One Hundred & Thirty-Six Scars (The Devil's Own #1)

  Sure enough, once we pull out of the compound, the Black SUV pulls up behind us, following closely. I keep my eyes locked on the mirror, looking sideways at Hella.

  The drive there is silent and we keep it at a slow, consistent speed. Once we hit the turn-off, Hella pulls in off the road and the SUV looks to hesitate for a second.

  “Come on,” Hella urges keeping his speed maintained while his eyes stay locked in the rear vision mirror and the road ahead of him. Once the SUV begins following us again, we all let out a breath of air. Because the dust is causing smoke to rise up outside from our speed, you can hardly see anything. Once Hella swings around a tight bended corner, I look to the time to see 12:01 exactly and the van comes to a halt. Silence fills the atmosphere, every hair I have on my body stands to attention along with my senses.

  With my jaw clenching, I turn my head sideways to look out the side mirror. The black SUV halts behind us suddenly, almost rear ending us. Opening my door, a round of gunshots ring out, bouncing off the shell of my door. “Fuck!”

  The SUV attempts to reverse when another truck pulls up behind them. Squinting my eyes to look closer, I see the girl in the passenger seat, her hair glows with Abby’s trademark red hair.

  “Who the fuck just shot at us?” I yell out to Hella, who’s ducked behind his driver’s side door, loading his gun up again. He’d already emptied an entire round and he probably didn’t miss either.

  “Russian’s, I’m guessing.” Before he swings back around and unloads another round.

  Gun shots sound off from behind me along with a blood-curdling scream. Swinging my head around, two women’s bodies are lying lifeless on the ground. Picking up my gun, I point it out in front of me and head toward the one I know is Abby, when a man dressed in an elegant, crisp black suit stands in front of her, blocking my path. He stands with the type of calmness and cockiness one can only learn by being in The Army. The van trunk opens wide and the boys unload out with their weapons raised.

  “Stop! Hold the fuck up,” I yell at them. They look at me like I’m crazy, but I need to know what this fucker has to say.

  “Let her go,” I state, pointing my gun to Abby. There’s another woman wearing a badge dead on the ground beside her, blood trickling out of her eyes, landing onto the dirt ridden ground.

  “Hella!” I roar out. In a split second, gun shots die out and he rounds the van to stand up beside me.

  Realization sets in, his face morphing into the lethal son of a bitch he is.

  “Abby?” His voice cracks for a second before anger seeps into his bones. You can see the exact moment that that anger has settled.

  “Let her go. Now,” he warns, bringing his eyes up to the crisp suit.

  Crisp suit laughs while shaking his head. “Now, I can’t do that, Hella. In fact…” he looks down at Abby before looking back to us. “…I don’t think we’re finished with her body yet.”

  “You won’t win this,” I state just as helicopter propellers sound off over the top of us at around the same time the gun shots die out from where they were coming from, with cars taking off in the distance. I guess the Russians are gone.

  “We already have. We are always, one step ahead of you boys. Remember that.”

  “We could kill you right now and it not be an issue,” I say, smiling back at him.

  He laughs, then points to the sky. “You see that?” He points to the helicopter overhead. Hella steps forward forcefully, my hand swinging out and catching his forearm. He cocks his head, looking at me over his shoulder. I shake my head and pull him back. I know she’s dead, and if Hella inspects that any closer, I cannot be responsible for his lashing out.

  “I have five minutes to get out of here before more backup show, and judged by those little red dots covering you and your men… I’d say you can do neither of those things.” Gripping Abby’s arm, he pulls her limp body up and drags her by her armpits back to her car before him and the other man he was with get into Abby’s SUV and pull out of there with the helicopter following them.

  “Fuck!” Swinging my hand around and landing it in the window to our van.

  “Move the car…” Hannibal points to Flicker, “....now! We need to get the fuck out.”

  I look to Hella, who still hasn’t moved, or breathed by the looks of it.

  Flicker gets in the driver’s seat, dropping the emergency break and pushing it out of our way before we all climb back into the van. Once Hella gets in, I turn my attention to him. “I could fucking kill you,” I growl.

  He brings his eyes to me. “Fuck up, Beast. Don’t start with this shit. I respect you as my president, but we were equals before this shit brought us together, and right now I’m unstable enough to fuck shit up. Don’t…” He turns the key in the ignition, the veins in his neck pulsating, his jaw clenched and his eyes dead. I laugh under my breath. I know he’s any second away from killing something. Turning the headlights on, I look out ahead of us at what can only be described as a war ground.

  “Holy fuck,” Flicker whispers from behind me.

  Swallowing down, I shrug. “Fucking stupid. We should have never been here either. Let’s go.” The entire ground was littered with bodies. There were Feds and men in casual attire, I’m guessing Russian. What a fucking mess, this has just caused a whole lot of fucking heat that I didn’t want. I’m sad for Abby, I am. But she was asking for it. You dance with fire, you’re going to get burned eventually. Her execution wasn’t thought through enough obviously. Looks like we’ll be rolling with Sinful Souls, not just for their beef, but for what is now ours too.

  On our drive back to the compound, I turn to Hella. “We need to talk about Abby,” I say, clutching onto the arm rest.

  “I know,” he answers. “We need to call Zane when we get back.”

  Once we pull into the compound, I walk into the barn where a few of the men who stayed behind are sitting chatting.

  “Hey, fellas, that was quick!” Toke answers, swinging around on his chair.

  “Didn’t take long,” I grumble, walking into the boardroom.

  Hella follows me in along with Hannibal, Nyx, and Ripper. “I need to call, Zane.” Pulling out my phone, I scroll through my contacts until I come to his number, pushing the green button connecting me to his call.

  “Sup, brother. What can I do for you?”

  “Yeah,” I answer, taking a seat at the head of the table. “Some shit just went down today.”

  “What sort of shit?”

  “Did Abby tell you the operation she was working on?”

  “With the Russians? Yeah, she did. Was dead against it.”

  “Yeah, well she tried to add The Army into that mix, too. Something’s happened. Are you sitting down?”

  Silence fills the phone before a door shuts in the distance. “Yeah,” Zane begins, clearing his throat. “I’m here.”

  “We meet her down where we were supposed to. She got caught up between it all and someone from The Army took her down. I’m sorry, Zane. She didn’t make it, but they took her body.”

  “Fuck,” he whispers before continuing, “are you sure she was dead?”

  “I couldn’t check her. They wouldn’t let any of us near her. Had laser beams directed on every single one of us from their helicopter in the sky. But she wasn’t moving. I watched her chest and it was still. It didn’t look good.”

  “Fuck. Fuck. Okay… Shit!” More silence rips through.

  “Give me some time. We’re going to need some time to get through her funeral. I don’t want to add The Army onto the stress Blake and Ade already have with the Russians. I’ll keep that part out for now. Shit. I’ll need you guys in a week.”

  “A week?”

  “Yeah, give us some time to have her… funeral. I’ll keep it closed casket. That way there are no questions about her body. Leave on Monday and meet us at the compound.”

  “All right, brother. We’ll be there.”

  Hanging up the phone, I lean into my chair and throw it on
to the table. This has started one mass fucking war, and we’re right in the middle of it. Two major sides, who you’d never want as enemies, and we have both. The Russians and The Army.

  Fuck.

  I’m walking out of New Home when Blake begins rushing toward me as he walks out of the hospital. New Home is almost directly opposite the hospital on one of the main streets in Westbeach.

  “Meadow, hey… something’s happened. I can’t get hold of Phoebe. I need you to try.”

  “Yeah, okay. Everything okay?”

  He shakes his head, eyes wide as he clutches the back of his head with his hands. “Abby is dead. Vicky is in labor… probably from stress… and it’s too early, so I had to rush her in. Please, just call, Phoebe,” he repeats, turning back around and rushing through the opening doors of the hospital.

  I’m still staring at the doors when I remember what I need to do. Pulling out my phone from my handbag I begin dialing Phoebe’s number. God, Abby was a hard ass, but she had a good heart. I know Phoebe’s going to take this bad. I need to tread carefully. Phoebe’s strong but her number one fear is losing the people she loves dearly. That comes from losing her father at a young age, and then I guess, being raised around danger all her life. She has to be the most protected girl breathing.

  “Hey, what’s up?” she answers.

  “Phoebe? Are you home?”

  “Yeah, why? We’re just at The Circuit.” Her voice sounds wary. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Abby, something’s happened. I’m sorry, Phoebe. I’m so sorry.”

  The air leaves my body with my blood turning to ice.

  “Spit it out, Meadow.”

  “Oh God,” I whisper.

  “Meadow…” she warns.

  “She’s dead, Phoebe. God, I’m so sorry…” My voice cracks on the end before the line goes dead.

  Pushing my phone back into my bag, I exhale out a breath of air.

  I hated that.

  God, I hated being the one to break that to her.

  It’s been a week since I made that call. They had a funeral for her that I decided to stay out of. I wanted to be there for Phoebe, but I didn’t know Abby very well and it was more of a closed funeral anyway. I have tried to be there as much as possible for Phoebe, but for the most part, she has clammed up. Melissa and I have made it our mission to get her going again. That brings us to now, where we are currently sitting at a picnic table at the compound of Sinful Souls MC. Phoebe is sitting beside Melissa with a smile on her face. I’m glad for however that smile got there, but I have a feeling it has something to do with a persistent rock star.

  “Hey, stranger,” Melissa starts, plopping down beside Nette—Phoebe’s friend she met on her tour around the world with the rich and famous. I like Nettie, a lot. She’s down to earth and has a fire in her. Also, she makes me laugh. I’ll always find time for people who can make me laugh.

  “Wanna dance? I’ll let you do the running man?” Melissa continues, wiggling her eyebrows.

  Phoebe chuckles. “Nope, I’m good.”

  I hand her a bottle of beer. “Come on, Phoebe. Let’s drink a little.”

  Phoebe opens her mouth, but snaps it shut when a roar of bikes begins to shake the atmosphere. The table shaking underneath me has my breath hitching. I’m used to it now, being surrounded by Phoebe’s family, but that sound still pulls at something deep inside. I’m not sure what, but something. That feeling where you’re in-between danger and excitement? I think that’s what it is.

  She glances over her shoulder and whispers, “Beast is here.”

  “Beast?” Melissa asks with a mischievous smirk. “I like the sound of that.”

  Phoebe lets out an exasperated breath. “Melissa, no. Put your lady bits away. He’s special.”

  That perked Melissa’s attention. I shake my head, taking another sip of my drink.

  “Special, huh? Special as in huge dick special, or special as in chode little dick special?” A loud sound of laughter echoes around our table, me joining in with them. Melissa, she’s something else.

  “Uh, nope, I’m not even going to justify that with an answer, but no. Not a chode. Not that I know, but he is… complicated,” Phoebe rushes out, not wanting to go further on the matter.

  A crowd has formed around the new bikers that have pulled up when Phoebe places her head into her hands. “I need to pull it together. I have the circuit and Ryder. Who, by the way, has been amazing.”

  I nod my head, taking her hand in mine. “You’ll get through it, Phoebe. For someone who’s biggest fear is to lose those closest to her, you’ve made great progress.”

  She smiles an appreciative smile at me, so I return one back to her. On the corner of my eye, I can see the crowd has formed around our table. When I bring my eyes up to the large shadow standing at the head of our table, I’m met with the same empty dark eyes I remember from all those years ago.

  Holy fuck.

  My heart races harder, pulse thickening, with my body flushing out. I think I’m having a panic attack, but before I can answer, my lids close and my head flops onto the table in a crack.

  Way to go, Meadow. Just faint in front of everyone. Now he probably thinks I’m no different to who I was all those years ago, but he would be wrong. The gripping on my upper arm pushes me out of my daze, and when I snap my eyes open again, I’m remembered why it all happened in the first place by the burning gaze of the black depths beaming into me.

  Squirming, I push my chair out before Melissa and Nettie begin to escort me inside the bar. Pushing open the door, I shuffle out of their arms, placing my hand on my forehead. “It’s okay, I’m all right. Shit. Shit,” I whisper out. I’m still in shock, the buzzing coming through my ears confirming that.

  “Are you okay? What was that about?” Melissa asks, pulling out a stool for me at the bar.

  “That was a huge throwback right there in my face,” I answer, rubbing my temples with my fingers.

  “Big he is. My God, he’s beautiful and large… I wonder if he’s that big every—”

  “Melissa!” I snort, reaching for a bottle of vodka from behind the bar. The sound of the front bar door slamming shut shocks me back to my seat, with the vodka tucked away comfortable in my hands. Swallowing, I look to Melissa, nodding my head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

  “Are you sure?” Nettie asks.

  I nod my head with a small smile. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, it’s just—”

  “Get the fuck out. Now,” Beast growls from his position. That voice is still the same, seeping into my skin and wrapping me up in some sort of psychological blanket of comfort. What is with that? I barely know him.

  Melissa narrows her eyes a little. I take a stand from my seat, rubbing her arm. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine. I know him, he won’t hurt me.”

  Melissa and Nettie both nod their head, before they make their way to the doors. I don’t realize they’re out until I hear the door close again. I still haven’t looked up to him. I don’t think I’m ready to look at him again.

  I need a drink.

  Taking a seat back onto the stool, I twist the cap off the bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. Skipping the fact that this is some fancy vodka for a clubhouse, before wrapping my lips over the rim and letting the warm liquid burn the back of my throat, settling into a pool of fire in the pit of my stomach.

  “Are you going to say anything?” I ask, after swallowing my bundle of nerves.

  He clears his throat, the stool next to me pulling away as he takes a seat on it.

  “Fuck,” he whispers, taking a bottle of scotch out from under the bar.

  I laugh, bringing the drink up to my lips again. “I thought I’d never see you again. Although, I sort of wanted to look for you, to say thank you.” I bring my eyes to his finally and find him boring holes into me. His stare is dark, intense, and makes me squirm in discomfort. He looks the same, only older, more mature. He’s bigger and taller than he was
when I last saw him too. His features are still the same, olive skin, dark eyes, dark hair, strong jaw, plump lips and you wouldn’t know, but when he smiles it could light up a room.

  When he smiles, being the key word there.

  Pulling my eyes away from his dark pull, I run them down his neck that’s slightly in view from the hood of his hoodie. And there it is, the deep, angry scar that runs from under his left ear, slicing down his neck and coming across his shoulder blade before sitting on his chest. I do wonder what other secrets he has hidden under that black hoodie, but I know that they’re not my secrets to ask about.

  His tongue runs across his lower lip before he brings the brown liquid bottle to his lips and takes another drink. “Why didn’t you?”

  That comment throws me off. My eyes drift to the door before coming back to his. “Why didn’t I, what?”

  “Try to find me?” Swinging his arms over the back of the stool, I’m sitting on and the other one beside him.

  “I don’t know. I guess… hang on…” turning on my stool to face him, “…why didn’t you look for me?”

  He laughs, placing the bottle back on the bar. “I’m not the one who said I thought about looking for you… no offense. Though, the thought did cross my mind here and there.” He rubs his finger over his upper lip, bringing his eyes back to mine.

  Exhaling out, I lean back into my chair. “Well, that’s done anyway. I did stay at your place, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “After… you told me to stay at your place and to not move. So I did. I waited for you for two weeks, searched your entire flat to find clues. I wanted to thank you.”

  His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows another mouthful. “Thank me for what?”

  “For killing my father, before I killed myself.”

  He shakes his head, turning his attention back to me. “What’s your name? I never did catch it.”