Master (Chaos Bleeds Book 8) (16 page)

Sleep was the last thing on his mind. There was no way he’d be able to find peace until he’d put Andrew in the ground. Even though he wanted to rush out, and start hunting, their men needed time to regroup, as did he.

Inhaling his wife’s scent, everything within Lash calmed. Even though he didn’t feel sleepy, his eyes started to droop, and everything went dark.

****

Devil made his way into his son’s hospital room. Both Tabitha and Simon were sitting on the same bed, eating, and watching television.

“They’ve been like that all morning,” Lexie said.

He turned to find the woman who had claimed his heart and soul. Wrapping his arm around her, he drew her close. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back last night.”

“I heard what happened with Paris. Is she going to be okay?”

“I guess time will tell with this one. I don’t know.” Devil sank his fingers into her luscious locks and stared into her eyes. “I love you.”

She smiled. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired of all this fighting and shit. It makes a man sick to his stomach.”

She nodded. “I get that. Are you going to go and say hi to Sasha?”

“I heard the little tank can see now.”

“Tank? Devil, I mean it—”

“I’m not being mean. After everything she’s been through, she’s still fighting. She’s like a little tank, don’t you think?”

“There you go saying all nice words, and making me fall for you all over again.”

“That’s me.” He kissed the top of her head. “So, I was thinking after all this shit is over, and the kids are off school, we all go out. Family holiday. Hell, we’ll even take Ripper and Judi, and Paul.”

“A family holiday? Are you sure you can cope with that?”

“It’s not about coping. It’s about needing it. I need this, and I need you.”

She rested her head against his chest.

“Yes, of course yes.”

“It’ll also work for us to have Ripper and Judi. We can dump the kids on them, and I can have my way with you, that doesn’t require a PG-13 rating.”

“Shut up.” Lexie’s gaze gave her away.

She was as hot for him as he was for her.

“You can count on it.”

“Hey, Dad, did you catch the bad guys?” Simon asked.

“Showtime.”

Devil entered the hospital room, and pointed at his son. “Why are you in Tab’s bed?”

“She has bad dreams.”

“Oh, you do know that it stops when you get out of the hospital?” Devil asked.

“You sleep with Mom all the time.”

“That’s because your mom and I are married.”

“Then I’ll marry Tabitha. She’s going to be my girl, anyway. It’ll be cool.”

“Son, you’re not marrying. You’re not even ten.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Lucky for me, it doesn’t have to be fair.” For the first time in his life Devil was thankful for government rules.

“I’m sorry, Devil, the nightmares were bad. I dreamt of bullets and stuff. It was scary.”

Why did Tabitha have to be so sweet? She was Tiny’s daughter, for Christ’s sake. She should be a bitch, a horrible little brat, like Tate. No, Tiny had to have a sweet daughter.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I hope he chased the demons away.”

“He did, and he told Gavin what for as well, which was really funny.”

His son was going to get himself hurt one of these days.

Eva and Tiny came in ten minutes later, carrying a bag full of goodies. Devil watched as they handed Tabitha a bear, and then an action doll to Simon. His son was very sweet.

Kiss-ass.

Devil could see his son as a teenager right now, worming his way into Tiny and Eva’s good graces.

The doctor came into the room, and let them know that tomorrow Simon and Tabitha could be discharged. They were healthy, and providing they rested at home, they were good to leave.

Tiny and Devil followed the doctor out of the room.

“We want them to stay here,” Tiny said.

“I can’t authorize that.”

“You’ve said providing the kids rest. They’re kids, and resting at home isn’t an option,” Devil said.

They were not going to have their kids at home while the threat outside was still apparent, especially ones who needed to rest. Simon and Tabitha were injured, the others were in school, and those who weren’t didn’t have an old injury.

After convincing the doctor, he made sure that Tabitha and Simon could stay in another week.

The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds crew were slowly being discharged. Sally because of her leg, was staying in the hospital, as was Sophia, and Sasha. Murphy, Phoebe, Fighter, Alex, Sunshine, and Mia were being discharged within the next twenty-four hours. The brothers who were injured were staying at The Skulls’ clubhouse. Those that weren’t, were going on a hunting party.

“We’re going to be heading out soon,” Tiny said. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to go and see Pussy and Sasha.”

“Send her my love,” Tiny said.

Lexie waved at him.

Holding his hand up, Devil made his way back toward Sasha’s ward. He left the children’s ward and made his way toward Sasha’s room. Standing at the doorway once again, he looked inside.

Just once he wanted to go an entire year without visiting a fucking hospital. The fact he could go from one end of the hospital to another without checking the signs of where he was going pissed him off.

Sasha looked toward him and frowned. Pussy, following her gaze, stood. “Devil.”

“Sorry I didn’t get the chance to be here earlier. Business to attend to.” Turning his attention to Sasha, he nodded. “Hello, Sasha.”

“Hello, Devil. It’s nice to see you.”

“I bet you wished you held out for me, don’t you?” He held his arms out giving her a little turn. “I’m hot stuff.”

She chuckled. “Nah, I like my man just fine.”

“I’m sorry for what happened.”

“I’m … not. Does that make me weird? I can see, and I’m actually happy about that. It makes me weird, doesn’t it?”

Devil held his thumb and finger together. “A little bit.”

He took a seat in the spare chair on the opposite side of her. “So, every time you hit your head you’re going to suffer like this?”

“You’d think that. I don’t know. The doctor has said I’m a unique case. I’m happy. I won’t be a liability anymore. I hated that for you, for all of you.”

Devil gritted his teeth. Seeing Sasha like this, even with her eyesight, hurt him. He liked the young woman. Hell, she’d made Pussy settle down, and anyone who could do that was a stellar woman in his book. “Sasha, it wasn’t just about the club that I said that. Your … condition, it scared me. If you couldn’t help us, what if we couldn’t help you?” he asked.

“You cared?”

“Of course I cared. You were part of my club the moment Pussy claimed you. You’ve been my concern, for a long time, Sasha.” Tears filled her eyes. Devil leaned forward and took her hand. “I care about everyone in my club. I may not show it. I may be an insufferable ass, who acts like a selfish prick, but I’m not. Every single man, woman, and child in that club belongs to me, and I make sure I protect them. No matter the cost.”

****

Lacey entered the basement of the clubhouse. Ned was visiting Sally, and Lacey was about to head on over there. First, she wanted to see how her man was doing. He tried to hide it, but she knew he got hit hard when they were defeated.

“I thought I’d find you down here,” she said.

Whizz was hard at work typing on three different keyboards. The pictures on the boards were moving faster than she had ever seen.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing. I don’t want us to waste our time with nonsense. We’ve got to find him now while he’s retreating. We can’t let him get strong again. What if he has a stash of cash I don’t know about? What if he’s been storing it in a safety deposit box, or some shit like that?”

Lacey moved up behind him and stroked his neck. She had to touch him. With all the crap going on, it had been a while since they had been close. “You’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself.”

“I’m not. I’m putting the right amount of pressure. Fuck, this man killed Happy, injured our club, and Chaos Bleeds. He also took our daughter’s leg, Lacey. I’m not going to sit back, and watch him get happy. I can’t do it. We’re ending him now.”

“Sally’s going to get better.”

“Every time I look at her, I’m going to see my failing as a father.”

“How?” she asked. “How did you fail?”

“I didn’t hunt hard enough, fast enough.”

“Whizz, you’ve been at this nonstop. The only reason you’ve been able to make a breakthrough is because of Gash. You know who Andrew is. You were chasing a fucking ghost. Do not beat yourself up about this. The whole of the club would tell you exactly the same thing, and you know it.”

Whizz paused, and the basement went silent. Lacey stared at the man who had proven to her that love really could conquer everything. She loved him more than anything in the world. He was her sole reason for surviving. If it wasn’t for Whizz, she wouldn’t be part of The Skulls, nor would she have two wonderful children. They were adopted, but they were there. No one else wanted them, but she and Whizz did. She had a home, a family.

Cupping his face, she forced him to look at her. “You’ve done everything, Whizz. There’s no blame here. Not from you, or anyone else. One man ordered that attack. That’s where the blame lies.”

“She’s so scared,” Whizz said. “She doesn’t want pity from anyone.”

“Sally’s strong. We’ll get through this.”

She rested her head against his.

“Love you, Lacey.”

“Of course you do. I take your code, and actually make sense of you. Who wouldn’t love me?” She tried to make a joke. “When was the last time you slept?”

“I can’t sleep right now. I’m too wired.”

“If you keep on going without any sleep, you’ll make a mistake, Whizz. Don’t make mistakes. Rest.”

“I can’t, right now.”

“You will.” Lacey kissed his lips. “I’m going to the hospital.”

“I might not be here when you get back,” he said.

“I’ll always be here, and you better come back to me.”

“I will.”

****

Death made his way toward the swings where his woman, Brianna, sat. She looked so beautiful, staring up at the sky. When he opened the gate, she turned those pretty eyes toward him.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” he said.

“It’s so peaceful. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago, there were guns going off, and people dying, people hurting.”

He took a seat beside her, reaching out to take her hand. “With all the crazy shit going on, I haven’t come to talk to you, or to see how you were feeling.”

“I don’t know what you mean? We sleep together every night.”

“You were taken by Andrew. You’ve got the brand on your skin, the one that has been covered by ink.”

She averted her gaze, staring at the ground. “There hasn’t been a lot to say.”

“He hurt you. Is this hurting you?” he asked.

Brianna bit her lip. “It’s not hurting me. This is … I think it’s closure. He’s been part of my life for so long, even after Gonzalez, and everything. It’ll be nice to walk down the street, and not wonder if he’s there, watching, and waiting for me. Does that make sense?” she asked.

“Perfect sense.”

She shrugged. “How is Jessica?” Brianna asked. “I’m not the only one he tried to ruin.”

“She belongs to Snake. I’ll talk to him about it soon. I wanted to come and see you. See how you’re handling everything.”

“I’ll be happier when he’s dead and gone. That man has destroyed many women, and I’m tired of him being there in the recess of my mind.”

****

“What are you thinking about?” Snake asked.

Jessica was standing outside of the hospital, staring up at it. Her arm was still in a bandage. She glanced behind her and smiled. “Hey.”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“I caught a ride here. Sorry.”

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Not a lot. I’m just thinking about the unfairness of it all. You know?”

“Andrew?”

“Yeah. The brand, the pain, he’s hurt so many people, and has gotten away with it.”

“Not for much longer.”

“How do we know that?” she asked. “I should be in there helping, and I can’t because of this stupid arm.”

“Jessica, you’re injured.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her temple. “You’ve got to learn to rest.”

“I don’t know how to rest.” She rubbed at her temple, sighing. “I’m not used to being like this.”

Snake held her tightly against him, and she gave herself up to the pleasure of being in his arms. “You’ve been strong a long time. It’s time you let me be the strong one.”