Devil's Passion (Devil's Martyrs MC Book 6)

by Brook Wilder

  Craig paused, tilting his head to give her an odd look.

  “You really care about him, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do! I love him.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth before another voice answered. And it wasn’t Craig’s.

  “You love that bitch-ass Devil’s Martyr, do you?” the voice sneered.

  Melody gasped in fear as three of Enrique’s men pushed their way through the front door. The front door that she’d forgotten to lock again after letting Craig inside.

  “Enrique isn’t going to like that.”

  Melody couldn’t speak. She couldn’t scream. She was frozen in terror. Luckily, Craig had no such problems.

  “What the fuck are you assholes doing here. You better turn around and crawl back to your master with your tail between your legs before things get real bad for you.”

  As Craig threatened the three men, he pulled a gun from the back of his waistband.

  There was a sudden scuffle as two of the other men pulled weapons while the third tried to rush past Craig to try and abduct Melody.

  In a sudden rush, the fear that had held her frozen was gone and what ebbed in to take its place was pure anger.

  She was so tired of being terrified of Enrique, of what he would do to her, of the control he had over her life. It was time to take a stand and follow Bianca’s advice. She was going to fight for what she wanted. She had to fight for her happiness.

  With a roar of rage, Melody bent down and picked up the nearest thing she could. Her fingers closed around the metal base of a bird cage and swung it over her head, bringing it down hard on the attacker as he reached for her.

  “Not today!” Melody growled, hitting him with it again, “Not. To. Day!”

  She knocked the man away from her, and he held a hand to his face as his nose dripped a river of blood.

  “The bitch broke my nose!”

  “Just grab her and let’s get the fuck out of here. Enrique is waiting for us.”

  The man’s words spurred her on, and Melody jumped forward, attacking them again, swinging the heavy metal base like a battering ram in front of her.

  “I’m never going back to him. You can tell him that. Never!”

  In a blur, one of the men held a gun, pointing it straight at Craig. In the small space of the living room it was too crowded to move, and there was nowhere for him to duck to dodge the bullet.

  Melody gasped, time slowing as she saw the intent flicker across his mean face. He was going to shoot the other man and take her, no matter who had to die.

  But just as his finger closed on the trigger a little white ball of fur came hurtling towards him, hissing and clawing at his ankles, and he went down in a heap of angry kitten.

  The sound of the gun firing was extra loud in her ears, almost as loud as the ringing, but even through that Melody could hear the sirens drawing closer.

  “Shit. We have to go,” one of Enrique’s men said with a nervous look outside. The sirens were almost there.

  “We’ll be back for you, bitch. You belong to Enrique.”

  “Not anymore,” she whispered wearily, suddenly exhausted, as they rushed outside just as quickly as they’d rushed in.

  She was shaking so badly that the metal bird cage base slipped from her fingertips to land with a loud clang, but all she could hear was the ringing. It drowned out everything else. It even muffled Craig’s cry of pain.

  Melody looked over to him and saw him holding his arm with one hand, but it didn’t seem to stop the flow of blood down his sleeve. His face was so pale it was nearly completely white.

  “Are you okay?” She forced the words out through suddenly numb lips.

  “Me? Oh I’m just fine and dandy,” Craig said with a stuttering laugh. His eyes were all whites as he stared at her. “Never been better.”

  Melody watched as his eyes rolled back into his head, and a moment later he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

  Chapter 6

  Christian’s whole body was trembling like a leaf in a summer storm as he raced his motorcycle back towards home. He was surprised he could even hold on to the handle bars, and he must have broken about a hundred traffic laws, speeding the entire way, but he didn’t care.

  That bad feeling in the pit of his stomach hadn’t gone away, not even after the shoot-out with Enrique was over and his father was being seen to, albeit reluctantly, by a local doctor who was friendly with the crew members and didn’t ask too many questions.

  Christian had wanted to stay with his father, to make sure he got home okay after getting checked out, but the bullet he’d taken to the leg hadn’t been as severe as it had looked at first. Hub had lost some blood, and he’d needed a few stitches, which he’d groused about the entire time doc was stitching him up, but he would be up on his feet in no time.

  It was all over. He could go home and hold Melody in his arms, and they could move on with their lives. He had the bag of money from Enrique stashed in the leather case on the back of his bike, and it was more than enough for them to get out of town.

  But still, that god-damned bad feeling wouldn’t go away. In fact, with every single mile he drove, it just grew worse and worse until he was racing so fast the landscape was just a blur on either side.

  That damned feeling only got worse when Christian pulled around the corner that led to his street, and he saw the flashing lights of police cars lighting up the sky and an ambulance parked haphazardly in his driveway.

  Immediately, the worst sort of thoughts flew through his head. Something had happened to Melody. Something terrible had happened to their baby.

  He couldn’t breathe. He was choking on panic as he dropped his motorcycle without a care on the curb, rushing towards the ambulance.

  His heart in his throat, Christian was more terrified in that moment than he’d ever been in his entire life. In that moment, he realized that Melody was his entire life. He didn’t think he could go on living if something had happened to her.

  “Melody?! Mel?” Christian called out as he rounded the side of the ambulance.

  He pulled up short as he saw Craig laid out on a stretcher, being wheeled towards the back of the vehicle.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, man. I’m not your lady love.” Craig said, joking even as he was being taking to the hospital.

  His arms were wrapped and bandaged with gauze, and Christian’s brows furrowed. The panic was making him extra slow, and it took him longer than it should have to connect the dots.

  “The ambulance isn’t for Melody?” Christian asked, still trying to make sense of it.

  His hands were still shaking. Hell, his whole body was still shaking.

  “Nope. It’s all for me!” Craig said with a cackle.

  The EMT who was working on him rolled her eyes, even thought there was a glimmer of humor in them as well.

  “Is Mel okay?”

  “Okay? Damn, man! Remind me to never get on her bad side. If I hadn’t gotten in the way, she could have taken them all out herself, I’m pretty sure. Her and that little furball sidekick of hers. She’s lethal.”

  Christian shook his head in confusion.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I’m sorry, Christian,” Craig said, and for once, his expression was serious. “Some of Enrique’s men must have followed me without me realizing. There were three of his thugs. They tried to take Melody.”

  “Is she okay? Where is she? Is the baby okay?”

  “Relax. They are both fine. She’s still inside.” Craig grinned again, his somber expression not lasting long, “I’m serious, Christian. You better watch yourself with her. She’s deadly with a bird cage.”

  Christian was still trying to make sense of Craig’s words when the EMT waved him back.

  “Come on, no more talking. I know that’s probably really hard for you. You have a hole in your arm, for Pete’s sake,” she said, shooting Craig a chastising look.

  He put on a look
of innocence, so out of place on him that it nearly had Christian cracking a smile. The man was incorrigible. There was no other word for it.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ve done worse to myself just walking down the street.”

  She gave him another hard look, and Craig just shrugged, grinning all the while, as she rolled him up and into the ambulance before turning back to Christian.

  “Here’s the hospital we’re taking him to. He’ll be fine once he gets all patched up.”

  “Nothing keeps him down for long,” Christian said, taking the card.

  The pretty EMT let out a little laugh.

  “I can only imagine,” she said, before getting into the ambulance.

  A moment later they were driving away, taking Craig to get treated and leaving Christian with way more questions than answers.

  The thought of Melody had him turning and sprinting inside. He needed to see her for himself. He needed to know that she really was okay.

  As soon as he walked through the doors, his gaze was drawn straight to where Melody was standing, huddled in on herself, with a glazed look dulling her normally luminous gaze.

  Christian ran towards her and didn’t stop until he had his arms around her, holding her so tight against him that he could hardly breathe. But neither of them protested. Melody let out a shuddering gasp as she collapsed into his embrace, and he lost himself in the feel of her.

  Her scent, the warmth of her body, how real and solid and soft she felt in his arms. And fragile. She felt so fragile that it seemed she could shatter at any moment into a million tiny pieces and slip through his fingers.

  The thought made Christian hold on even tighter.

  He was so lost in her that it took him a long moment to realize that police officers were surrounding them, but for the first time in his life he didn’t care. As part of the gang, it had been drilled into him to stay away from cops, and they normally made him nervous. But if they helped to keep Melody and their baby safe, he would kiss them all.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we just need one last statement from Mrs. Mires,” one of the officers said gently.

  At first, Christian didn’t even realize his own last name. His eyes damp with moisture he fought to hold back, he turned to Melody and laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

  “Are you okay to do this? You don’t have to. It’s okay now. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Christian whispered softly against her cheek.

  Melody drew in a deep breath, filling herself up with a strength that he couldn’t help but marvel at. With a grim determination, she followed the officer, speaking softly as she told the cop once more what had happened, and with every damning word he felt more and more guilty until he had to look away.

  It was his job to protect her, to keep her safe. And he had failed in the most spectacular way possible.

  Luna, the little white kitten, rubbed comfortingly against his ankles, and Christian let out a bitter smile. He had to make this up to Melody, somehow, someway. He just didn’t even know where to start.

  Chapter 7

  Christian bit back the frustration and impatience that flooded through him as the last of the police officers finally left. They’d taken statements from Melody and even questioned him. Now everyone else had gone, there was still a thick tension left in the room.

  He felt at a loss as he stood alone in the middle of the living room, filled with a restless energy that pushed him into motion. He rummaged around the room, fiddling with things, trying to put everything back to rights. More than a few things had gotten destroyed or broken during the scuffle.

  Christian bent down and picked up a piece of broken glass, and for a long moment he just started at it. He hated to see the reminders. That he hadn’t been there when he needed to be. That he’d been off somewhere else when Melody had needed him the most.

  Just the thought of her name had him searching for her, and he felt a moment of panic when he didn’t find her at first. But a moment after she had disappeared, she was walking back into the room with a damp cloth and a spray bottle.

  She knelt down on the floor, trying to clean the blood stains from the carpet, but they wouldn’t come off.

  Christian dropped to his knees a few feet away from her, clearing away some of the debris and watching her out of the corner of his eye.

  He hated the way her hands were shaking, like she was still just as terrified now as she had been when Enrique’s men had burst into the house and attacked her. He hated the dull look in her eyes that made him feel like a monster for leaving her alone.

  Christian leaned forward and gently took the cloth from her trembling fingers.

  “Let me take care of it, Mel,” he said. At least then he could be useful for something. Even when it didn’t count. Even when it was too late to matter.

  His thoughts whirled in his head, and he searched desperately for something, anything, to break the terrible silence that had fallen like a lead weight between them.

  “They are taking Craig to the hospital,” Christian said haltingly, still grasping for anything. “The EMT said that he would be fine though.”

  The silence fell again, and this time he couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. He couldn’t speak past the lump of guilt that was choking him.

  “How’s your father?” Melody asked after a moment, her voice soft and distant like she was asking him the question from the other side of a wall. A wall he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to climb over again.

  But all he could do was answer her.

  “He’s okay. I left him at the doctor’s office, getting a few stitches and grumbling about it the whole time, but he’ll live.”

  No thanks to me.

  Suddenly, the guilt became too much, and it exploded out of him. He threw the bloody cloth, knocking over a table as he did so.

  “Fuck, Melody. I…”

  Christian forced himself to stop, forced himself to draw in a shuddering breath as Melody started at him, her eyes so wide that he could see the whites all the way around.

  Already regretting his outburst, Christian reached towards her, and Melody flinched away from him. It was a fucking stab straight to his heart.

  Swallowing down the bitterness, he let his hands drop down to his lap and his head bowed. He couldn’t stand to look at her. Couldn’t stand to see the rebuke in her beautiful eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized raggedly, “I’m so sorry. You must hate me.”

  Melody didn’t say a word, just looked at him, waiting for him to admit his shame, his guilt.

  “I wasn’t here for you when you needed me. I didn’t protect you. I didn’t protect our baby. It’s my job to make sure you’re both safe, and I failed. You could have been hurt! You could have…”

  Christian cut off the words abruptly. They were too painful to even say out loud.

  “No.”

  The single word said in Melody’s soft, quiet voice had him shaking his head in confusion, but he still didn’t look up at her. He couldn’t.

  “What?”

  “No,” she repeated, more firmly this time.

  Suddenly, her soft hands were on his face, and she was kneeling right in front of him.

  “Christian, look at me.”

  There was no way he could deny the pleading tone in her voice, and he did as she asked. He looked up at her, and his heart stuttered in his chest at the look of love on her face. It was like a gentle rain, soothing the guilt and shame that were eating him up inside. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve her.

  “You have no reason to feel guilty,” Melody whispered, and her soft breath tickled his lips. “None at all. If you hadn’t have sent Craig…”

  “Then those men would never have found you! It’s my fault. I should have been more careful. I was the one who told him to come. I should have been here to protect you. I should have…”

  “Hush!” Melody laid one finger over his mouth, physically halting the words and accusations
that were boiling up inside him. “You’re here now, and that’s all that I care about. That’s all that matters to me.”

  Christian let out a sigh as she dropped back to her heels beside him and looked around the room. They could both see that the place was still in tatters. Tidying up wasn’t going to cut it. Not even close.

  He was watching her every expression and could see that she was still reliving the fight, and he felt so helpless as he knelt there by her side. The whole time hating that he couldn’t do anything. Wishing he could go back in time and change everything.