Page 71 of Christmas with Four Tattoo Artists

James, on the other hand, was more direct, no-nonsense. I watched as he made his way toward the room where we believed Julia was being held. A solitary guard, larger and more formidable than the others, stood there.

James halted for a split second, assessing the situation, then lunged forward, producing a small taser from his jacket. The guard barely had time to register the threat before James jabbed it into his side. The man's limbs locked, and he toppled, his massive frame creating a substantial thud.

I tightened my grip on the rifle, my attention shifting from one man to the next, ensuring that no Devil would blindside them. Every passing second, the risk grew, but I had to trust that the guys had it under control on the ground.

A noise drew my attention to the left, and I zoomed in on a lurking figure with a radio. A potential informant. I had no choice. Taking a slow, controlled breath, I aimed and squeezed the trigger. The radio jumped from his hand as the shot hit, and James was near enough to finish the job with a quick and silent chokehold.

Above all, I remained hyper-aware of that particular room's window, ready to unleash hell should anyone inside decide to harm Julia. The tension was overbearing, every nerve in my body on high alert, knowing that we were racing against time. Knowing that any slip, any minor oversight, could cost Julia her life.

Then I spotted something.

Through the crosshairs of my scope, I could see Klaus bursting out of the room, his hand gripping a gun, its cold metal gleaming against the faint light. The intensity of the moment tightened my grip on the rifle, my finger on the trigger. Every second counted. A tinge of relief washed over me, Klaus’s presence all but confirming the room where Julia was being held.

“Just had eyes on Klaus!” I snarled. “Room two-forty!”

Then, the door burst open to an adjacent room, and Adele staggered out, her expression a mix of fear and confusion. It would have been satisfying to see her disheveled state under any other circumstance, but the raw urgency of the situation left no room for such feelings. All the same, she was no danger. I took the crosshairs off her and back onto the door.

Suddenly, the night erupted with the guttural roar of motorcycles, their headlamps slashing through the dim surroundings, illuminating a sea of Crimson Devils jackets. A chilling realization took hold. This wasn’t just a few bikers; this was a full-blown cavalry charge. The Devils had come in force.

"Guys," I hissed into the earpiece, "We've got a serious problem. The Devils are rolling in, and they're rolling in deep."

A brief pause followed, then Kai's voice, strained and urgent, crackled in my ear, "Can you give a count?"

I quickly scanned the area, trying to determine their numbers. "Too many. At least two dozen, maybe more."

James cut in, his voice filled with tension. "We can't handle those numbers, not without backup."

Finn responded, sounding grim. "Then we make our move fast, grab Julia, and get the fuck out."

I shifted my focus back to Klaus inside the room. The weight of my responsibility pressed down hard. My position gave me a clear shot. It was a temptation, but it was also a risk. If I took the shot and missed, or if Klaus didn’t go down immediately, Julia would be in direct line of fire.

But the thought of that bastard threatening her, along with everything else he had done, made my blood boil.

"Keep me updated," I told the guys, my voice steel-edged. "I’ve got eyes on Klaus. If he so much as flinches in Julia's direction, I'm taking the shot."

The commotion below grew louder as more Devils dismounted and began to spread out. I could feel the weight of our dire situation, the odds heavily stacked against us.

One thing was clear, I wasn't going to let anything happen to Julia, or to any of my friends. This was our family, and the Crimson Devils were about to find out just how far we were willing to go to protect our own.

Chapter 33

James

The weight of the silencer at the tip of my tranquilizer pistol steadied my nerves. Creeping up on another pair of unsuspecting Devils, I made quick work of both, dropping them in swift succession with a dart each to the neck. As I pulled back into the shadows, the faint reflection from Andrew's scope on the rooftop caught my eye. I felt an instant wash of calm, knowing he had our backs from the high ground. He was our guardian angel, watching, waiting.

But that calm was short-lived. The unmistakable roar of engines grew louder, more intense, with each passing second. A quick scan of the area confirmed my worst fears. More Devils, too many to count, were storming the motel grounds. With the sheer number of them, I could only guess there had to be a stash house or base nearby.

Taking cover behind a rusty, old van, I barely managed to dodge a flurry of bullets aimed my way. The sound of gunshots rang in the night, deafening and chaotic. A bullet grazed my shoulder, the pain sharp and immediate, but I shook it off, trying to remain focused on the next step.

Nearby, I caught sight of Finn and Kai, pressed up against the wall of the motel, guns at the ready. I darted through the maze of cars and bikes, finally reaching them, our backs pressed together as we faced the onslaught of the Devils.

"We're crazy outnumbered," Kai shouted over the noise, sweat and dirt marking his face.

Finn was already thinking three steps ahead. "We need to regroup and get to Julia somehow. All this noise might make them cocky. And they’ve got numbers, but no coordination. They'll make a mistake."

I nodded. "Andrew's got our backs from above. We need to distract them, get them into the open."

I reached around my back, touching the handle of the Glock 17, my service pistol, that I’d brought with me. The plan was to make things non-lethal, but it gave me some comfort knowing I had the option.

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