by Rayne, Sara
“It was my privilege.” Voo looked down.
Cap nodded. “I suppose you’ll do.”
When Cap spoke with Axel, she caught Voodoo’s eye and winked. He blew her a kiss.
“Aww, aren’t you two just as sweet as custard pie?” Eddie cooed.
She ducked her head. “Go on and say it. I know you want to.”
“I don’t need to say ‘I told you so’ to enjoy a happy ending.” Eddie grinned. “Even if I did. Tell you so.”
The MC piled into the back room. Lex watched anxiously as her father pushed through the herd of Horsemen in tuxedos making their way to church.
“What’s going on, Dad?”
“Lex, are you sure you’re okay?” He pulled her into another tight hug.
“I’m fine, I swear. Didn’t even mess up my hair.” She squeezed him tight for a second then stepped back. “Where’s everyone going? I thought we were havin’ a reception.”
Cap’s mouth tightened. “There’s some club business to handle first.”
“Which means?” Lex put her hands on her hips.
He hesitated, jaw tightening.
“She’s an old lady, now,” Eddie pointed out. Her eyes twinkled as they locked with Lex’s. “Right?”
Lex grinned despite the twinges in her back from landing on her new tattoo. “Damn straight.”
Cap harrumphed. “Fine. You want to know? It’s a Pale Rider vote.”
“Oh.” Her stomach twisted. Some things about MC life would still take some getting used to.
Ultimately, it was out of her control, and she’d warned Apollo repeatedly. What had Voo said…?
May the spirits take you where you deserve to be.
Eddie squeezed her hand. “It’ll be alright. How about you and I get a drink? It’ll be awhile before they finish, and my dogs are already barking.”
She hesitated.
“Come on, you owe me a toast anyway, Best Lady.” Eddie winked.
Lex smiled and followed Eddie to the bar. New Orleans had taught her something. Dwelling on the blues was a waste of time. Dani poured the champagne, and Lex lifted her glass. “Here’s to Dad and Eddie. Laissez les bon temps rouler!”
“Hear, hear.” Eddie clinked her glass against Lex’s.
Dani raised her glass high. “Yeah, whatever the hell French things she said.”
Lex looked around the bar as Elizabeth, Daisy, Rose, and Charlie started passing bottles back and forth, making their own drinks and helping themselves to the jalapeño popper appetizers. Yeah, she could get into the swing of this whole old lady thing. She’d never been part of a finer class of people.
As Charlie chatted about how easy it would be to jimmy the cash register and Eddie mockingly threatened to call Frost, Lex realized she’d found exactly where she belonged.
***
Before Voo walked into the boardroom, Cap pulled him aside and told him, “You know what needs to be done to protect our girl.”
Apollo would die. This vote was pure ceremony. Voo couldn’t stand the thought of seeing another Devine with blue lips and unseeing eyes, and if he couldn’t do it his own damn self, he couldn’t ask it of his brothers. Didn’t mean it would change the verdict.
Maybe they should hand him over to the Dixie Mafia. Let him have the slow death those psychopaths promised.
His mouth set grimly, he settled next to Axel. Brothers in tuxedos surrounded the long table carved with the words: Behold a pale horse. And his name that sat upon him was Death. And Hell followed with him.
Axel banged the gavel. “Let’s keep this short. I think we all know what needs to happen.”
The brothers nodded.
“Do we think Beauregard had anything to do with this?” Shep’s mouth twisted bitterly around the mobster’s name.
“Naw, him and the Dixie Mafia boys will be after Apollo, too.” Voo folded his arms. “He actually saved my bacon, and as far as he’s concerned, we’re in his pocket. No reason for him to attack us now.”
“Yeah, well, if it hadn’t been for Coyote’s hacker friend, Beauregard would have let you drown.” Pretty Boy leaned against the wall behind Shep’s chair.
“I wouldn’t say ‘friend’.” Coyote frowned. “I don’t know who this dude is, but he’s not the only hacker in town. We better hope he stays friendly because I have my hands full with the FBI’s tech guy. They’re still trying to get in.”
“Any idea what it is they’re looking for?” Axel asked. Voo knew Axel still lost sleep over the feds being in his town. Especially with Beauregard blackmailing Eddie.
“No clue. Seems to be exploratory so far. Maybe they don’t know what they’re looking for.” Coyote leaned his chair back. “Just wish I knew who this guy was and why he keeps steppin’ in to save our asses.”
“Keep me posted on what you find out, but we have more pressing business.” Axel pointed at the framed quote on the wall behind his head: And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. “Would anyone like to say something before we vote?”
Coyote traced the carving in the table with the thumb on his injured hand. “What’s there to say? He kidnapped Lex and tried to kill Voo. Then he attacked us. At home. Far as I’m concerned, this matter’s closed.”
“We could always turn him over to the Dixie Mafia. If what Voo said is true, they’ll take care of him.” Axel shrugged. “Save us havin’ to bury him.”
“Fuck that!” Ryker’s hands clenched. “He attacked us, this is a Horsemen issue. I vote for the Pale Rider.”
“For once, I agree with the young upstart.” Cap raised his hand. “And I’ll gladly do it.”
“I’m afraid the Rider’s already been chosen for this one, Cap.” Duke folded his arms.
“Should be me.” He shot a look down at Duke sitting next to Coyote. “No offense.”
“It’s too personal,” Justice said. “Says in the Charter—the Pale Rider cannot be tied to the crime.”
One by one, Axel went around the table. Voo watched Coyote carefully as he thought it over.
“Voo?” Axel looked at him expectantly.
“I want this bastard dead.” He leaned back. “I’ll be glad when he no longer walks this earth, but I think we should turn him over to Beauregard. Don’t shed blood when we don’t have to.”
“Those guys are butchers.” Coyote stiffened. “You know what they’ll do to him?”
“You think I care?”
“I say, shoot the guy in the head and be done with it. Clean or messy—he’s just as dead.” The hacker flexed the remaining fingers on his injured hand. “The blood and gore is just showmanship.”
Voo sighed. They had spoken about this at length during Coyote’s spirit quest. Neither of them seemed to have changed their mind.
“I vote against the Pale Rider.”
Coyote looked up, holding Voo’s gaze with a small smirk. “I’m afraid your vote doesn’t change the balance.”
Voo took a deep breath. “Non. It does not.”
“The vote carries. Apollo Devine meets the Pale Rider.” Axel banged the gavel. He looked at Coyote. “You sure you’re up for riding with Duke?”
Coyote smiled, flipping the patch he’d been working on through his good hand. “I am.”
“Then this meeting’s adjourned.” Axel stood. “Let’s get back to the party.”
Voo tried to catch up with Coyote as they filed out of the room, but he’d slipped out as soon as Axel put the gavel down. He said a silent prayer for Duke and Coyote’s souls and went to find Lex. While he had voted against it, he couldn’t help but feel the ring of fate in the decision to execute Apollo.
In the end, they would all get what they deserved.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“You’re gonna burn the gumbo.”
“Hush your sweet mouth,” Voo murmured against Lex’s lips as he parted them for a kiss. He licked deeply into her mouth, the peach taste of her a drug he’d
never quit.
She sat on one of his stainless steel countertops, long tan legs in the shortest pair of daisy dukes he’d ever laid eyes on—the most delectable treat he’d have in his kitchen today. Swinging her feet, she nibbled on her lower lip.
“So, Boone and Josie invited us to the annual gumbo cook-off this fall. You wanna go?” They now had a designated guest room at the newly renamed Bonne Chance Brulé Bed and Breakfast, free of charge whenever they wanted. She tapped out another text on her phone. “And according to the voodoo priestess they saw, it’s gonna be a very big year for whoever I gave the guitar pick to. Good news for the Crows.”
“New Orleans turned you into a true believer in voodoo. The Big Easy gets in your soul.”
“C’mon—you saw Baron Samedi in the courtyard, and he took off with the knife I end up saving your life with? Couldn’t be a coincidence.” She looked up at him, sunlight streaming over her shoulder. “And more importantly, I believe in you.”
He smiled for a second, then his mouth twisted into a frown. “Wait…are you texting with Boone?”
“Yes. Boone said his gumbo is way better than yours, and I’ll have to try it.” She laughed at his mock outrage. “So we’re gonna go to Gumbofest?”
“You bet your sweet ass. Boone and his sorry excuse for a roux are going down.” Voo cracked his knuckles.
“You ever gonna forgive him for kissing me?” She raised a brow.
“Mais oui. Eventually. Now if only someone would stop distractin’ me when I’m supposed to be adding spices.” He wagged a finger at her.
“Whatever, you love it. C’mon, what will you do when I finish my degree this summer and I’m not hanging around distracting you from cooking all the time?” she teased. The school had agreed to a full tuition refund for her last semester, as well as allowing her to finish her coursework online.
“Make the prospect cover the counter while I bring you study snacks. I’ve already written up a schedule.”
“So responsible.”
“Whatever it takes to spend time with you.” He traced the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue. “If that’s alright?”
“Absolutely.”
He cupped her jaw in his hands, memorizing every feature, feasting on the beauty of her delicate lines and soft curves.
“Whatcha thinking?” She caught her luscious lower lip between even, white teeth. He met her gaze, the blue of her eyes sharp and hungry.
He circled her dimpled knees with his fingers, spreading them wide so he could stand between her thighs. Voodoo cupped the bare skin of her legs, skimming up to her hips. Tugging her firmly against his erection, he ground into her. He touched his lips to the hollow of her throat, sweeping sweet, suckling kisses along her neck.
“You look good enough to eat,” he rasped in her ear.
Lex leaned back with a playful smile. His gaze swept the length of her. Voo knew every inch of her body, the way he felt every inch of her soul. He’d found his way home, at last. Swallowing hard, he swept his hands up her torso—fingers lingering over the new ink on her back—his name in flames.
“What is it?” She cupped his jaw in her hands.
“Sometimes it’s hard to believe I get to keep you.”
“I followed you home.” Her eyes widened in mock sincerity. “Them’s the rules.”
“Thought you were all done with rules?”
“No, baby.” Lex pressed up against him, hair falling around her delicate face. “I’m all done with anything standing between you and me.”
“I kinda noticed.” He couldn’t stop kneading her body, stroking her sides, spanning her trim waist, only to slide under her firm ass for a satisfying squeeze. Her lips parted in a silent gasp.
But he had something important to do before he got distracted. He cleared his throat, backing up half a step and pulled a small box from his back pocket.
“What’s up?” Still looking deliciously flustered, she caught his gaze.
“Got you a little somethin’.” He shrugged and held the box out.
Giving him a quizzical look, she took it from his hand, unwound the twine, and pulled it open. There, nestled on a piece of tissue paper, were two shiny metal keys.
Her head snapped up. “House keys?”
“Lex, I promise you, from now until the Fates take us, you’ll never feel unwanted again. You filled holes in me I didn’t know I had. You gave me back somethin’ I thought had been taken from me forever. You’re my soul’s home.” He squeezed her hands. “I want you to move in with me. I want you by my side for the rest of my days on this earth. I want my place to be your place.”
She clasped the keys in her small fist and pressed it to her heart, nodding. A tear rolled down her face.
“I want that, too.”
Voo covered her mouth with an invading kiss, parting her lips and thrusting his tongue deep. He cradled her face, fingers curling into her hair as if he could drown himself in the taste and feel of her. She responded fiercely, fingers digging into his biceps as she moaned into his kiss.
He broke away, gasping for air, and pressed a hand against his chest.
“Come to bed with me.”
“We got up half an hour ago.”
“Don’t. Give. A. Fuck.”
“You’re in the middle of cooking.” Lex laughed, eyes sparkling with interest.
“See my earlier answer.”
She twisted, darting away from him and slipping off the corner. Bemused, he followed her movements. She danced over to the stove and shut off the fire under his gumbo pot as he approached her.
“Woman, don’t you know better than to mess with a man’s gumbo?”
“I’m not some woman. I’m your old lady.” She grinned. “And I didn’t want it to burn. I plan on working up a mighty appetite.”
Voo smirked. He’d always said the only thing better than fucking a woman was feeding her afterward.
Lunging forward, he grabbed Lex around the hips and hefted her into his arms. She giggled, wrapping her legs securely around his waist and locking her ankles at the small of his back. He paused in the sunlight, letting the rays streaming through the windows gild his woman. Looping her arms around his neck, she pressed her forehead to his.
“I love you, Rafael.”
“And I, you.” His chest tightened, warmth spreading through him.
He stepped into the sunlight with Lex in his arms, knowing he would never let her go. For the first time since he’d woken up in the ruins of New Orleans all those years ago, he finally felt lucky to be alive.
Epilogue
The truck bounced along the rocky terrain on the way to the Smoke Desert. Duke glanced at Coyote, who literally rode shotgun, his rifle propped between his angular knees with the barrel resting against a shoulder.
“You sure you want to do this?” Duke asked.
Coyote flipped a small leather patch in his injured hand, flicking it between the remaining fingers. The white stitching of the figure shone in the moonlight gleaming across the dash.
“I ever tell you about my grandfather?”
“No.” Duke sighed. This was going to be another one of those around-the-bush conversations. He could tell by the dramatic lead-up. Duke wanted this errand over with so he could crawl into his nice, warm bed beside Rose.
“He was a code breaker in World War II. One of the smartest men I’ve ever known. Grandfather was an odd combination of patriot and Apache traditionalist.” Coyote’s voice softened a touch. “He was a proud man.”
Duke got it. It explained Coyote’s obsession with computers—code and such.
“To become a warrior, an Apache boy had to prove himself by going on four raids. Grandfather said times had changed, so I had to find my own rites of passage. Prove I was worthy to the tribe.”
“Kinda like prospectin’. So what are these four rites?”
“I had no trouble finding a tribe.” Coyote caressed the Four Horsemen MC tat on his shoulder. “And I found a horse.” He gri
nned, no doubt thinking of the custom-painted freak of engineering he called a motorcycle, but his features sobered. “Then I faced my greatest fear.”
Duke swallowed. Steele and Ash’s description of the conditions they’d found Coyote in gave him a pretty good idea what the guy had been through. If anyone had asked Duke six months ago, he would’ve called Coyote the Horsemen’s weakest link. Necessary—the dude had mad tech skills and had saved Horsemen bacon more than once—but not tough enough to handle being captured and tortured. Certainly not strong enough to come back from it.
Now, Duke reassessed his club brother’s strengths and weaknesses. Still annoying as fuck, but made of stronger stuff than Duke had originally imagined.
“What was your greatest fear?” He kept his eyes on the road as he made the turn towards what he’d come to think of as the Horsemen Boneyard.
“Used to be pain.”
“And now?”
“It’s not.”
Duke parked the truck and cut the engine. Without the roar of the desert winds through the open windows and the purring engine, they could hear their “guest” rolling around in the truck bed.
“You ready to do this?”
“Willin’ and able.” Coyote checked the piece he kept tucked in the back of his waistband then held the patch out to Duke. “It’s a bit cleaner than yours.”
“For the moment.” Duke tucked it into his pocket and climbed out of the truck. Coyote got out as Duke dropped the tailgate.
Coyote clicked the safety off his gun and cocked it. His hands were steady as he aimed the barrel at the man screaming against the three layers of duct tape Duke had wrapped around his mouth.
Duke grabbed Apollo by the collar and dragged him out of the truck, then tossed him to his knees a few feet away. His wrists had been bound with zip ties.
“How was the ride, Apollo? Hope it wasn’t too bumpy.”
Whatever obscenities he was spewing behind the duct tape probably didn’t speak well of Duke’s parentage. Duke didn’t give a flying fuck. He ripped the tape off, knowing it had taken all of Apollo’s perfectly cultivated five o’clock shadow and a portion of his outer layer of skin with it.
