Demented Sons Series Volume One: Books 1-4 (Demented Sons MC Iowa)

by Kristine Allen

  “Hey, it’s no sweat. I’m real sorry to hear about your grandma, but congrats on the shop. I was surprised when I heard. That’s cool as shit, and I’m happy as hell for you. My girl, Sarah, set up an appointment with you? She said she was calling you.” After I finished taping the plastic over the fresh tat, he pulled his shirt on and grabbed his jacket. Damn, when he said “Sarah” it made my heart thrum, even though I knew it wasn’t my Sera.

  “Yeah, man, she did. I’ve got her on the books for Friday, three weeks from now. It was the soonest I could get her in.” Business had been booming, which was good to see, because a lot of times people were leery of new ownership at a tattoo shop. After tossing my gloves in the trash, I washed my hands. Then we headed to the front so I could hand him over to Harper and she could get him settled up. Harper was another new addition to the shop. She looked like a bad bitch, with all her tats, piercings, and her purple and black hair, but she was a financial wizard on top of being our receptionist. She helped me with the payroll and ordering shit for now.

  The bell over the door rang, and I looked up to see a wave of leather rolling in. “Hey, brother! How’s it hanging?” Gunny’s voice rang out over the music playing and the conversation they were having as they walked in. The nice weather had not only me but several of my brothers out riding today, and obviously here to razz DJ about his first tat. Sitting in a chair waiting on me, he looked scared as fuck. Crazy shit, considering he was a fucking beast. Without batting an eye, he jumped in with me when I dealt with that fucktard messing with Kassi, but needles terrified him. The kid was a hardworking prospect who was about to get patched, but he didn’t know it.

  Of course, my ink was on all the club members already. Yeah, every motherfucking one of them. Shit, when they found out I was a tattoo artist, I was inking up members before I had even gotten my job at the Ink Studio. That was scary as shit, knowing if I fucked up it could mean extending my prospect time, or worse yet, losing my prospect patch or getting my ass kicked.

  After taking over the shop, I added onto the name, and it was now known as The Wicked Canvas Ink Studio. The idea was to preserve the original name since the place had been open for over fifteen years, but to add to it, to breathe new life into the old place. Wicked came from my favorite little indie band Straight Wicked. The drummer was one of my former team members, Dominic. Most people had never heard of them, but they were badass, and I knew they would be in the big leagues before they knew it. Usually, the studio was now referred to as just Wicked Canvas, but that was okay; as long as they remembered us, that was the main thing.

  “Little to the left, Gunny, little to the left. DJ, give me just a minute to get set up.” The guys laughed.

  Stopping briefly to thank Doug before he walked out, I shook his hand. “Thanks again, Doug. If you have any issues at all, you be sure to let me know.”

  “Of course, thank you. I fucking love it.” Giving the guys a wave, he left out the door, another satisfied customer. Now that I was patched, I had seriously thought about talking to the brothers to see what they thought about checking into Doug’s interest in the club. He’d been riding forever, and he was a veteran. Not that it was mandatory for membership, but a lot of the brothers were prior service. Hell, the club had been started by veterans years ago.

  While I cleaned up after Doug’s tat, I started a FaceTime call to Sera. It felt like I’d been waiting a week instead of just all day. When she didn’t answer, I looked at the clock. Eight twenty. She should be home. Maybe Ty was taking a little longer in the tub. Damn, I would miss talking to him tonight. Shooting her a text to give him a hug for me and to call after she got him settled in bed, I finished cleaning up and then set up for DJ’s tat. Pulling out his design I had already set up on the transfer sheet, I stuck my head out of the door. “Come on back.”

  DJ’s face was white as he walked in. “Hey, Joker. Where do you want me to sit?” There was just the adjustable table that converted to a chair, kind of like a medical gurney, but I turned to busy myself with my supplies to hide my smile.

  “Just have a seat there, and take off your shirt. You can hang your jacket, cut, and shirt on the hook there by the door. We still going with your left deltoid? Same design?” The soft paper cover crinkled as he climbed up. Turning, I handed him the transfer. “Look okay? Anything you want to change?” When he shook his head, I motioned for him to lean back.

  Getting the placement just right, I removed the paper and then handed him a mirror. “Look okay?” He nodded, and we got to work.

  By the time I was finished and the brothers had all headed out with a grinning DJ, Sera still hadn’t called me back. Still no answer when I called, so I left a message. “Hey, baby. Hope everything’s okay. I really missed talking to Ty tonight. Call me when you get a chance. It doesn’t matter how late. Laters.” It was a struggle not to say I loved her, but I was afraid to push her away since she had never said it back to me. Hell, I knew I loved her. I always had. Thought I could outgrow it or get over her when I joined the Corps, but that sure as shit didn’t work.

  Before I left the shop, I checked my phone. Still nothing. Making sure the ringer was turned up and my Bluetooth was turned on, I tucked my phone in my pocket, climbed on my bike, and slid my helmet on. Pulling away from the front of the now-dark studio, I headed to the clubhouse. I needed a beer and the company of my brothers to keep me calm and from taking off to Texas to find out why she wasn’t answering.

  When I rolled into the parking lot of the clubhouse, I pulled out my phone as soon as I shut my bike off, just in case my battery died.

  Still nothing.

  So I tried to call her again. Goddamn it. Why wasn’t she answering? It hurt to breathe without her. Maybe a trip was in order.

  “Down in a Hole”—Alice in Chains

  THERE WAS NO SENSE of time in Hell. It was just pain, degradation, hate, and more pain. Never in my life had I hated another human being to the extent that I hated Lawrence. That hate was probably the only thing that kept me alive. Because when he first dragged me into our old house after pulling into the garage and handcuffed me, I was terrified. When he hooked those handcuffs to a chain suspended from the ceiling, that terror magnified by a thousand.

  After he ripped my clothes off me and beat the shit out of me with that fucking cane, time stood still. Moving hurt. Being still hurt. When I thought it couldn’t get worse, he came back.

  “Miss me?” The words accompanied my head being yanked back by my hair. A jarring jerk to my arms, then my body collapsing to the floor had me realizing he’d unhooked me. The crumpling noise didn’t register at first, as my head felt fuzzy. After I tried to lift my head and my face stuck to the ground, I looked around and saw I was laying on damn plastic.

  Through the slits of my eyes, I noticed the plastic ran from wall to wall in the bedroom that was Ty’s. No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. I didn’t realize I had even spoken aloud until he laughed.

  “Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Welcome home, darling Serafina. Did you forget I told you no one leaves me? I did try to warn you what would happen, didn’t I? Would you like to see how I uphold my promises?” He pulled his cell phone out and pulled up a news video.

  Oh, God, no.

  It showed my brother being led into the police station surrounded by officers who looked at him like he was a roach under their shoe, and news media yelling and hounding him for the reason he took bribes and sold out his fellow officers. Sobs wracked my body. Christian would never have done those things, and anyone who knew him would surely believe that.

  “Daddy dearest is next. Just like I promised. You’re mine for as long as I want you. You don’t leave me. And when I’m done with you, there will be nothing left of you for anyone else. It will be like you never. Even. Existed.”

  My eyes burned from the salt of my tears. The clanking of metal didn’t register until he flipped me to my back and kicked my legs apart. Despite the pain and inability to move before, I started to fight. Adrenal
ine was my only weapon. When he overpowered me and pushed between my legs, I screamed. His grunts barely registered, nor did the hand around my throat squeezing the life from my body. Hatred bled through me, but my mind closed down in self-preservation. Darkness swallowed me, and I welcomed it with open arms.

  Water filled my mouth, my nose, my eyes. Choking, sputtering, fighting for breath, no matter how I moved, it was always there. I’d thought I died. I’d prayed for it, even. Instead, I was drowning. How many times could one die?

  “You awake now, darling?” The water had stopped, and I coughed and gasped for air. Wet hair hung in my eyes, sticking to my face. That’s when I realized I was hanging from the chain again. The burning in my shoulders had me wondering if they had dislocated. Swimming in and out of consciousness, I only heard sporadic words.

  Hatred multiplied and expanded, taking on a life of its own each time he violated my body. When my mind was coherent, I prayed that my son and little Rose were safe. When my mind folded into itself, I became delusional and imagined I was away from there. With Kayde. Sometimes we were alone, others with Ty like a little happy family.

  There was no way for me to know how long I’d been there. Lucidity was short-lived. Delusions were my friend, and it was far easier to escape into fantasy than to deal with my horrifying reality.

  Kayde was holding me. Whispering words in my ear, telling me how much he loved me. My head rested on his strong chest, his arms cradling me in their safety. Suddenly, I was jerked from him, back into the cold, harsh, terrifying misery of my reality.

  “Fuck!” The demon’s voice rang out, echoing in my head. I dropped to the ground, jarring my shoulder, my arms lying on the floor like dead weights. Heavy lids shielded my eyes and must have weighed a ton as I tried to look around me at what was happening.

  Rolling and rolling, my stomach cramped, and I heaved. Vomiting and choking, I vaguely realized my hands were no longer cuffed, but I still couldn’t make them move. Excruciating pain radiated from head to toe like an electric wave. Everything throbbed, hurt, burned. By the time feeling started to return to my arms and legs, I was seized by the stabbing of a million flaming pins puncturing my skin.

  Silence.

  Then an intoxicating smell.

  It burned my nasal passages, making me feel light-headed. Nausea increased, overwhelming me until I puked to the point there was nothing left but dry heaves. Cramping felt like it spread throughout my body, doubling me over. Constant crinkling surrounded me, suffocating me. It was so fucking hard to breathe.

  Crackling, blinding light creeped in from the edges of my vision.

  Then Tyler was standing over me. “Sera! Get up! Now! Come on, Sera. You have to get up. You can’t let him win. Please, Sera. Listen to me.” His beautiful face swam in and out of focus in a tide of darkness and light. “That’s it. Look at me, Sera. Concentrate. You have to get up and get out of here before it’s too late! God, Sera… please.”

  “Can’t, Tylerrrrrrr. Too mucssshh.” Words escaped me, slurring as exhaustion slid over me like a comforting cloak, sucking me under into the peace of the black abyss yawning before me.

  Hell was creeping closer. Its wicked flames licking at the curtains blurred through the plastic in front of my face. Tyler lay in front of me, holding my hand. “Oh, Sera. I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you better. I didn’t know.” The warmth of his hand comforted me.

  “In here!” The muffled voices drew closer. Tyler wavered in front of me before dissipating into the smoky air. Whimpers escaped me, though I wanted to yell for him to wait for me.

  “Jesus.” The glint of a blade flashed in front of my face and the plastic was gone. Briefly, I saw a man in fire gear before my throat was prodded, my mouth and nose then covered again, but this time I breathed sweet, clean oxygen. Jostled, my head flopped back and forth as flame and color sped past in a rainbow-like blur. Deep darkness beckoned me, and with no more fight left, I allowed myself to fall in.

  The next memory I had was being rolled through sliding doors, then people in scrubs surrounding me as I continued gliding down the hall. Fluorescent lights above me flashed by, blinding me over and over again.

  “Fucking hell. Are you sure she’s still alive?”

  “Wait. Doc, her eyes just opened!”

  “Hurry up, let’s get her in trauma two.” Bustling movement surrounded me as I bumped from one flat surface to another. Vague memories circled in my head, just out of reach. “Hey, can you hear me? My name’s Ross. This is Amy. We’re going to get you through this, okay? Stay with us. Keep looking at me.”

  “Amy….” The whisper that slipped from my mouth was rough and scratchy. I knew an Amy. How was the elusive answer, like trying to grab smoke tendrils in your hands.

  “Jesus Christ. No. Oh shit. Ross, I can’t. Oh my God!” More murmuring, then shouts, a sharp pain in my arm, and cold air shoving its way down my throat. It was all just too much, and when the darkness pulled at me again, I gave up and gave in to it.

  “Whispers in the Dark”—Skillet

  IT HAD BEEN ALMOST two days since I had tried to call Sera and she hadn’t answered. Since then, I had tried to call everyone I knew down there. No one answered. Not her dad, not her brother, not even my grandfather. I was going out of my fucking mind and cursing myself for not getting her friend Amy’s phone number. It was to the point that I was preparing to hop on a plane to head down there, when my phone rang.

  Javier.

  “Hey, man, what’s up? No one has been answering my calls. What the fuck is going on down there?” His rough exhale was my first clue something was seriously wrong. “Javier?”

  “Kayde, you need to get your ass down here. Like now. I didn’t want to worry you, but you need to get down here. Fuck. Just… it’s… Jesus. Kayde, it’s Sera. It’s bad. He got her. I’m so fuckin’ sorry, man. I’m heading to the hospital now, but I don’t know if they’ll tell me anything. Please hurry.” Uncle Javier was a bad motherfucker, and I’d never heard him like this. Not even after Abuela. My blood ran cold as what he said sank in.

  “I’m on my way.” Not even taking time to put my machine away, I left my room at the studio and rushed to the door.

  “Roy, I need you to have Harper call my clients for the next few days. I’m sorry. I… I have to go. There’s an emergency back home. ¡Chingados! I’ll try to be back by the weekend.” My mind was zinging all over the place, and it was hard to concentrate. I fucking knew this was going to happen.

  Inside my chest felt like a hollow, bottomless pit. Not wanting to deal with the questions from anyone, I silenced my phone and headed to the airport.

  “Sir, you can’t go in there!”

  “Fuck you! That’s my girl in there.” Sleep had escaped my greedy clutches on the flights, and my eyes matched the last flight I just had. By now, I knew I needed a shave, and I probably looked more than a little homeless. But damn, it had been a hell of a trip to get down here. Layovers, delayed flights, plane trouble, and now this motherfuckin’ cop trying to keep me from my woman.

  He pulled a taser from his belt, pointing it at me. Raising an eyebrow at him, I dared him to shoot me. I couldn’t believe fucking Barney Fife here. “Jesus, did someone take away your pew-pew? You may knock me down, but I’ll take those damn wires and wrap them around your dick. Better decide quick. You gonna let me in, or are we gonna do this the hard way?”

  “What the hell is…? Oh. You.” Sighing in resignation, Christian looked over his shoulder, back in the room. “It’s okay, Thompson. Unfortunately, I know him.” He looked as shitty as I felt.

  “Well, fuck you very much, Christian. Let me in. Now.” My patience was wearing seriously thin, and I could feel my restraint unraveling.

  Shaking his head, he looked at me with eyes dead with despair. “You really aren’t going to want to come in.” Despite his words, he stepped to the side to let me pass.

  Turning first to flip off the uniform by the door, I entered into my own version of Hell. Not
hing in the entire world could have prepared me for the sight that greeted me in that hospital bed, and I’ve seen a lot of shit. Just never with someone who meant so much to me.

  Christian ran his hands through his hair. “She out like a light right now, thanks to the pain meds the nurse gave her earlier. They said she’ll probably sleep like the dead for several hours, until it starts to wear off.” His voice sounded as haggard as he looked.

  My mouth opened three fucking times before I could get the words to collect and exit. “Sagrada Maria, madre de Dios, esto no puede estar pasando. Voy a matar a alguien. Por favor que sea esto un sueño terrible. Christian, what the fucking hell happened?” Before I even knew what I had done, Christian’s already wrinkled shirt was clutched in my fists, and I had him slammed against the wall. “How could you let this happen to her?” My voice was on the edge of being a shout.

  “Goddamn it, Kayde, you think I would let this happen? Are you fucking serious right now? That sonofabitch had me tied up under accusations of being a dirty cop. I didn’t even know he might go after her. Thanks to him, every fucking person I knew was looking at me like I was a piece of shit, and I was trying to dig out from under it. I still am. You think you work side by side with people for years, you should know them and be able to vouch for their character, not have them torture your sister.” He gave a disgusted laugh. “He was also in the process of fucking with my dad’s paperwork to make it look like he was an illegal with falsified papers so he could deport him. Dad just left to go check on Marla. She’s torn up something fierce too.”

  Slowly uncurling my fingers from the folds of his shirt, I stepped back. Fatigue hit me like a sledgehammer.

  “How is she? Other than looking like… ¡Ay, Dios mio! And where’s Ty?” My eyes felt like they were on fire as I sat staring at the woman in the bed, afraid to touch her. Thanks to my dumb ass putting my phone on silent, or maybe during one of my flights, Sera had called and I missed it. The message she’d left me didn’t even begin to touch on how bad this shit was, just that she needed me here. Neither she nor my uncle had mentioned Ty either, and all I’d been able to do was worry. Now I wanted answers.