Page 37 of Where Angels Fall

In the high mirrors of the bike, I swear I see Kai’s lips twitch the slightest bit, but it disappears before it even forms. When we skid to a stop at the club, gravel crunching beneath the thick wheels of the bike, my confidence falters.

What if Ash doesn’t want me here right now? What if me rocking up midday on a Saturday when they aren’t partying isn’t what he wants? What if he’s busy doing... gang leader stuff? Oh God, what if he is killing someone?

Kai just stands behind me, patiently waiting for my internal struggle to pass. It’s too late to turn back now. So, dressed to the nines in my heels, my skirt, and my white button up shirt, I stride into the Devil’s den.

Chapter 15

Ash

“Is it really worth killing Zeke and starting a whole goddamn war?” Matt grumbles, running a hand through his greying hair.

“It’s always worth it if it involves spilling Wraith blood,” Leon chimes in with a shit-eating grin on his face. His light brown hair curls down his forehead, making him look even younger than he already is.

My eyes catch on Griff, who is glaring at him like he is a delinquent child, hands fisted on top of the table. Leon winks back at him, not an ounce of fear in his youthful face.

I’m starting to really like the kid.

“Zeke dies,” I confirm, nodding at Kaleb next to me. His twin is out shadowing my pretty angel and will continue to do so until I sort this mess out and can do it myself. “He knows he signed his death warrant when he killed my men on our fucking soil.”

Red flashes in my vision at the reminder, my body tense and coiling, ready for a fight. A heaviness settles in the meeting room at the back of the club, with only my closest men around me. Club meetings involving the entire club get fucking carried away and when we need to be efficient and smart about a decision, I bring in the men I need. Right now, that includes Griff, Leon, Matt, Kaleb, and Thomas.

“Boss,” Thomas’s voice draws my attention. “If we are going to kill the president of another club, we need to be ready for what comes next. Keep an eye on Zeke’s second. Fuck knows he will retaliate.”

Everyone nods, knowing that this will not be as easy as killing one man. It’ll be an all-out battle, one that might last for years. One that might see the deaths of my brothers. But we are already there, anyway.

Options for our plan of action circle in my head as Griff goes on about what he heard at his underground fight last night. Something about a new family pledging into the Wraiths. My mind is spinning, one picture clear as day.

The asshole with a bullet hole in his head.

The door creaks, wood sliding over rusty hinges as it opens hesitantly, and I raise an eyebrow at our intruder. My men know not to come into this room uninvited.

But then I see the blonde locks of an angel. I see the big doe eyes and pink, pouty lips. The fancy clothes and tall heels. She looks around, uncertainty etched into her features before her eyes land on mine. She looks nervous, shifting her weight from side to side and wringing her fingers in front of her.

Kai steps in behind her, his neutral mask offering no explanation of why he has brought her here.

“Angel,” I exhale, conflicted by the relief I feel deep in my chest at seeing her pretty face.

“I, uh... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just barged in here like that,” she stutters, her cheeks growing rosy. “I’ll go.”

She turns to the door, and I leap from my chair, palming the opening door shut with a crack. She turns with a gasp as I cage her body against the door with my arms, the room now dead silent as my men watch us.

I look down at the girl, and there is something different about her. Wind-drenched hair and flushed cheeks. Wild jealousy burns in my veins as I realise, she was on the back of another man’s bike.

Before she had the chance to be on mine.

Kai is my brother, yet the urge to plant my fist into my second’s face fills me to the brim.

My nostrils flare as I take a deep breath, focusing on the fact that he brought her here. To me.

“Did you have a nice ride?” I ask through my clenched jaw.

Still trapped against the door, she blinks up at me, and then I notice it. Her red, glassy eyes, mascara marks down her cheeks. I lift my thumb to wipe the smudged makeup off her perfect face, and her eyes flutter shut at the touch.

I love the way she reacts when I touch her. Like a touch-starved pet, craving her owner’s touch. She doesn’t flinch or back away the way she should. It makes me feel like less of the monster that I know I am.

“What happened, Angel?” I rasp, the beast in my chest battering my bones, begging to be released.

If someone, anyone, touched what is mine; they will die, wars be damned.