Demons hellfire, p.8
Demon's Hellfire, page 8
My hands stilled where they’d been stroking the soft skin on her back. I’d never heard her use that tone of voice before. Sad, lost, worried. She was always so strong and filled with determination and fire.
Slowly, I reached down and pulled a blanket up to cover us. Then, I carefully turned us both so we were on our sides facing each other. “Rian, sweetheart, talk to me,” I whispered, smoothing the soft curls back from her face. “What’s going on?”
Those captivating, golden-brown eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, pulling me as close as she could. “I’m so sorry, Brady. I shouldn’t have let you claim me. Not knowing what the future holds. Now, if something happens…”
I slid my hand into the back of her hair, grasping it tightly and tugging gently until she leaned back and looked up into my eyes. “Nothing is going to happen to you, Rian Kilkenny, do you understand me? Nothing. I won’t let it. You are mine, and I protect what’s mine.”
A soft sob left her throat, and tears began to stream unchecked down her checks. A low growl began to rumble in my chest at the sight, and I knew right then and there that someone was going to die.
“All I ever wanted to do was help people,” she whispered. “And I’m good at it.”
“Yes, you are.”
“But now things have changed.”
Leaning down, I kissed her gently. “Baby, I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s happening.”
“I’m not supposed to say,” she whispered, burying her face in my neck, “but I’m so scared, Brady. I’m terrified, and I don’t know what to do.”
“You talk to your mate,” I growled, rubbing my cheek against hers. “You talk to me, and I make that terror go away.” When she didn’t respond, I slid my hand under her jaw and raised her gaze to mine. “You are mine, Rian. My life. I am not going to let anyone or anything take you from me, do you understand?”
Her bottom lip trembled, and more tears appeared, but she nodded slowly. “Yes, but Nitro will be pissed if I say anything.”
“Fuck Nitro,” I growled. “No one comes between us. Ever.”
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, and it swung open. My brother stood in the doorway, his face a mask of pure anger. His gaze went to my mate, then met mine. “Who the fuck are we hunting down?”
Rian stiffened, and then sighed, laying her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes. “I guess we better do this at my parent’s house. My brothers will be pissed if they don’t hear it, too. And they are all in danger now because of me.”
“I’ll make the calls,” Shadow said, leaving as quickly as he’d come.
“I am so sorry,” Rian whispered, her entire body trembling against mine. “I thought I could handle it myself. I thought I was strong enough. We even found one of the families, but then what he did to the other one.” She shuddered. “Maybe I can’t do this, Brady. Maybe I’m not cut out for it.”
“Yes, you are, Rian,” I said, kissing her hard on the lips. “You are one of the bravest people I know.”
“I don’t feel brave right now.”
I smiled, kissing her more gently this time. “This feeling will pass. Trust me.”
“How do you know?”
“Maybe I’m not always as strong as I look,” I confessed, dropping a light kiss on the tip of her nose.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I love you, Brady.”
“I love you, too, Rian.”
12
RIAN
I gasped at the sight of all the vehicles at my house when we arrived an hour later. I clung to Demon from where I sat on the back of his Harley, staring in shock. It wasn’t just my brothers who had come, it was a lot of Demon’s MC brothers as well. They’d all come. For me. Nitro was going to kill me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. My mate loved me, my family loved me, and my mate’s family cared enough to help me. I just prayed I wasn’t about to get them all killed.
It was dark, but the outside light was on. A yellow beacon flashing, telling me I was home. The door opened, and my mother stepped through, my father right behind her. I was off the back of the bike and across the lawn before I knew it, throwing myself into their arms. Telling them how sorry I was for dragging them into the dangerous part of my life. They hugged me close for a long moment before my papa rasped, “Come inside, child. Let’s get this mess figured out. We will keep you safe.”
“But who will keep you safe?” I whispered, looking up into his eyes, terror in my heart. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to them.
“We will,” a deep voice said from inside the house. “No one will touch your family, Rian. You have my word on that.”
I found myself looking into a pair of the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, and hope began to fill me when I saw the determination in his gaze. Wraith, the President of the Dark Leopards East Texas Chapter. I’d only seen him one other time. At the clubhouse when my dumbass brother went after Demon. He was just as intimidating now as he had been then. My brothers talked about him as if he walked on water. Maybe he did.
I turned back to look at Demon, where he waited patiently at the bottom of the porch stairs, love shining brightly in his eyes for all to see. Giving him a small smile, I held out my hand, my smile widening as he walked up the stairs and took it, tugging me into his side. “I want you to meet my parents,” I said softly, snuggling in close to him. “Papa, Mama, this is Brady, my mate.”
Mama smiled brightly, moving forward to wrap her arms around both of us. “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you Brady. Or would you prefer we call you Demon?”
I felt Brady stiffen next to me, and then he slowly reached out to hug my mother back. “Brady is fine, ma’am,” he said gruffly.
When Mama stepped back, he held out his hand to my father. Papa looked at him closely for a moment, then nodded, as if he liked what he saw, before reaching out to clasp his hand. “Nice to meet you, Son.”
“I’m Griff, Brady’s brother,” Shadow said, coming up the stairs behind us. “This is my mate, Shyla.”
“How wonderful to meet you both,” Mama said, smiling again.
“I think we better take this inside now, if you don’t mind,” Shadow said quietly. “Until we know exactly what we’re up against, it might not be safe to be out in the open like this.”
“Agreed,” Wraith said from where he still stood inside the house, waiting for us to come in. “We need to get down to business. See how we can keep Demon and your daughter safe.”
I hated the fear I saw enter my mother’s eyes, even though she quickly pushed it aside and ushered us all into the large living room area that was already full of people. All three of my brothers were there, along with some of the men I’d seen at the clubhouse. I hadn’t actually met any of them yet, but I knew their names. Just not which faces went with each one.
“I’m Wraith,” the president said, stepping forward to take my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Rian.”
“You, too,” I said, holding my head high and meeting his gaze. These men were here to try to save my life, the least I could do is stop acting like the baby my brothers thought I was and instead be the woman I knew I was.
“My mate, Angel, wants to meet you, but until I know exactly what the situation is, I think it best she stays at home.”
“I agree,” I said with a nod. The less people I put in danger, the better.
“I’m Rooster,” another man said, from where he stood on the other side of the room.
“The Vice President,” I said, giving him a small smile. One he didn’t return.
Ignoring him, I turned to the guy who stood next to him. “And you are?”
“Stonewall, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” I paused, looking up into the next brother’s eyes, my hand going to cover my mouth as I stared at him. “It’s you! You really are alive!”
“I’m The Kid,” he said, stepping forward. “I hear it’s because of you that my mate and I are alive today, Rian. I thank you for that. I promise you, I will repay the debt.”
“What the fuck is he talking about?” I heard Riordan mutter to Rory, but I ignored him.
“There is no debt to repay. I’m just happy I was there at the right time and could help.”
“Help? You ashed that bastard, Wexler,” Shyla cut in. “Cut him down like he was nothing. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She walked over and put her arm around my waist, smiling at me. “You are one of the most courageous women I’ve seen, Rian Kilkenny, and I am proud to be able to call you my sister.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, fighting the tears that threatened.
“I mean it. Your brothers don’t want to see you for who you are, but I do. Shadow and Demon do. You save lives, Rian. You help people who can’t help themselves. Don’t let anyone put you down. Not family, not friends, no one. You are one amazing, impressive woman. Own that shit.”
“She’s right, little sister,” my brother, Ronan, said as he crossed the room to get to me. My eyes widened as I looked up at him in surprise. He laughed, shaking his head. “Seriously, Rian, do you think we’re all stupid? Maybe those two idiots over there are, but I’m not. I may not have known exactly what you were up to. Hell, I still don’t. But I know that you have fire in your heart and a strong desire to help others. Now, why don’t you tell us what you are up against, so we can help you?”
My gaze wandered around the room at all the faces of the people there to help, and I swallowed hard before nodding. Walking over to where Demon stood, I leaned into him, needing his strength. He wrapped an arm around me, holding me close as I started my story.
“A couple of years ago I met my best friend, Talia, in college. I had three overbearing brothers, but had always wanted a sister. Someone to share my secrets with. My hopes and dreams. She became that person. What I didn’t know when I met her, what she wasn’t at liberty to tell me, was that she worked for a place called Night Star. They are part of a large underground network who work together to stop both human and shifter trafficking. My team focuses on the shifter side of things.” I paused, guilt hitting me at the thought of divulging secrets about my job and my team members to anyone.
“What she is struggling to tell you, is that I drug her into my world. I am the one responsible for putting not only her life in danger, but also all of yours.”
“Talia!”
I swung around when Talia entered the house, shock filling me at the sight of her. And then the guilt came rushing back in. In all the time I’d known her, not once had she met anyone in my family. She never came home with me, never asked too much about them. I understood why. Talia lost her parents and younger brother years ago at the hands of a madman like Killian. It was what led her to become the person she was today. She tried to stay away from any kind of attachments, except for her team… and me. I was the one person she’d let get close to her in all the years since her family was murdered. The one person she loved. I was her sister. The only person in the world she considered family now. She was here to protect me. She’d probably been following me ever since we left headquarters a few hours ago.
“It’s okay, Rian,” Talia said with a tight smile. “You need to be safe, and these people can keep you that way. They need the truth to do that.”
A low growl rumbled through the room, and my eyes widened when Riordan growled, “She isn’t the only one we will be keeping safe.”
Talia’s eyes widened, her nostrils flaring before she whispered, “Oh, shit.”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” my papa asked, glancing from Riordan to Talia.
“I would say it does, Patty,” Mama replied lightly, patting his arm, her eyes on Talia.
Talia shook her head, looking over at me, effectively shutting out my brother. “Let’s get this over with. Nitro’s calling us back in soon.”
“What?”
“Another family’s been taken.”
“No,” I whispered, pain filling me at the thought of what this new family was enduring. “Why is he doing this?”
“Because he’s an egotistical asshole that needs to be stopped, Rian. And we are the ones who are going to stop him. We have to. There is nobody else.”
She was right. There was no one else. Just Night Star, and we would do whatever needed to be done to put that bastard in an early grave. Straightening my shoulders, I lifted my head high as my gaze caught and held hers, then I gave a nod and turned back to the people in the room. “I didn’t know what Talia was involved in until over a year after I met her. Someone on her team was killed. They needed a replacement, and she asked me if I was interested.”
“I don’t understand,” Rory cut in. “How can she just ask you to be a part of something like that when you have no background in that kind of work?”
“Your family really doesn’t know you at all, do they?” Talia asked, shaking her head as she glanced over at my three brothers where they stood together on the other side of the room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Riordan grumbled, his gaze never leaving Talia.
“It means, you’re an ass,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.
“Dammit…”
Talia ignored him, her hands going to her hips as her gaze raked around the room. “Not only is Rian an excellent marksman, she’s also a blackbelt in karate. She can take down a man three times bigger than her in hand-to-hand combat. And she could do all of this before I even met her. She works with Night Star, and we are the best of the best in what we do. Unfortunately, this means we have made enemies. Our biggest one is Killian Reed. We came into contact with him before Rian became a part of our team. He likes to kidnap shifter families, the bigger the better. He hates shifters and thinks we are all expendable. He kidnaps them, and then sells them on the black market, as long as they live long enough to make it that far.”
“Holy shit,” Rory muttered, his eyes going to me. “And Rian is in his sights.”
“What you need to understand is your little sister has gone up against men and women like him before, several times. It’s who we are, what we do.” Talia paused, glancing over at me. “But this time it’s different. Reed killed one of our own a year and a half ago. Risa Daniels. He got a taste for it and wants to do it again.”
“My sister took her place on your team.”
It wasn’t a question, and Talia didn’t look in Riordan’s direction after he spoke.
“After he killed Risa, he laid low for a long time, but now he’s back. He’s taunting our team specifically.”
Talia paused, and I took up where she left off. “He’s taking families again. Focusing specifically on Texas. From Dallas, to Houston, to Austin. He’s grabbing them because he knows it’s our area to keep safe. He took two families the first night. One, we were able to save. The second, he murdered when we saved the first. The third one, we haven’t found yet. And it sounds like he’s just taken a fourth.”
“Our fear is that he is going to find out who we are specifically, and start targeting our loved ones. For me, there is no one. I have no family, but my team.” Talia finally spared Riordan a look before sighing. “At least, I didn’t. But the others, they all have someone. Parents, sisters, brothers. Killian Reed is a threat to all of these people until we find him. No one is safe.” Talia slowly let her gaze roam around the room. “None of you are safe since Rian and Demon are now mated. That bastard will do whatever he can to see her suffer.”
“Then, it’s simple,” Wraith said, from where he stood next to Rooster. “We hunt him down and take him out before he can hurt anyone else.”
“I wish it were that easy,” Talia replied, glancing over at me. “We’ve been hunting him for months. The best tech analysts we have are on it. They can’t find him.”
“You don’t have the best,” Wraith said, shaking his head as a grin appeared.
“What?”
“Taz, you go with Rian and Talia back to their work. Get with these so-called tech people. Find that fucker and get back to me.”
“Yes, Prez,” Riordan said, sending Wraith a nod.
“Oh, hell, no!” Talia said, shaking her head adamantly. “I am not taking you in to work with me. Nitro will fry my ass.”
Riordan’s gaze hardened as he growled, “If he lays one hand on you, he’ll answer to me.”
“Shadow, Shyla, and Demon will also go with you. Where Rian goes, they go.”
Talia looked over at me, her eyes wide. “Are these people for real?”
I shrugged helplessly, leaning into my mate. “They’re my family.”
“Damn right we are, little sister,” Shadow said. “I’ve seen you in action. I know what you’re capable of. But it doesn’t hurt to have family there to back you up in a situation like this.”
“Sounds like you’re family now, too, Talia,” Rory said with a grin.
“Oh, shut the hell up,” Talia grumbled, making me laugh. She glared at me. “You think it’s funny now. Wait until we walk into headquarters with all of them. What’s going to happen then?”
I looked up into Demon’s eyes and grinned. With my mate by my side, I suddenly felt so much stronger. Like the woman I was just a couple of days ago. Ready to fight, and take on the world. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”
13
DEMON
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we walked into the building where Rian and Talia worked, but it definitely wasn’t the sleek, posh office environment we were currently standing in as we waited for the receptionist to contact Nitro for clearance to allow us in. Behind her were two huge glass doors that said NS, Inc. on the front of them, and I could see several cubicles that stood empty, which wasn’t surprising since it was after midnight.
The receptionist held the phone away from her ear and cocked an eyebrow at Talia. “Your boss isn’t happy.”
Talia shook her head, grumbling something under her breath before reaching out to take the phone from the woman. “Nitro, open the damn doors. We don’t have time for this.”
