me. He already looked unrecognizable at this point. I almost would’ve felt sorry for him but I remembered the way Murph looked. I could see what he’d been through just from one look at his face.
No. A motherfucker couldn’t do a Devil like that and get off easy. Blackwell was gonna pay.
Somehow, Blackwell managed to get back up to his feet. He turned around with a punch but there was nothing on it. Aden caught his wrist and clocked him right on the jaw, rotating his head in a way that heads weren’t supposed to rotate. He snapped his head back so bad that I wondered how it was still attached.
Blackwell collapsed to the ground in a heap, arms and legs sprawled out in every direction.
“Wow…” Yates muttered. “It looks like that’s the end of that. Your winner, No Mercy!”
The crowd was a combination of cheers and boos as people collected their winnings and paid off their bets. Then they quickly started to disperse, leaving Yates alone with me, my MC and Blackwell’s unconscious body.
“That was a spectacle,” Yates said as he looked around. “You didn’t need an audience if all you were gonna do was beat the shit out of him.”
“It wasn’t enough to hurt him,” I said. “Blackwell needed to be humiliated. A lesson for everybody. So they know not to fuck with the Devils.”
“Hey. You’ll get no trouble from me.”
Yates put his hands up innocently then looked over at Aden and smirked.
“Now about that payment…”
“You’ll get your money,” Aden said. “It’s dirty money. You use this shit to take care of Isaac and anybody else like him. No bullshit. You got that?”
“I’ve been clean for years,” Yates replied. “I’m a changed man, re
member?”
Yates gave Aden a wink then whistled as he left the warehouse.
Now there was just us. The Devils. And the man who was responsible for what happened to Murph.
I knelt down next to Blackwell and slapped him across the face.
“Hey.”
He didn’t respond.
“Jesus, I think Aden might’ve killed him…” Hunter muttered.
“Hey!”
I slapped Blackwell harder until he finally blinked his eyes open. He looked up at all of us. There was no anger. There was no frightening focus. There was just a man who knew his time was up.
“Was it worth it?” I asked.
“Emerson was paying me a lot of money. I didn’t choose the target. I just did what he told me to do.”
“That’s the problem with living for money. Sometimes you do some shit that you never know you’re gonna regret.”
I pulled my piece from the back of my waist then pointed it at the side of his head.
“Any last words?” I asked.
He didn’t say anything. He just closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the ground.
I sighed a deep breath and swallowed.
“We got him, Murph.”
The shot echoed through the warehouse for only a second before the silence returned.
Chapter 28
KRISTEN
One week later…
I’d never had sex with Sebastian before. Every time I was with him, he’d take control. It wasn’t just because of how strong he was. It wasn’t because he couldn’t help himself. It was me. I lost myself whenever I was with him. It was a wonderful feeling of helplessness, letting him take me and do whatever he wanted to me. Floating in a state of bliss, it was like nothing else. It wasn’t sex. He fucked me.
Now though… Now it was different.
There was no anger. There was no frustration. There was no worry. We could just be together. And I was in as much control as he was.
Arms and legs wrapped around him, I pulled him closer while he pounded me into the mattress. His hilt slapped against my folds. The sheets were wet with sweat underneath me. My throat was dry despite how much I was sucking on his tongue. I kept Sebastian close, grinding up my hips to meet every one of his hard thrusts.
