Page 60 of Ink's Devil

Sparky sounds so angry. Looking sideways, I notice his jaw is set. I also notice he’s not taking me in the direction of my home.

“Where are we going?”

But it seems he’s done talking to me, and anyway, my question quickly becomes pointless as the compound comes into sight.

I don’t want to be here. “I have to get home,” I wail, needing to try and call the number Connor rang from to check he’s okay; to find out whether somehow this clusterfuck of a night turned out right. If I take his words at face value, now I’d failed, he might be dead.

Sparky spares one glance for me. “I suspect Ink will prefer to be heading home too.”

Ink. Oh my God, Connor. What have you done?What have I done?My mouth opens to ask what exactly has happened to Ink, but everything happens so quickly.

The gates slide open after Sparky leans on the horn. He throws the car into park then dives out. My door is flung open. His fingers curl around my arm once more and I’m pulled roughly out.

I try to remove his hand, it’s impossible as his grip is too strong. He doesn’t seem to care I stumble as he drags me along and in through the door of the clubhouse.

“What the fuck’s gone wrong?” Demon is standing right inside. “Mace called but I couldn’t make any sense of what he was fuckin’ telling me. Why the fuck have the police taken Ink in?” I swear sparks are flashing from his eyes. Then they land on me and flare. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

“She,” Sparky starts in a tone full of disdain bordering on hate, “was delivering fuckin’ drugs to the dealer. She’s obviously deep in this shit. Ink saw, took the bag off her. Cops got him in possession of them.”

What?

Suddenly it all falls into place. “No!” I scream, but my body goes weak as my head spins, it’s only the biker’s tight hold on me that’s holding me up. In my panic and confusion, I hadn’t joined all the dots or realised the implications.Ink arrested for possession of the drugs?The drugs I took there. Ink’s got nothing to do with this. Me, yes, by association with my brother and my desire to save him. But Ink? He’s not to blame at all.

“Fuckin’ yes.” Sparky rounds on me.

Demon pinches the bridge of his nose while looking over his forefinger and thumb to Sparky. “Are you fuckin’ sure?” he asks, in a voice as cold as any I’ve ever heard before.

Sparky has one moment of hesitation. “What was in the bag, Beth?” It’s easy to see he’s praying to some deity that he’s got it wrong.

“Drugs,” I miserably confirm.

The word seems to hang in the air. Then their prez issues an instruction, “Basement. Now.”

Again, Sparky drags me. A door is opened which leads to a set of stairs, then I’m being taken unceremoniously down them.

“Wait, please. I have to make a phone call. Wait, please.” My eyes open in horror as a light is flicked on when we get to the bottom, my gaze immediately landing on a variety of tools laid out on a workbench. “Please, I can explain…” My voice trails off as I wonder what I can say in my defence as the results of the actions I’d taken tonight begin to sink in. Ink, my lover, and one of their brothers has been arrested, and it’s all my fault. It should have been me instead.Surely the cops will let him go?He’s innocent. They must.

Demon kicks out a chair. “Sit her down.”

“No,” I cry out, turning around to face him. “I can explain. I’ve got to go to the police. Ink’s done nothing wrong.”

“No, Ink’s done nothing wrong except it sounds like he’s been stupid. But you fuckin’ have. You are going nowhere until I get answers. Sit. Her. Down,” Demon shouts at Sparky, enraged.

I try to stop them forcing me onto the chair, somehow sensing I’ll not be leaving anytime soon after they get me seated. Again, I try to get loose. Someone comes over to help, and I recognise Mace. Together they manhandle me, keeping just shy of painful as they kick my legs from under me and push me down.

Within seconds, my arms are pulled around the back of the chair and secured. This time, I don’t feel the slightest bit aroused at being tied up. Instead I struggle, protest and kick out.

They overpower me, of course. Sparky takes one leg, Mace the other. Despite having strong leg muscles from all my running, soon my ankles are restrained to the chair. Demon was right. I’m going nowhere.

A thunder of footsteps and Beef appears in the doorway. “What the fuck’s going on, Prez? What’s this about the cops getting Ink?”

“That’s what we’re just about to find out,” Demon calls over his shoulder, then focuses his stare on me. “This bitch got him arrested. She’s about to start fuckin’ talking.”

I’d admired the height of the bikers, I’m revising that opinion as I start to feel small, me with my height advantage taken away sat as I am on the chair, and them towering over me.

It’s human to be scared, but my fear isn’t for me, but for someone else. Two someones in fact. But I’m a bad sister, as there’s one who concerns me most. “Ink?” I cry out. “What’s happening to Ink?”

“Fuck if I know, but whatever it is, it will be something he doesn’t fuckin’ deserve.” Demon couldn’t have said anything I’d agree with more.

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