Page 30 of Devil's Vengeance

Positioning myself so they had to go around each other to get to me, I clocked the first guy across the jaw. He came back swinging, but that was what I wanted, and I ducked and aimed a punch to his ribs, throwing my weight into it so the ribs broke on impact. He curled in on himself and I used that to my advantage, slamming his face onto my knee. I moved on to the next guy while he was still falling, jumping out of the way when he lunged at me and elbowing him in the kidney. The momentum sent him sprawling, and I knew he’d be back up in a minute, but I couldn’t focus on it. Two guys came at me at once, and I nearly got taken to the ground. That wouldn’t end well for me.

I was so busy fighting, I couldn’t do anything about Mariah. I heard her scream, but when I looked in her direction, someone used the distraction to punch me in the temple. It made me dizzy enough that they got a few hits in, knocking the wind out of me. It was a little fucked up that Reaper would hit me just right to do the same damn thing, but at least because of him, I didn’t let it stop me from moving. I kicked out, catching one of them in the shin, and he went down with a shout. Pretty sure I heard something snap when I did that. I was glad I was wearing my steel toes tonight.

The odds weren’t great, but I was confident I could get the upper hand if I just hit them in the right spots. But then more Iron Horsemen spilled out of the bar, drawn outside by the noise. Too many for me to have even a chance of fighting them off.

Please tell me Mariah got away. I couldn’t hear over the ringing in my ears to tell if she started the engine or not.

A shot rang out, making everyone freeze. When I looked around, I was stunned to see Mariah pointing the gun in our direction, her attacker groaning and clutching his balls at her feet. Her eyes were wide with terror and fury, but it was the phone pressed to her ear that scared the bikers around me.

“The police are on their way. I wonder how many of you have warrants out for your arrest?” she seethed.

From the articles I’d been reading, fucking all of them. Which meant they could continue this fight and possibly kill me, or get the hell out ofdodge before the pigs showed up. I wasn’t waiting around to find out. I shoved through the group who’d circled me while they were trying to make a decision, going straight for Mariah. When I slid onto my bike, she was quick to follow, phone still against her ear and weapon pointed to defend us. She only put it down when I barked at her to hang on. As I pulled away, I heard Trick shout over the noise of his crew getting on their bikes.

“This isn’t over, Jesse! I’m coming for your girl!”

CHAPTER 19

MARIAH

My heart hammered in my chest as Chase sped off away from the bar. I was more than a little grateful that I’d gone to those self defense lessons with Lacey. I needed them tonight. Not only to get away from Trick and the asshole who tried to drag me off, but to help Chase, too. He put himself in harm’s way to come get me, and I wasn’t going to leave him there to die.

“Ma’am? Ma’am? Is everything alright?”

I forgot for a minute that I was on the phone. I blinked a few times, raising my voice to be heard over the sound of the wind. “Yeah. We’re alright. We got away. But there are a bunch of bikers attacking people at the bar I was just at. You need to send someone to–”

I didn’t actually know the name of the bar, but Chase supplied it, his voice gruff and low enough that I almost didn’t hear him over the wind. I rattled it off for the operator, giving a quick summary of what had just happened.

“We’ve got officers in the area. If you meet them, they can take a statement and–”

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m not sticking around here. I’m afraid they’ll find me. Thank you for sending people, though.”

After a few attempts at arguing with me, the operator gave up.

“I understand, ma’am. Are you somewhere safe?”

“My friend came to get me. He’ll take me home.”

She asked a few more questions to make sure I was uninjured, but eventually let me hang up without having to meet with an officer. Which was a relief, because I was pretty sure I’d have to send Chase away if I had to do that. He was wearing his club cut, and the cops would probably put him in handcuffs before even asking him any questions. I didn't want Chase to end up arrested right along with them, but I couldn’t figure out any other way to get them to stop.

Tucking my phone in my pocket, I wrapped my arms tighter around Chase’s middle. After I kicked my attacker in the nuts, I saw Chase surrounded on all sides by people trying to hurt him. It scared the hell out of me. He was a good fighter, but there was no way he would have been able to get through all that by himself. I was afraid I’d have to watch him die or drive off and leave him there, and I couldn’t stomach it. I was relieved my last-ditch plan worked. I knew enough about guns to know how to handle one, so I grabbed the one off the asshole at my feet and shot out a warning just as I pressed call on my phone.

His hand rested on top of mine for a moment, squeezing gently. The drive passed in relative silence, neither one of us wanting to shout over the wind to talk about what happened. We were both on high alert, watching for any signs that we were being followed, but we made it all the way back to the clubhouse without any sign of Trick or his friends.

Wait. The clubhouse?

“Chase. I want to go home,” I argued when he shut off the engine to his bike.

I expected more of his gruff annoyance. I had gotten used to it after several weeks. But when he turned around enough to look at me, his expression was apologetic.

“I know. I’m sorry. But he knows where you work. It’s safe to assume he knows where you live.”

I had honestly not even thought of that. “He picked me up tonight…”

Chase sighed, resigned. “Yeah. Figured. For now, you’ll stay with me until I get this situation under control. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

“Why did he target me? What’s going on?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’ll handle it. Come on. Let’s get you inside.”

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