THE DEVIL’S BRIDE

by April Lust

  Fiona sighed, defeated. She eyed the imposing man, and a chill ran down her body. His long, lean form seemed to take up far more room than was physically possibly. He was discussing something intensely with the people around him; Fiona couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Suddenly she realized Melanie had been talking to her this whole time.

  “What?” she said.

  Melanie stopped and stared at Fiona. “Seriously? Fiona, you have got to pull it together here! We need to figure out how you’re going to approach this guy.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Fiona said, still staring.

  “What? Why not?” Melanie asked, surprised.

  “Because he’s coming over here right now.”

  ***

  After spending five years in prison, Ace had becoming incredibly in tune with his gut, and his gut was telling him he was being watched.

  It had taken all of four seconds for the gang meeting to derail, when Ace felt someone staring at him. He looked up slowly, not wanting to give himself away, and immediately locked eyes with a tan, curvy woman with curly brown hair and quite possibly the thickest ass he had ever seen.

  She watched him like one watched a shark: carefully, with a barely-controlled fear. Ace dimly heard Katie talking to him, but he didn’t care. Whoever this woman and the friend she had with her were, it was painfully obvious they didn’t belong here. Even stranger, it was clear they didn’t want to be here.

  He stood up, the wooden legs of the chair scraping loudly against the floor.

  “What…where are you going?” Katie asked as Ace simply got up and walked away from the meeting. “Hello?” she cried after him, but he ignored her.

  Fiona had the strong feeling of being stalked—no, worse, of being caught. Ace’s dark green eyes pinned her to the wall like a butterfly on display. She watched, terrified, as he pushed his chair back to stand, and began to walk towards her.

  “Oh shit,” Melanie muttered. There was still time for them to turn around and run away. She slowly reached forward to grab Fiona’s elbow and pull her back, to tell her they would find another way to help her brother, but she only touched thin air.

  Fiona had stepped forward to meet Ace, her head held high.

  Melanie quickly moved to stand next to her. “What are you doing?” she hissed to her friend.

  “I have to try this! I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t,” Fiona whispered back.

  They hastily stopped talking; Ace had come close enough to hear them, even over the din of the bar. “Ladies,” he said, approaching them. “Might I ask what you’re doing here?”

  Fiona was five feet five, wearing four-inch heels, and yet she still barely came to his chin. “We’re with The Night Hunters from northern Chicago,” she said.

  Melanie was surprised at how confident Fiona sounded, but she carefully kept her face blank.

  Ace smiled patronizingly. “That’s nice, but it doesn’t explain what you’re doing here, and looking for me, no less.” He turned to nod to the blonde woman behind the bar, who had been blatantly watching their interaction.

  Fiona looked around. She saw a lot of faces staring back at her, faces that quickly resumed drinking or talking when she looked at them. Maybe Melanie was right, she thought, panic once again rising in her chest, maybe we should bail.

  “We need to talk to you about Alexei,” Melanie blurted out.

  There goes that chance, Fiona sensed, judging by Ace’s face. He looked like he had just bit into a lemon. He wasn’t going to let them go anywhere anytime soon.

  An incredibly attractive, olive-skinned woman came up to stand behind Ace. “What do they want?” she asked, nodding towards Fiona and Melanie.

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he replied slowly, not taking his eyes off of Fiona.

  Katie followed Ace’s gaze, her face hardening when she noticed where his focus was. “Bring ’em over to the table and we’ll get it out of ’em soon enough,” she said shortly, abruptly turning and striding away.

  Ace continued to stare at Fiona, who was becoming extremely uncomfortable with each passing second. “Well,” he said after a long moment, “you heard her.” Ace stepped to the side, gesturing for the two women to follow Katie.

  Fiona turned to Melanie and gave her a look that was unreadable to Ace—a fact that strongly piqued his interest.

  Ace trailed behind the ladies, musing to himself. It was interesting enough that these two had come in to talk about Alexei of all things, but they had an air about them that Ace couldn’t figure out. The shorter one with the great ass, which he was able to openly appreciate as he walked behind her, looked like a biker babe, but her eyes…there was something about them he couldn’t place.

  Ace was pulled out of his reverie as they approached the table.

  “Who are they?” Smalls asked, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

  “That is an excellent question,” Ace said, sitting down and turning to look at the two strangers expectantly.

  Fiona looked around the group and cleared her throat carefully. She had practiced what she was going to say here, repeating it to herself a hundred times over.

  “My name is Fiona, and this is Melanie.” They had decided to go with their real names; their story was already thin enough without adding the difficulty of remembering what they were called. “We’re members of The Night Hunters from up north. Our men dropped us off here to talk to the leader of The Hell Brothers about a serious matter that affects us all.”

  “I’m sure whatever you señoritas need help with, The Hell Brothers can handle it, no problemo,” Diego said, grinning wickedly at Melanie, who suppressed a terrified whimper.

  “They’re here about Alexei,” Katie said loudly, staring hard at Fiona, her hazel eyes boring into Fiona’s blue ones.

  “What do you two want to do with him?” Smalls asked the girls worriedly.

  “They want our help getting rid of him,” Riley correctly guessed, finally speaking up. His deep voice reverberated across the table as he addressed Fiona and Melanie. “Don’t you?”

  Fiona tore her eyes from Katie to look at the rest of the group. “Alexei has been slowly picking away at everyone’s territory. His reach is far, and strong. The Night Hunters know the only gang left strong enough to take him out is The Hell Brothers.”

  “You’re not wrong!” Diego cried, whooping loudly.

  “Diego,” Ace snapped, “shut up.” Diego glared at his leader, sipping his beer sullenly, but Ace ignored him. Instead, he carefully scrutinized Fiona, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Katie. “I’ve never heard of The Night Hunters before. Who did you say sent you?” he asked curiously.

  “Stake is the highest ranking member we have left. He’s the one who brought us to come find you,” Melanie said casually, though she had rehearsed this line several times.

  “Why didn’t Stake come in and speak to me himself?”

  “It’s not safe for our men to hang around so close to Alexei’s territory, so Stake and another member dropped us off here,” Fiona answered.

  “Are you his ol’ lady?” Ace asked her, surprising himself. He didn’t know why he said that. He tried to ignore the fact that his gang was watching him very acutely, especially Katie, and look as though the question was important.

  Fiona’s heart froze mid-beat. This was off-script; she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to wait too long to answer—that would be suspicious—so she blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Yes, I’m Stake’s old lady.”

  Melanie shifted next to her. She thought they should be keeping things simple, not adding details. On the other hand, perhaps if Fiona pretended to be the leader’s girlfriend, it would offer them extra protection.

  Ace couldn’t figure out why it was odd Fiona had claimed to be Stake’s property, but something about the entire situation was bugging him. He sat back in his chair, once again ignoring the rest of the gang’s stare. He was trying to focus and
work whatever was bothering him to the front of his mind.

  “Interestingly enough, we were just discussing Alexei ourselves,” Riley said, standing to offer one of the women his chair. Diego immediately jumped up to also offer his. Fiona and Melanie sat, much to Katie’s displeasure.

  “They don’t need to know that, Riley,” Katie said, glaring at him. She looked to Ace for help and got nothing.

  “They are right,” Riley pushed. “Alexei is a problem to us all. Weren’t you just saying that exact thing a few minutes ago, Katie?” he calmly reminded her.

  “That doesn’t mean we start spilling our guts to strangers about The Hell Brothers’ issues! Ace!” she cried, pulling him away just as the answer was on the tip of his tongue. “Some back-up here?”

  He bit his lip in anger—he almost had it! “Everyone knows Alexei is a problem, Katie,” he said impatiently. “It’s not a secret people are looking for a way to push him out. Even Alexei knows it.”

  “So you have a plan?” Fiona asked, hope beginning to fill her chest. “You’re going after him? When?” she demanded.

  Ace sighed tiredly and turned back to Fiona, and was instantly struck by her clear blue eyes. They had innocence in them—it was what he had felt earlier when he first saw her. It had been a long time since he had felt innocence, so long, in fact, he hadn’t even recognized it when it walked right in front of him with its tight leather vest that threatened to burst open any second.

  He realized uncomfortably that he was starting to get hard. He quickly picked up his beer and took a long sip to give himself a few seconds to collect himself. As a man who had done his share of sexual activity, her innocence was arousing, but something still bothered him.

  “We don’t, and…we’re not,” he said finally.

  Katie’s body went rigid with anger. Ace ignored her. He knew she was furious with him for revealing more information about The Hell Brothers business, but he also knew she respected the chain of command far too much to say anything. Until later, anyway.

  “What?” Fiona said in shock. She knew it might be difficult to convince Ace to go after Alexei in the next couple of days, but she had at least expected him to have a plan. Niko made Ace sound incredibly competent, but apparently he had overestimated him. Her shoulders drooped.

  “I’m sorry,” Ace began. “I understand all too well the difficulties The Night Hunters are going through, but The Hell Brothers can’t get involved. We don’t have any kind of a plan, and I’m not willing to risk my neck over it,” he finished with a shrug. “You’re welcome to stay and have a drink on our tab while you wait for Stake to come get you.”

  Fiona just wanted to leave, but Melanie quickly butted in to accept his offer, ordering another Hawg Ear. Figuring she might end up dead in a few days, Fiona ordered one, as well, slamming the remainder of the one in front of her.

  Ace eyed her. She was obviously upset, and he genuinely felt bad. He knew what it was like to worry about your people.

  “Maybe you should talk to Blake, the owner,” he said to her quietly, nodding towards the bar where Blake was now replacing an empty keg. “If anyone knows anything, it’s Blake.” Ace looked fondly at the frizzy, blonde-haired woman he’d come to consider a surrogate mother.

  Fiona glanced up and took another sip of her drink. “When he comes back, I will.” She gave Ace a small smile. “Thanks.”

  Ace tipped his glass to her and drank deep, frowning. Something was bothering him again—what was it, dammit! Wait a second…Him? Realization slammed into him like a brick, and he choked on his beer, spraying it everywhere. Everyone scooted back quickly to avoid getting misted.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, Ace!” Katie cried out, disgusted. “Drink much?”

  “Sorry!” he gasped. “Sorry…wrong tube.”

  Fiona looked at Ace concernedly. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Ace took an enormous breath in, and let it out slowly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.”

  Everyone settled back into their chairs and resumed their conversations. Fiona saw Diego was delighting Melanie with an endless stream of compliments, and Katie was arguing with Smalls over riding tactics.

  “You know, I, uh, just remembered Blake is probably in back doing inventory,” Ace said, leaning in close to Fiona. “If you want, I can bring you back there to talk to him.”

  “Really?” Fiona exclaimed, her eyes brightening. “That would be great! Let me just get Melanie,” she said, turning to grab her friend.

  Ace reached out to stop her hand. “It’s a really small back office, and Blake doesn’t like lots of new people in his space. It would be better if it were just you. You are the leader’s ol’ lady…right?” he asked slyly.

  “Right,” Fiona said confidently.

  “Then you’ll do just fine.” Ace grinned widely at her.

  Fiona didn’t know what to do. She felt uneasy about going anywhere without Melanie, but she had already come this far, and there was no turning back now. “Let’s go,” she said firmly, standing up and following Ace.

  They wound through scattered pool tables towards the back of the bar where a small door stood marked Office. Ace held the door open for Fiona, and she hesitantly entered. Fiona saw several rickety shelves filled with dusty liquor bottles and a rusty desk, but no Blake.

  She whirled around to see Ace closing the door behind him. Fiona rushed at him, hoping to catch him off balance, but he caught her easily and grabbed her arms to keep her from hitting him.

  “What are you doing?” Fiona panicked. “I’ll scream!” she threatened.

  Ace snorted. “Go ahead. No one is going to hear you over the noise out there,” he said, letting go of her.

  Fiona stepped as far away as possible from him, rubbing her wrists where he’d grabbed her. She opened her mouth to scream, watching him to see if he was going to try and stop her. But Ace did nothing except sit on the desk and look at her. Fiona closed her mouth slowly, confused.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he told her simply.

  Fiona thought her wrists might beg to differ. “Then why are you keeping me in here?” she demanded to know.

  “Why are you lying to me?” Ace countered. “I know you’re not from The Night Hunters, if there is such a gang in northern Chicago.”

  Fiona opened her mouth heatedly, then faltered. She didn’t know what to say. She was clearly busted. “How did you know?” she blurted out.

  “There were a lot of clues: the leader didn’t come himself and no property patches, though you claimed to be the leader’s ol’ lady. The giveaway was when you called Blake a guy, though. Blake’s a girl.” Ace laughed. “You bought your drinks from her.”

  Fiona moaned. They had been so stupid. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked, suddenly terrified.

  “What?” Ace said, shocked. “No! I already told you I wasn’t going to hurt you. Though it is an exceedingly bad idea to come into a biker bar and pretend to be bikers just to get your rocks off. Someone else might not be so lenient with you. Surely you girls can find safer ways to have fun.”

  Fiona stared at him in total disbelief. “You think I did this for fun?”

  “Well, now I don’t,” Ace muttered self-consciously. “So if not for kicks, then what?” he asked her. “Why did you come here asking about Alexei of all things?” His face hardened suddenly. “Are you with Alexei?” he asked dangerously.

  “No!” Fiona cried. “The opposite. Melanie and I, we really did come for your help with Alexei. Well, mostly me,” she admitted. “Melanie came for moral support.”

  Ace relaxed a little, but he was still confused. “What could a girl like you have done to cross paths with a man like Alexei? Who are you?”

  “My name really is Fiona,” she said desperately, “Fiona Brown. And you’re right. Normally, I would never be in a situation like this. My little brother, Niko, got tangled with up with Alexei, and now that man is hunting him down as we speak. I just…” Fiona trailed off halfheartedly. “Niko said
you were the only one around who would be able to give us a chance against Alexei. I know it was dangerous and stupid, but I had to try. I never would’ve been able to forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

  She seemed to be speaking to herself more than him, Ace noticed curiously, trying to convince herself this hadn’t been a complete waste of time. He also noticed, now that they were in better light, Fiona had several cuts and bruises. Her left eye looked puffy, like she had used make-up to cover a shiner.

  “Please,” she begged him, her blue eyes bright with tears. “Please help us. Alexei’s going to kill my brother, and he’s all I have.”

  Ace walked over to the door and put a hand on the knob. “I’m really sorry about your brother, but there’s nothing I can do.” He opened the door and took a step out.