Demons (Death by Reaper MC, #3)

by Esther E. Schmidt

  Two more heads roll when I feel my shield slightly weaken. I brace myself to fight the two in front of me while left and right the other two are taunting for my attention. Dividing focus in a fight is self-destruction and I’m doubting my own sanity right now. What the hell was I thinking about strolling in and killing all eight as if to grab a broom and clean house?

  A flash to my left makes my gut clench, but I don’t have the time to curse about the fact my Old Lady denied my damn request and just saved my head from getting torn off. It also allows me to take another one out while I see Tria rip off the head of another traitor, leaving only one more for us to kill.

  Tria kicks out and holds the fucker down while I grab his head and rip it straight from his body. I swing my hand back and let the head land on the floor with some tiny thuds before it spins to a stop against the refrigerator.

  I turn around and let anger take over. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be...”

  She cuts me right off and punches me in the gut—and it makes me double over because I wasn’t expecting it—and it fucking hurts.

  “To be safe and out of the way so you can go risk your damn life, because the legend says you’re not supposed to accept help or trust anyone to have your back, so you might as well get yourself killed for the sake of letting a legend become reality for the hell of it? You’re an asshole, Vike. An egocentrically asshole to be precise,” she growls and heads for the door.

  She swings it open and we’re both baffled into silence to see Hutton standing there. He glances around Tria to see the bloodbath of what happened in the kitchen. My mind is trying to come up with what to say to him when he snatches Tria around her neck, turns her so she’s got her back to his front. His other arm goes around her upper body to lock her arms in place.

  “Careful, Hutton,” I growl. “It’s not what you think. Let her go. The mess you see here were all men who betrayed me. They were working with Vapula. So, calm the fuck down and let my Old Lady go.”

  “I know why you turned the kitchen red, Viking Hemlocks. And I can assure you...it’s not what you think.” He leans in and starts to whisper words in Tria’s ear.

  Words I recognize and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A flashback hits me from the time where someone did the same thing to my brother. Before my very eyes Hutton transforms into Vapula. The fucker has been living underneath my damn roof all this time?

  My chest tightens painfully as I watch black smoke start to swirl around Tria. He’s fucking cursing her, but how? I know for a fact he cursed Gunnar by tainting his drink before verbally casting the words to set the curse in place.

  Did Vapula perfect the curse? Is it something he can do now with only words? Did Tria drink something before he...fuck! My mind is reeling and I’m standing here—doing nothing while I watch it happen—I’m frozen to the fucking floor.

  The very floor Tria collapses to. I lunge forward to kill the fucker but I’m jumping through black smoke. The fucker is gone again while my whole world comes crumbling down when I look at my woman convulsing. Poison is running through her veins while her body is trying to fight it.

  Images of what happened to my brother flash before my eyes. It started the same way but I didn’t wrap him in my arms like I’m now taking Tria into a tight embrace to hold her close. At that time, I was fighting Vapula and only got to Gunnar when the change was in full effect. I tip my head toward the hallway and bellow my brother’s name.

  My gaze settles back on Tria and the words pour right from my very soul. “Don’t let me die this way right along with you, sweetness. You’re mine...melted into my soul and I’m nothing without your essence of life. Come on...fight. Don’t drown in darkness, please. I will die before you if you leave this earth. Don’t fucking leave me. Fight, dammit.”

  There’s a spark of fire in her eyes but it gets pulled under by the darkness that’s overtaking her body.

  “What the fuck happened?” I hear Gunnar snap behind me.

  “Vapula...he took the appearance of Hutton. Shapeshifting or who knows...I have a feeling he’s been Hutton all along and has been among us all this time. Figures, since the fucker had at least eight rats in here. I killed them all, but he cursed Tria and I don’t know how. He never gave her anything to drink, right? He whispered out the words of his curse and she started to get attacked by it. Help me...fuck...help her, I don’t know what to fucking do,” I croak, desperation overtaking me.

  “He did,” Dio states. “When we were having drinks, I had a black licorice one and Hutton gave her a green fruity drink. She drank it...he gave her something to drink. Did he put the first part of the curse in place? Shit...I need, I’m going to.”

  Dio doesn’t say anything else but she’s gone the next instant, appearing right next to me the next moment along with her siblings.

  “Dammit, what happened?” Eliana growls and drops to her knees on the other side of Tria.

  Tess squats down by her head and places her hands on each side of her face.

  “Now is not the time,” Nixie says and I only now notice she’s here too. “We don’t need to know what happened, what we need is to act. Now, Eliana. Place your hands on her arm. Dio, wrap your fingers around her ankles. Vike, I need for you to step away.”

  “I’m not fucking leaving her,” I snap, dragging Tria closer against me.

  “Move, asshole. We can save her but it needs to happen without a Demon touching her.” Nixie glares and her eyes slide over my shoulder. “A little help would be appreciated right about now.”

  I feel strong arms lock around my neck in a choke hold, my brother’s voice next to my ear. “Let go, give them a chance because she’s slipping down deeper in the hole she’ll never be able to get out from.”

  His words make my arms fall slack and I let him drag me away to give them the space they need. Slipping down deeper in the hole. It was the same for him and I wasn’t there to pull him out. I was too busy fighting, too consumed with vengeance to be there for him. Would it have made a difference?

  I glance back at the women who are all huddled around Tria. All connected while blue fire is crackling around them. The center of all is at Tria’s head where Tess is. She’s part Angel and from what I’ve heard has the strongest, and purest abilities out of all of them. I just hope it’s enough. Enough to pull Tria out of the curse that’s all on me.

  My fucking fault. I’m the selfish one with a hunger for vengeance, not caring at all if it’ll cost me more than my life is worth. Because the woman fighting for her existence is the very one who holds my fucking heart.

  My body is spinning and slammed against the wall. My brother’s face fills my gaze. “Man the fuck up, asshole. Because I’m going to kick your damn ass when your woman pulls through. How the hell could you ever think you could go up against this fucker all by yourself or take out the rats, huh? I’m the damn VP. This MC holds more bikers than rats. We’re a fucking family who takes on problems as a unity. You robbed us from having your back, did you ever think about that? No. You fucking didn’t. Now look. Look at your woman and how she’s surrounded by those who fight for her. You see that? You see the darkness driven back by the light they produce together? Learn, fucker. Nothing has to do with strength or outnumbering your opponent or what the ever-loving-hell. It’s about forming a unity, wherever you may find it, you fall back on it. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or unable to face something yourself.”

  He pushes himself away from me and I feel as if he’s taking all my strength along with it. My knees buckle and my ass hits the floor. I turn my head to keep my gaze on my woman and with everything left in me I fucking pray for a second chance to do right by her.

  She needs to live and so do I.

  Fuck the damn legend. I have the fucking right to a bright as fuck future with her. I need it. She needs it. Just as humanity; the reason I fight as strongly as I do and put everything else second place while there’s so much more to fight for along with it.
I fucking want it; to form a unity—a future for us—and if I have to raise hell it-fucking-self, I will make sure we get it.

  Chapter Ten

  ***Tria***

  Angry voices are pulling at me. They demand I take lives. They want to pull me into the darkness that threatens to pull me under. I don’t want to listen but their voices are piercing through my skull. Loud. Angry. Hate. It’s overwhelming and it drives me to a point where the only option is to give in.

  “I sent her to go to you guys and ask for help.” Vike’s voice slides through the haze of darkness. “She probably saw right through my effort to get her out of here to face them myself. She didn’t listen. She didn’t fucking listen and now I’m going to lose her.”

  “Maybe if you didn’t trick her into leaving to handle the problems all on your own she would still be here. It’s your own damn fault she didn’t fall for your scheme. Tria is smart, asshole. Of course she saw straight through your lies. And yes, she should have come for her sisters, maybe it wouldn’t have happened the way it did.” I recognize Dio’s voice. “But Vapula had us all fooled. No one knew Hutton was Vapula. She took his drink because it’s a polite thing to do when you’re being welcomed by your mate’s MC. That’s not on you, not on any of us.”

  “Shut the hell up, all of you,” Gunnar growls. “She might seem as if all is lost but she’s stunned by the darkness. She hears everything but can’t do shit. It was the same for me. It’s like looking through thick black oil but the voices? Those inside your head pulling you down and the voices of the people around you are equally loud. It’s confusing, overwhelming. So, stop fucking adding to it because she hears you bickering and blaming yourself isn’t helping either.”

  Gunnar explains it well but how could he not? He’s the one who went through it all. Oh, shit. It lasted years. I’m freaking out as it is, ready to surrender to the darkness while he fought it internally for years. Despair fills my veins and I can hear everyone around me start to panic. Something about the blackness on my skin rising up.

  Dammit, I don’t want to give in. I’m a fighter; always have been. I even fought my eternal mate, not ready to give in without raising a little hell first. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a curse bring me down. Anger fills my veins and it has nothing to do with the darkness that’s trying to consume me. It’s the licking of flames, the familiarity of it embraces me with its warmth.

  “Move back,” I hear my sister snap. “Move back now. Flame, Tria. Do it. Come on. Shit. I want to help so bad...oh, dammit sis, you’d better pull through if you’re doing this. Don’t you dare be mediocre in this. Shit, shit, shit...come on. Embrace.”

  Hot. It’s too hot. The flames are taking over and the pain is excruciating. What’s happening? I’ve been able to play with fire but it’s my sister who embraces the Phoenix’s side, not me. Mine has always been dormant. I can’t do this, it’s too much. What if I give in...to the flames...to the darkness? What if I die and won’t have the Phoenix part of me strong enough to let me be reborn again?

  There is no choice. I’m either being swallowed by darkness and give in to the curse or die by embracing the flames. Embracing the flames with being only one fourth Phoenix is just as risky. One fourth with my mother being half Phoenix...talk about a tiny slice of a pie. A flip of a freaking coin but again...what other choice do I have? None.

  Pain surrounds me as liquid fire courses through my veins. There is no choice, there is no life; only fire. The silence is deafening and the light is too damn bright. The first pull of air rushing through my lungs is one of the purest I’ve ever tasted. There’s no pressure surrounding me, it’s as if I’m floating on air. Serenity is soothing and yet I feel all alone.

  I don’t want to be alone. I’m never alone. My twin has always been with me but it didn’t compare to what Vike and I had. Not to mention I’m so very pissed at the man for shutting me out. He lied to get me away from the clubhouse to handle things on his own and I so very much would like to live to kick his ass.

  The heat starts to burn low in my belly again. A spark flowing through my veins and filling my whole body. I’m gasping for air but all I feel is the burn in my lungs. Fire overtakes me and I have to close my eyes due to the blinding light and all I can do is surrender.

  I’m still gasping for air but this time my lungs fill and the aftertaste carries blood along with it. My eyes flash open and I’m in the hallway of the Demon’s clubhouse right in front of the kitchen where the blood is covering the walls and floor. No wonder I can taste it in the air. Holy shit, I can taste it. I’m alive. No voices, no darkness.

  Vike’s face appears in front of me and the anger overtakes me again. My arm swings back and I punch him in the jaw. “You fucking asshole. You tricked me. You lied,” I seethe and flash up to hit him again but the way he’s bracing his arms on the floor while sitting on his ass—his head turning to accept the punches I’m about to throw at him—it takes away the need to knock some sense into him.

  My fists clench and my teeth are grinding. Dammit, I was so angry and now he’s all defeated and knows damn well he screwed up. I stomp my feet, lean down into his face and wait for him to connect his gaze with mine.

  When he finally does? I growl, “You’re not getting laid until you’ve apologized. You will ask for my forgiveness, do you understand me, Viking Hemlocks?”

  It might not mean anything to any other person but to him? It means giving me something he hasn’t and won’t ever give anyone else. Because I’ve heard it myself when an Angel told my sister how Viking Hemlocks will never ask for anything.

  He demands, never asks, always turning things to benefit him. Well, he fucked up big time and I damn well demand he grovels for it the way he hasn’t for anyone else. His eyes narrow and his lips turn into a flat line. Oh, yeah, I’ve kicked a sore spot and he knows it.

  I kinda screwed myself with the no sex thing but I’m so freaking pissed. That is until someone is smacking the back of my head. “What the hell? Ouch. Would you freaking stop?” I twist to dodge another smack and see who’s doing it. “Dio? Again...what the hell?”

  “You never ever get to scare me like that again, do you hear me? Never. What were you thinking, Tria? Your Phoenix is dormant. Dammit, you scared the hell out of me by flaming up but not returning for a long damn time. Shit, woman.”

  “Well, excuuuuuuse me. I had to figure out how to die and come back. It’s not like I’ve done it be-freaking-fore, Dio. And it damn well hurts,” I snap.

  My twin merely shrugs. “Only the first time, the second time and so on is easy peasy.”

  The second time is... “Are you insane?” I gasp. “I don’t intend to die and be reborn again, for crying out loud.”

  I hear giggling and when I swing my head toward the sound, I see my sisters and Nixie standing there. Tears burn in my eyes. “How did you all get here? I didn’t blink and get you guys, right? I know Vike told me to go to you...but I didn’t...why are you here?” I stop questioning and launch myself at them, dragging each of them into my embrace. “I missed you so much,” I murmur, not caring one single bit if I saw them a mere few hours ago.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Vike’s voice filled with annoyance rings through the air.

  Why the hell does he think he’s got the right to be annoyed?

  I squeeze my sisters one more time before I face him. “Shouldn’t we get every single guy in the main room and give each one a thorough look and kill the ones who have the green tag? I’m done keeping this in secrecy, time to shake things up and out the bad guys. I don’t want to...shit. It’s my own damn fault. If I didn’t specifically request the magic to point out those who worked with Vapula but...I don’t know, something else, then Hutton would have been green too. Ugh, I’m so stupid.”

  Vike sighs, “No, you’re not.”

  “Right,” I snap. “You’re the stupid one in this marriage. Thinking you can handle everything alone. Ugh. I hate being angry. Could you please get every biker to go into th
e main room of the clubhouse? Maybe I’m lucky and there’s another one with a green tag because I seriously feel like ripping off a few heads to calm down some more.”

  The corner of his mouth twitches. “I’d be honored if you became my wife, little firefly. We’ll get into the details after we’ve checked if we’ve ripped enough heads off in here. Can you make sure your sisters get their husbands here too?” He releases a deep sigh. “It’s time for them to visit our place and to talk things through.”

  “Okay, then,” I tell him and turn to my sisters because all I want to do is throw myself at him and feel his arms wrapped around me. His kiss, his warmth.

  I’m still a tad angry about what happened and the way he handled things. But I’m also very much aware one can only know the consequences and learn from them the hard way. Let’s just say this was the hard way and we’ll benefit from it in the future because like I said...I don’t intend to die and rise from the ashes ever again, cause that freaking hurt.

  Dio blinks and brings our brother-in-laws here one by one. Meanwhile Gunnar and Vike are knocking on doors to get everyone into the main room of the clubhouse. I’m biting the nail of my thumb while glancing at every biker who comes in. There isn’t anyone else with a green tag.

  Vike leans in close to my ear. “I don’t see anyone else showing any signs. You?”

  I slowly shake my head while I let my gaze travel over everyone once more. “Maybe he had them all in the kitchen to have a little meeting? All huddled together? Maybe we got lucky since it seems we got them all.”

  “Yeah, we did,” Vike hums, pride in his voice and it makes me swing my gaze back to him. “We. Did,” he repeats again.

  This makes me roll my eyes. “Yeah, we did. But there’s no need to remind you I wasn’t invited to the whole massacre your buddies in the kitchen thing, right? I decided to pop in and help because I thought something was fishy with you sending me away.”