Page 31 of Soulless Angel

Desmond Monroe, Raina’s father, had a lot of resources at his disposal. At first, I’d been nervous about the Angels joining his organization. Thankfully, there were benefits to being part of the mob that ran the city.

I got into Cash’s SUV, adjusting the seat to my height as I started the engine. I glanced into the back where both Blaze and Daire slumped. Blaze had blood running from what was obviously a broken nose. One eye was bruised, a broken blood vessel marking the white part.

Knowing we couldn’t be caught here if emergency services showed up, I got the SUV moving, doing my best to move fast without speeding. That would also draw attention.

I kept glancing at the two of them in the rearview mirror. “No falling asleep. Keep each other awake. I mean it.”

I hated that their target got away. Pieces of human trash like that didn’t deserve to get away with the things they’d done. I was starting to really understand this whole vigilante vibe. The system let down so many victims. Someone had to do something about that.

And yet, as I glanced at my Angels, taking in their wounds, I worried that it would cost us our lives.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CLOVER

We made it home without issue. Since Cash had contacted Desmond immediately, it didn’t take long for the doctor to arrive. While he checked out Blaze and Daire in the living room, Cash and I stood in the kitchen watching.

I needed a drink. Even though Blaze shot me a pointed look as I poured hard alcohol into a glass, I did it anyway. This had been a hell of a night. The first drink went down easy. Too easy. I poured another, adding an extra splash.

Checking my phone, I found a few texts from Raina. I’d have to get back to her later and let her know how much worse the situation was at Paradise. I didn’t want to think about that right now.

The doctor determined that Daire may have a minor concussion, although he didn’t suspect anything too severe. Blaze’s nose had taken the worst of the hit. It would probably heal slightly crooked unless he chose to see a surgeon about fixing it. Since he was already missing a finger, he didn’t seem to care about a crooked nose. I would love him regardless.

After stitching the wound in Daire’s eyebrow, the doctor left them both with some painkillers and instructions on how to take them. Then he was gone.

Blaze slouched on the couch, holding out a hand. “Someone give me some weed. I feel nauseous.”

Daire popped a pill and slid down to rest his head on the arm of the couch. “Is the room spinning for anyone else? Just me? Fantastic.”

Producing an already rolled joint, Cash passed it to Blaze, helping him light it up. “Are you sure you should be smoking? You already inhaled a lot of smoke tonight.”

Blaze coughed out his first puff. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“How did things go at Paradise?” Daire asked, his eyes closing, his expression pained.

Cash and I exchanged a look. “Not great,” I said. “We kind of ran into trouble. I also discovered something else that’s been going on there.”

As I recounted the events of the evening, both Daire and Blaze sat up straighter, listening attentively. At one point, Daire snatched the joint from Blaze, taking a huge pull. I hated having to share such bad news after the night they’d had.

“Let me get this straight.” Daire held up a hand while also clutching the couch arm. “Jet is blackmailing us with footage he took of you two fucking in the club? Does that idiot want to end up at the bottom of the river? I’m going to destroy that cocky bastard. He’s a fucking dead man.”

Daire continued to rant, coming up with all kinds of colorful descriptions for what he would do to Jet. We let him get it all out of his system. I shared his fury. Mostly, I was nervous. Knowing Jet had that kind of material made me ill. He could do anything with that. People would see it if he put it online. Maybe even people I knew.

“Trust me,” I said. “I’m not too thrilled about that. However, we have another problem. They’re harvesting organs in that place.”

Blaze nodded, stopping when it made his head hurt. He held his face and swore. “That doesn’t actually surprise me. Has anyone talked to the Sinners about this?”

“Clover called Riot and gave him some attitude.” Cash beamed proudly. “It was great.”

“He’s going to get us clearance for the back,” I added. “Which means we have to go in there and play the part. We have to participate in that shit without killing each other. How are we going to pull that off?”

There was a stretch of quiet as we all pondered our predicament. It was late. We should probably forget it for now and go to bed.

“We’ll have to do whatever it takes to get back there. Make it look like the real thing and then turn on those in the back. Kill the camera guys. Kill anyone else who gets in our way. We’ll never be able to do this without it getting bloody.” Daire dragged himself off the couch, stumbling as he almost lost his balance. “I need to go to bed. Want to come tuck me in, Angel?”

“Just kill people?” Blaze asked. He sounded as skeptical as I felt. “That will draw a lot of attention. It’s risky. It also means they might move their operation, making hidden cameras pointless.”

“Fine. We won’t kill them unless we have to. We’ll abduct them and torture information from them. Do you have any better ideas?” Waving a dismissive hand, Daire left the room, bouncing off the wall on his way out.

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