THE DEVIL’S BRIDE

by April Lust

  In a few short minutes, almost the entire building had been secured, and a few of the bikers had turned their aims to looting the place of its valuables.

  Katie came up to Lucky, three girls in over-sized leather jackets following behind her. “I found them in the back,” she quietly told Lucky. “They were chained up in a cage…I’m taking them to get checked out by Lianna.”

  Lucky nodded absentmindedly. She had been walking around since the bikers had come in and wiped the place out, but she still had yet to see Vlad amongst the bodies—Riley’s was respectfully laid separate from the others and covered with a sheet.

  A small scuffle broke out in the corner as Smalls and another older biker from a lost gang pulled an incredibly angry-looking man out from under a cabinet.

  Lucky shouldered past everyone to get an up close look. It was Vlad.

  “Po'shyol 'na hui!” he screamed, cussing out everyone within sight.

  Lucky didn’t wait a heartbeat. She walked up to him, pulling her gun out from her waistband. She was so swift, no one even had time to realize what was happening until she pressed the muzzle up to Vlad’s forehead. “Shut the fuck up,” she growled, pulling the trigger.

  Vlad immediately went limp, Smalls dropping him in surprise. More than one person screamed, shocked. Lucky didn’t care. As quickly as she had forced her way in, Lucky walked out, dropping her gun behind her.

  “Hey! Wanna tell me what that was about?” Smalls said, catching up to Lucky.

  “He killed Riley,” Lucky coldly explained. She ignored Smalls’ curious look at her. No one knew about her and Riley, and she certainly didn’t want to go into it now.

  Smalls put a hand on her shoulder. “Ace will know what to say. Let’s go find him, okay?”

  Lucky looked up. “You haven’t seen Ace?” she asked, glancing around the room. “Oh, god!” she exclaimed, realization punching her straight in the gut. “Fiona!”

  ***

  Ace was staring straight at Fiona. Alexei was standing directly behind her, holding a gun to her head. Niko lay unconscious on the floor just to the left of them, blood trickling from several cuts on Niko’s face. Ace grimaced. He looked back at Fiona. Tears were openly streaming down her cheeks, but she didn’t make a sound.

  “It’s okay, Fiona,” Ace said, trying to keep her calm. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  Alexei laughed boldly. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, Ace.”

  Ace ignored the mobster, keeping his eyes locked with Fiona’s bright blue ones. He took a step forward and Alexei twisted his grip on Fiona, causing her to yelp in pain.

  “If you move a single muscle, I’ll blow her brains out,” Alexei threatened.

  Ace stopped dead in his tracks, taking Alexei at his word. He scanned the room, always coming back to Fiona, but he couldn’t see a way out of this for them.

  I guess this is it, then, that voice in Ace’s head said. And you never even got to tell her…

  Before Ace could acknowledge what it was, exactly, that he needed to tell Fiona, he saw Niko slowly rise from the corner of his eye. Keeping his gaze firmly on Fiona so as not to alert Alexei’s suspicion, Ace held his breath.

  Niko leapt forward, grabbing Alexei’s gun with both hands and shoving it upwards with all the strength he had. The gun went off, shooting a hole in the ceiling and narrowly missing the chandelier.

  “Run!” Ace shouted to Fiona, who had been knocked to the ground in the scuffle.

  Fiona needed no further urging and ran for the staircase, pushing the trapdoor open and practically leaping out of the hidden basement.

  Ace turned back. The element of surprise lost, Alexei now easily held the upper hand in the fight. He punched Niko square in the face, and the younger man dropped to the floor, where he was still.

  Alexei stepped over Niko’s body and held up his hands, making a “come here” gesture to Ace.

  It wasn’t often that Ace had to look up to a man, but Alexei was a mammoth. If Ace wanted to win this fight, it was going to be through brains, not brawn.

  Alexei took a swing; it was slow, testing almost. Ace dodged it easily, but he wasn’t fooled. He threw a blow of his own, and as he suspected, Alexei moved out of the way, almost lightning fast.

  Immediately, the two men broke into a flurry of punches, Alexei landing hits on Ace’s ribs, stomach, and ear. Ace pulled back, then darted in before Alexei could catch his breath.

  Doing his best to ignore Alexei’s massive hands beating him in the back of the dome, Ace kept his head down, trying to drive him back by repeatedly punching him in the stomach and torso.

  It worked, and Ace dropped his left hand in pain—he felt like he might have broken it from punching Alexei’s abs so hard. Alexei took the opening and drove his fist into Ace’s jaw, knocking him down right next to Niko. Ace’s vision swirled as he fought to remain conscious. Alexei started to kick him in the side until there was an audible crack.

  Alexei came over and bent down to grab Ace by the shirt when he found a gun pointing dead at him. He held up his hands, retreating.

  “Don’t you move a muscle,” Ace said weakly. He fired, and the shot went wide, striking the ceiling.

  Alexei looked at Ace curiously, wincing as Ace accidentally shot one of the crystals in the chandelier. He started to chuckle—Ace was too fucked up to be able to shoot straight. Alexei took a step forward.

  Ace took a deep breath and pulled the trigger again, feeling this time the shot had found its mark. He shot the chain holding the chandelier aloft and it came crashing down around Alexei, trapping him inside it. Alexei fell parallel to Ace, their faces barely a foot apart.

  “Gotcha, bitch,” Ace growled, emptying the last bullet in the gun into Alexei’s skull.

  ***

  Fiona worriedly chewed her lip, then cursed, having accidentally bitten the cut from where Alexei had hit her. Both Ace and Niko were currently in surgery—internal bleeding from being severely beaten. They had been brought in over an hour ago, and no one had been out yet to tell them anything.

  The doctors had taken one look at the group of people in the waiting room, all needing at least some minor medical attention, and decided it was better not to ask questions. All of The Hell Brothers were crammed into the room, along with several of the other loner bikers.

  Even Paul was there. He waved awkwardly to her. “Sorry,” he apologized to Fiona. “About, y’know, doing nothing while Alexei beat the shit out of you guys. It’s just…Ace wanted my help with the plan, and, well, I’m a really bad liar. If I had said anything, or even looked at you, it would have been over for all of us,” Paul blurted out.

  Fiona smiled sadly. “I understand, Paul. We all did what we had to.”

  Suddenly the door flew open, and Melanie rushed through, frantically looking for Fiona. Spotting her almost immediately, she ran over, her trembling hands hovering around Fiona’s bruised and beaten face.

  “Oh my god,” Melanie said, her voice shaking. “You’re…are you okay?”

  “It looks worse than it feels,” Fiona insisted, though she had been given a strong painkiller about twenty minutes ago that was just starting to kick in. “Thank you so much for coming.”

  Diego stood up to allow Melanie to take his seat next to Fiona. “Of course! Just never scare me like that again! I would suggest going home, but I know that’s pointless, so here—” Melanie shifted a little lower in the chair, “—put your head on my shoulder and rest.”

  Fiona wanted to protest, but her body wouldn’t let her and she lay her head down. Rest would not come for her, however. She dozed fitfully, nightmares and reality mingling together into a jumbled mess.

  In one of her dreams, a doctor came into the room, but when he started talking his face melted and twisted until he looked like Vlad. “Choose!” the Vlad-Doctor barked.

  “Choose what?” Fiona whimpered, trying to get away.

  “Choose!” he simply repeated, grabbing Fiona’s arm and pointing wit
h a gun that had at one point been a clipboard.

  Fiona looked where the Vlad-Doctor was pointing and saw both Niko and Ace tied up on the floor. “I can’t!” Fiona cried. “I can’t choose!” She wrenched herself free and fell, hard.

  Fiona woke up suddenly and on the cold laminate floor of the hospital. She looked up, confused, and saw Melanie and all the members of The Hell Brothers staring back at her concernedly. A doctor poked his head up from behind Smalls to get a better look. It had just been a nightmare; there had been no news on either of the injured men.

  “Is that her?” the doctor asked. Smalls nodded and the doctor made his way over to her. “Mrs. Connor?”

  Fiona suppressed the urge to correct him—only family would be allowed in to see Ace—but she couldn’t suppress a glance in Katie’s direction. Surprisingly, the woman seemed strangely unaffected.

  She turned her attention back to the doctor. “How is my…husband? And my brother, is he okay?”

  “Mr. Connor has come out of surgery and is already conscious. His stamina is…admirable,” the doctor said, impressed.

  A cheer went up around the room, as well as a few hollers in Fiona’s direction. She smiled nervously back at them, and couldn’t help but notice Lucky stopped clapping long before anyone else.

  “That’s wonderful, Doctor. Really, excellent news. But, what about Niko? Is he going to be all right?”

  The doctor’s face fell a little. “Your brother’s injuries were extensive, Mrs. Connor. He won’t be out of surgery for at least another hour. In the meantime, you can join your husband in his room. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you all. Especially you!” He winked at Fiona.

  “Me?” she couldn’t help but blurt out. The last time she and Ace had talked, he’d told her to move on.

  “Oh, yes.” The doctor chuckled. “All while he was being put under he kept mumbling about Fiona and how important it was for him to see you. So, go on!” He hoped the joy from reuniting with her husband could help distract her from the precarious balance in which her brother’s life now hung.

  Fiona slowly crept into Ace’s room, where The Hell Brothers were congratulating him on his epic battle with Alexei, as well as making it through the surgery. She hung back, letting Ace spend time with his family, wishing she had Niko to share the moment with.

  She caught Ace’s eye a few minutes later. “Uh, hey, guys, really, it’s so good to see you, but I need to rest for a little bit, okay?” he said. “Fiona, can I talk to you?” he asked, busting her trying to sneak out the door.

  Fiona turned back. “What’s up?” she asked in what she hoped was a light-hearted manner.

  “Come here.” Ace motioned with his hand.

  Fiona took a step forward and Ace rolled his eyes. “Will you please get over here?” he demanded.

  Reluctantly, Fiona came to stand at his bedside. Ignoring the stitches in his side, Ace grabbed her arm and pulled her into bed with him and onto his lap. He gripped the back of her neck and planted a kiss square on her lips.

  Fiona, surprised for a moment, soon began to struggle. Pushing him away she cried, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Kissing the woman I love,” Ace said simply.

  “You can’t just go kissing girls—especially when you’ve spent all this time telling them how you’ve moved on. You killed Alexei, so our little deal is over!” Fiona froze as Ace’s words sunk in. “What?” she whispered, looking at him.

  “I know what I said before, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Fiona,” Ace said earnestly. He gripped her fingers tightly. “I thought I was keeping you safe, but I see now that was a futile attempt. You’re a strong woman and you do what you like—which is what I love about you.”

  Fiona didn’t think she would ever get used to hearing Ace Connor say he loved her. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but…I think you were right.”

  Ace’s heart felt like it was being injected with liquid nitrogen. “What?” he croaked.

  “This…your lifestyle…I can’t do it.” Fiona shook her head sadly. “It’s all too much for me, and I could never take it away from you.”

  Ace chuckled, grabbing his side in pain. “Don’t worry about that,” he assured her. “Just do me a favor and send Katie in, would you?”

  Fiona hesitated briefly. What does he want with her? But she went out into the hallway and sent Katie in as he asked.

  Katie returned barely five minutes later, giving Fiona a peculiar, entirely unreadable look on her way out.

  “Fiona,” Ace called her name softly from inside the room.

  Taking one last look at Katie, Fiona went in. “What was that about?” she asked curiously.

  “Take a seat,” Ace said, patting the bed next to him. When Fiona was comfortably snuggled inside his arms, he continued. “That was about me leaving The Hell Brothers.”

  Fiona shot up and Ace groaned in pain again. “What? You can’t do that!”

  “Hey, it’s fine,” Ace reassured her. “Katie is going to take over. She’ll do a much better job, based on all the nagging she did with me. You were right, Fiona. I can’t do this life anymore either. I want something simple, where I don’t have to shoot people to keep other people safe. Most of all, though, I want you,” he said, kissing her softly.

  Ace pulled off his The Hell Brothers membership ring and held it in front of Fiona. “In fact, if I could have you for the rest of my life, I’d be the happiest man in the world.”

  Fiona let out a sob, nodding. Slipping the ring on her thumb, the only finger it would fit on, Fiona began kissing Ace all over his face.

  “I’ll get you a real one when we’re out of here, okay?” Ace promised.

  “What’s all this in here?” someone hollered from the doorway. It was Niko, and he was being wheeled in on a bed. Fiona could barely recognize him with all the bandages on his face.

  “Niko!” she gasped, jumping off of Ace’s bed and running over to her brother. “I’m so happy you’re okay!”

  “Never better,” he joked. “So, what? You think you’re gonna marry my sister or something?” Niko said to Ace.

  “Is that a problem?” Ace threatened teasingly. Everyone laughed. After everything Ace had done to save them, neither Fiona nor Niko could find him dangerous anymore.

  “Just tell them to put me in another room if you guys are gonna make out every ten minutes,” Niko shot back.

  Fiona raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, you’d better go call the nurse in to come move you, because I think that’s unavoidable.”

  And with her brother making quiet gagging noises in the background, Fiona gave her future husband a passionate kiss. She had made a family at last.

  THE END

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  MASON’S BABY: Storm’s Angels MC

  By April Lust

  SHE OWES ME EVERYTHING. AND I’M COMING TO COLLECT.

  No one crosses a biker and gets away with it.

  Not even a vixen like Clara.

  She’s got a body to die for, but even if I go, I’ve got a legacy to protect.

  A legacy that starts with the baby in her womb.

  She thought she was smart.

  Crafty.

  Sneaky.

  But she never had a chance.

  I caught the thief red-handed, and if she doesn’t want to talk, well…

  I’ll just have to find other ways to open her mouth.

  As long as she’s chained in my clubhouse basement, she belongs to me.

  I’m the only thing keeping her safe.

  Her boss will kill her if I let her go, and if I say the word, my men will turn her into their filthy plaything.

  So you better open up, princess.

  Because I want to rip the clothes from your body.

  The bre
ath from your lungs.

  The innocence from between your legs.

  And one way or another, I always get what I want.

  Prologue

  Clara

  At 3 a.m. the city streets were finally mostly quiet. I stood in the alleyway between the two supposedly-vacant warehouse buildings underneath a light that hadn’t worked in decades. I listened to the sound of the occasional car or truck passing by. This was the lull between night and morning, when the people going home were settling in and the people going to work were just getting up.

  This was also when the guard stepped away from the door to the room where the stash was kept. It was my chance to climb in through one of the broken windows of the old building and grab my prize. I proceeded carefully, without a sound. I was just another shadow in the darkness.