He’d laugh so hard if he knew I just called him innocent. He was muscle for hire. He was a crazy bastard who’d spilled more blood than the two kids who were meant to be protecting me right now. Hope, the woman who had rescued me from Purgatory, had met the guy while trying to bring down a dirty organization called Tenebrae. They were created by Uriel, but Tenebrae was little more than a venus fly trap for your soul. You were lured in by the power, the sex and the drugs, the sin, and you lived well. But when you died, you were marked for Hell. Tenebrae did some fucking heinous things, but I’d met a few of Hope’s boyfriends, and they scared the shit out of me too. Maybe they were evenly matched, or maybe we’d all get our asses handed to us.
Either way, Marco needed to know. My heart hurt a little thinking about him. Leaving him behind had been the right thing to do; he had kids to protect. But it still stung how easily he’d let me go.
I pressed call on his number, and I waited for it to answer. There was silence at the other end of the line, but I expected it. Marco was mute.
“Marco, they found me. You gotta take the kids and run for a little while. If this shit all went bad, he’ll come for you guys. I need you to run.”
I could hear the hard thump at the other end of the phone, like someone slamming their fist on a table.
“Hey, listen. I wanted to say thank you. I never said it before, but you guys gave me a safe haven even for a little while, and I appreciate it more than you’ll know. You gave me normalcy in a time that I didn’t think I would ever be okay again. I owe you for that. Tell the kids that they are amazing. They are going to be wonderful human beings, and that's down to you, Marco.” I took a shaky breath. “I gotta go. I hope I see you soon.” I heard a strangled yell from the other end of the phone. I didn’t know what happened to Marco that stopped him from speaking, but I think it was physical. That it hurt him to speak.
I hung up before anything got more touchy-feely. I looked at the prospects, but they had their eyes trained on the door. That's when I heard the first gunshots. I sucked in a shuddering breath.
I tried to call Hope but her number just rang out. Something rammed the building and the whole place shuddered. “I need a gun,” I said to the Prospect closest to me. Stevie? Or Paulie? I couldn’t remember. He looked back at me, and then looked at the other Prospect.
“Uh, I’m not sure, Ma’am. I’ve only got one.”
I sighed, he probably needed it. The other Prospect didn’t even make eye contact with me. I stood and paced, the baby kicking the shit out of my bladder, sensing my distress. I had to pee. Fuck this. I should go out there. These men didn’t need to die needlessly.
I walked toward the door, but Stevie was there before me. “You can’t go out there, Ma’am.”
I pointed a finger at him. “Stop calling me ma’am.” I sighed. “I can stop this. No one needs to get hurt for me.”
Stevie was still shaking his head. “No, uh, Dippy.” Most of the Club had adopted Solomon’s nickname for me. “I can’t let you go out there. And this is something we voted on. We want to protect you and the baby. When we signed onto Damnation, it was part of the oath. The Club Charter says that we protect women and children who come to us for help. It’s part of the reason I wanted to be in this MC to start with.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he nervously continued. “My sister was murdered by her husband in her living room. I was only thirteen at the time, and she was eight years older than me, but I loved her so much. And he took her life like it meant nothing, just because he didn’t like how she vacuumed the carpet.” Stevie stepped forward and ushered me gently back to the chair. I went willingly. “She told her friends that he used to beat her, and she wanted to leave him, but he was a cop and she was scared. If she’d known that she could have run to this place, to Damnation MC and Cain, would she still be alive today? That's why I want to pledge. To help women like my sister. Like you. Let us help. It's why some of us are even here. Not Paulie though; he is just here because he thinks the cut makes him less of an ugly fuck, and will attract girls,” he joked.
The other Prospect flipped him the bird, but his face was serious too.
I swallowed hard. I didn't know that about Damnation. Had Hope known that they protected women when she’d dropped me off at Cain’s tattoo parlor? Or had she just known that Cain was good the way she knew so many things?
One day I’d ask. If I survived the next twenty-four hours. More rapid gunfire sounded and it rattled along my nerves. Were they down there, dead or in pain? Cain would be on the front lines. He was VP after all. Solomon too. Judas would definitely be there. He definitely wasn’t a man who would lead from the back.
Goliath I wasn’t worried about. He was the type of man who lived for this mayhem. For the bloodshed and the war. He’d be in his element.
I could hear shouting now, getting closer and closer. I tilted my head, straining to catch the words. It was Cain yelling to pull back to the Clubhouse, and I could hear the heavy thump of boots on the stairs. Why was Cain giving orders? Where was Judas?
Finally, the doors snapped open, and both Prospects had their guns trained on the door. “It’s us,” Cain yelled through the gap in the door, and the Prospects lowered their weapons. I stood and rushed toward the door. I wrapped my body around Cain, kissing his cheeks. “Thank God you’re okay. Everyone else?”
“Tito got a bullet in the thigh, but he’ll be fine. We locked down the front, but they seem to be swarming. Where the fuck are all these mob guys coming from?”
“Tenebrae, I think. Human traffickers and fucking powerful men with their own private armies. I didn’t think Uriel would bring them in. I didn’t think he’d want that many witnesses. I’m so sorry, Cain.”
Cain wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight to his chest. I let out a gasping breath as I counted his heartbeats against my cheek. “It’s fine, Sera. We aren’t beaten yet. We have a few tricks up our sleeve, okay?” He kissed my forehead, then my cheeks. “Grab a seat, Sweetheart.”
There was a call from downstairs. “Let them through, they’re with us!” It was Trigger’s voice. The heavy wooden doors opened for the second time in as many minutes, and in walked Hope and the fucking Angel of Death.
There was an audible gasp in the room at the sight of Azriel’s wings. Apparently, no one was even playing at being human today.
“How’s it going, Sera?”
Cain growled. “We are being attacked by the fucking mob.”
I shot him a look. “These guys seem to think that being pregnant has turned me into fine china that can’t hold a gun. I need a gun.” I needed for this to be over. I needed to be snuggled in bed with Cain, or Solomon. Hell, after this maybe I could sleep for a week between both Solomon and Cain. We just all needed to survive my mistakes.
Hope, bless her heart, whipped out a gun and handed it to me. Cain frowned, and Hope shrugged unapologetically. “What? She’s about to cry? Do you want her to cry?” Cain stared at me in horror, and I blinked rapidly. I wasn’t going to cry about not having a gun, but I felt like I was an inch away from a nervous breakdown. Hope knew too. She always knew.
Hope told me about attacking Uriel, showing their hand too early, and I could hear the regret in her voice. It didn’t matter to me. It was bound to come down to this, and it was nice to be able to see the guillotine coming.