Demons (Death by Reaper MC, #3)

by Esther E. Schmidt

  “I won’t make a mistake like that ever again,” he vows.

  “Good,” I snap, but lean in to whisper, “But I’m still waiting for you to ask for my forgiveness.”

  His jaw ticks. “I haven’t forgotten the no sex threat either.”

  “Good.” I pat his chest. “Look at us getting along after failing. Now...you better speed up with doing something you never do because I’ve heard makeup sex is awesome.”

  Oops. I think I just brought poking the bear to a whole new level. Well, we both screwed up and we both didn’t anticipate the whole Hutton, Vapula thing. But it doesn’t mean I have to let it slide and I do hope he sticks to his vow to not make the same mistake again. But I’m also not an idiot and need to give in to my own needs.

  This is why I drag him down while simultaneously standing on my tip toes to smash our lips together. No reason at all to torture myself with the whole dying and being reborn still fresh in my mind. I’m allowed to get a taste of the good stuff, right? He’s mine and if there’s anything worth fighting for, it’s the whole ‘one of a kind, love of your life, grab hold before you die’ thing.

  So, I’m grabbing hold. Of his cut while kissing him as if we’re alone in a room, not in the middle of the main room of the clubhouse surrounded by...shit. I drag my lips away from his, our breathing choppy.

  “Remember,” I pant.

  “Ask for your forgiveness, you bet your ass I will the second we’re alone,” Vike growls.

  “Good. But first we need to handle some business,” I state and let my gaze roam through the room a third and final time to make sure everyone in here is on our team.

  Chapter Eleven

  ***Vike***

  I refuse to let her out of my sight but even now I need to hold her close. She kissed me. I thought I’d lost her forever and when she appeared out of a sea of flames I was thankful to have her with me again. But then she was mad as hell—she had every damn right to be angry with me—and again I feared she would slip through my fingers a whole different way.

  I link our fingers together to keep her right next to me; where she belongs. When she gives my hand a gentle squeeze it’s as if she squeezes my heart along with it. I have to clear my throat to remove the lump forming from all the pent-up emotions.

  “Listen up, and be sure to keep your ears open,” I bellow, drawing all eyes on me. “My Old Lady managed to point out all the rats who were working with Vapula through the help of her magic. They were all holed up in the kitchen. That also explains the bloodbath in there because I can now say there are no more rats in this clubhouse.”

  Hollers ring out but I can also see the guys glancing around to see who the rats were. I make sure to bellow every damn name of the eight bikers who didn’t have any loyalty. And then all that’s left is to let them know one final detail.

  “All this time we weren’t aware Vapula was living among us.” I take a deep breath and I can hear it my damn self because the whole room falls silent as I continue. “Hutton. Turns out that fucker was Vapula himself. Now, I don’t know if he shapeshifted or if he took over Hutton’s life or has been Hutton all along but it is what it is. He cursed Tria and I had to make a decision to either go after him or try to save Tria. It wasn’t a choice since her life is as my own and I know damn well vengeance is not only mine but it belongs to all of us, am I right?”

  The sounds of agreement are loud and yet it’s the soft brush of Tria’s thumb over my hand that speaks volumes to me. When things quiet down, I hear a question that needs to be answered and yet I have no clue if there even is an answer.

  “Vike, if I may?” Nixie waves her hand. She’s standing next to her mate, a Vampire named Caius.

  There’s some hesitation as my brain stumbles over the fact not to handle everything myself. Yet I’ve seen Nixie take action when Tria was hurt and this makes me aware yet again that I have to open myself up to accept help from others. I give her a tight nod. The smile she gives me makes the corner of my mouth twitch. The little witch wasn’t expecting me to take her up on her offer to help.

  “To answer your question...the one who asked if Vapula could shapeshift into any of you...he might. But it’s easy to prevent if for instance I would cast a spell and dip a needle into a potion and make sure to pierce your skin. Then you’d be protected from being possessed and no shapeshifter or anyone could duplicate you. It’s easy enough to do and could rule out Vapula from doing it again to hide in plain sight.” Nixie wrings her hands together and her eyes go from left to right while she bites her lip.

  She’s nervous about the reaction of what she just suggested, but to me? “It sounds like a barrier we need to put in place. I’m all for it; bark out your votes, guys.”

  Again, the room is filled with bellows and a feeling of comfort settles inside me. For the first time I’m able to glance around this room and know for certain everyone in here has the same goal as me.

  I even dare to say they all have my back, though it’s a little hard to believe when my gaze connects with the Hellhound Alastair. One who didn’t have my back when shit happened with my brother. Yet he stands here now, backing up his wife’s sister—and everyone connected to her—while he’s going against a clear statement of The Orderly, that still stands since the day my brother was cursed.

  Insane because in the end all of us fight for humanity. Vapula needs to be wiped off the earth. As shown again today, Vapula’s a threat to all of us and he doesn’t even care to use any means necessary. Hell, the fucker willingly let the guys die in the kitchen who supported him. He didn’t help, he doesn’t care about anything other than himself and the need for absolute power and he’s slowly biding his time to get it.

  He gave my Old Lady the first part of the curse the first chance he had. The mere thought raises fury to run hot through my veins. It makes me think for a moment why he has his focus set on me; cursing my brother and my Old Lady. A power surge? Envy? Boredom or apocalypse ambitions just for the hell of it? Even a hint of any of these motives isn’t necessary in this situation; he just needs to die, plain and simple.

  “It’s settled. And Nixie here is a witch who can also summon a Demon flawlessly. She did so a few times with me and she says she can do it with Vapula. So, brace and prepare because when I’ve talked things through with the Prez of the Hellhounds, and the Prez of the Vampire Charter, I’ll debrief all of you. All of us are at risk and want our own piece of this fucker and we’re going to end him today.”

  This time the roar going through the clubhouse is enticingly rewarding. But to feel Tria lean against me—supporting me after my screw up—is what touches my heart the most.

  Nixie busies herself with everything she needs to do to get things set. I haven’t got the faintest idea what she’s doing but I’ve seen her work a few times now since I’ve run into her and as I said, she’s summoned me against my will more than once and I’m an upper level Demon, my kind is hard to summon. Hence the reason I know she might be tiny as shit but she’s a powerful witch.

  Tess and Eliana are helping Nixie while Dio is with Gunnar talking to everyone who has questions they want answered. The killing of eight members of this MC is not something some people will accept without getting to know some of the finer details. And that’s what Gunnar and Dio are giving them. We don’t need any damn secrets between any of us. There’s only truth and reason and that’s what they get; clarity.

  Jagger strolls up and leans against the wall. “Nice talk you gave your guys,” he compliments, and I’m sure he’s giving small talk a shot the way Tess keeps throwing looks at us between helping out Nixie.

  “Your Old Lady made you play nice?” I chuckle while Tria smacks my chest and glares at me.

  “Yeah.” Jagger fake pouts and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “They can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

  Tria growls low in her throat and I seriously need to keep my laughter at bay. “Tria, can you check if Nixie needs another hand? Clearly your sister wants me and
Jagger to have some man to man talk.”

  Tria narrows her eyes. “In other words; scram, we need to gossip and complain about our women.”

  “Now, now. I would never say those words,” I scold and lean in to whisper into her ear. “And didn’t you want me to reach out? This is me reaching out, sweetness.”

  Her eyes soften and even if this is a tiny as fuck gesture of me offering to make small talk with Jagger, Tria takes it for what it is; me taking the necessary step toward opening up and leaving the grudge I have behind me.

  “I have my eye on you. The both of you,” she warns, and waves her finger in front of the both of us before she stalks over to where Nixie, Tess, and Eliana are working on a way to protect us from Vapula taking over our identities.

  “Did you get a boost from your bond?” Jagger asks as if we’re chit-chatting but in fact this is like dropping a grenade.

  I drag my eyes away from Tria to look him in the eye. “What boost? Other than setting a bond in place that strengthens the both of us? And since she’s Fae I can tap into her power so we can channel and power up?”

  “Yes. Both me and Alastair have experienced perks so to say from mating with our women. Seeing they’re a combination of strong Paranormals it has an after effect. Take me for instance, adding Angel like wings instead of the bat wings I used to have. My strength is enhanced too. Alastair grew an extra head on his tail and also the added strength. See? Perks.” Jagger grins.

  I let it slide through my mind. “I don’t know. I fought the guys in my kitchen but now that I think about it, I didn’t need to shift. Then with Vapula...Tria...I didn’t go after him. My first priority was my Old Lady.”

  “As it should be,” Jagger agrees. “I’m just sayin’, dude. You have a little something up your sleeve you don’t even know about and Vapula won’t even expect.”

  I nod at his words while thinking it over. “So, you have the wings from your woman’s Angel side, Alastair’s got the extra head of the Guardian side?”

  “Correct.” He shoots me a wolfish grin. “I’m guessing the strongest or most dominant part gets transferred. In your case it might be Guardian too or Fae since I heard her Phoenix part was the dormant one, but thank fuck it was enough to bring her back.”

  “Yeah.” I swallow at the dryness in my throat. “I don’t want to know what would have happened if it wasn’t.”

  “We’re going to make sure he’ll never get another shot to get close to either one of us again,” Jagger vows and the venom in his voice soothes me.

  It makes me aware of the fact he’s not only here facing Vapula along with us as a favor for his wife, but it’s a legit threat and a main focus for all of us.

  “I’m coming to understand and accept the help offered.” I sigh, and run my fingers through my hair.

  “Good, ‘cause we could seriously need the company when the women plan another girls’ night out.” Another wolfish grin makes me laugh out loud.

  “I get the feeling you guys let those girls lead too damn much,” I mutter.

  His eyes narrow. “How many days have you been together? And I’m not talking about the weeks you kept her locked away. I’m talking about the time since you’ve been inside her.”

  “Fuck,” I groan. “I bet it’s the power boost backfiring. You know, win some lose some? In this case our balls since they take over.”

  Now it’s Jagger’s turn to laugh. The corner of my mouth twitches and a thought comes to mind; it’s not too bad having these guys around.

  Tria’s hips sway when she strolls toward me. “Nixie is ready. Did you want to go first?”

  “I have to go first.” I cup her face. “It shows trust and as their leader I have to.”

  “Then I’ll go second,” she says with a glint in her eyes.

  And with what Jagger and I just discussed, the women having our balls? We might think that way, but I’ve come to know all these women have balls of steel of their own and no need to grab hold of ours. Well, not as long as their mouth is coming along to play too.

  I lean forward and nip her bottom lip before I say, “Appreciate it.” She presses her tits against me and the craving ignites to take her right here. I groan and let my lips trail a path to her ear. “I’m about to ask for your forgiveness this very second so I can bury my cock inside your hot pussy the next.”

  She gasps and takes a step back, eyes narrowing down on me and it makes me fucking smirk. Fuck, she’s gorgeous.

  “Now is not the time,” she snaps, but I can see her pressing her thighs together to relieve the ache I’ve lit between her legs. “Get your ass over there so the rest can follow your example.” She spins around and scurries back to Nixie.

  “What’d I tell you?” Jagger chuckles. “Balls awayyyyyy,” he echos out the last word and shakes his head as he walks over to his woman to wrap his arms around her from behind while nuzzling his head against the skin of her neck.

  Yeah, the fucker is as sorry about this little fact as I am; we’re both reveling in it.

  Chapter Twelve

  ***Tria***

  How am I able to focus when he keeps yanking on every single string of emotion inside me? Ugh. Maybe I should drag him into a tiny closet and get our rocks off so we’d be able to focus on the task at hand; killing Vapula. Shit. As if it’s as easy as ripping off the head of a rag doll.

  To be honest? There’s a spark of fear burning in my gut. Maybe it’s because the last time I faced him I died. Heck yeah I’m immortal and when my body is too severely damaged I seem to be able to regenerate, but I’ve got a tiny part of my DNA to thank for it. What if I used it all up? See? That fucker planted a seed of fear and I’m starting to water it and let it grow.

  Dammit. I hate that the fucker has such an impact. It’s the same with Vike, only with him it wasn’t fear. It was the disappointment of no one being there to have his back. The disloyalty and facing things alone. Though the way he turned around—even if it’s still fresh and standing in kid’s shoes—he’s doing it and this gives me strength.

  “Ouch,” I murmur and rip my finger away from Nixie’s grip.

  She casted a spell upon a needle before dipping it into a potion and stabbing me with it. She’s got a whole bunch of needles she’s prepared for each one in here. At least we have the solid promise Vapula can’t creep up on us anymore by possessing or shapeshifting.

  It now explains so much why Vike was never able to get near him since he’s been in on every move he made, disguised as a biker in his midst. Think about what it does to a President when he’s had so many rats and his enemy living with him all these years. Yet when I glance over at Vike as he meets my eyes? The casual wink he shoots me? It’s quite the turnaround with everything that happened since Vapula cursed me.

  Nixie also asked me if she could have some of my blood and asked for Gunnar’s too. She had this idea about including a twist of both of us since we successfully beat the curse. Though I told her my blood would be useless since I died and regenerated, but she wanted to include it anyway to see if she could slow down the curse if Vapula cast one on everyone here. I guess we’ll see how that works out, but it’s definitely worth trying.

  Vike takes my hand and guides me to a quiet place in the room. Though it’s insanely crowded in here, no one seems to pay us any attention since they have their focus on getting everyone the protection from Nixie’s magic.

  “Full house,” Vike mutters.

  “Yes, it is.” I can’t help but smile and tease the man. “Actually, you are aware my family is even bigger than this, right?”

  Shit. It was meant as a tease, a slip of the tongue, but instead my chest tightens with sadness. I have another half-sister but no one has any information about her or where she could be. The only thing we do know is the fact she’s part Dragon.

  Vike pulls me close and kisses the top of my head and murmurs, “I don’t care if you have a hundred other sisters. From now on your family is always welcome. What’s yours is mine, what’s min
e is yours, the whole sharing thing is in full function. But if it gets any bigger we might need to build another clubhouse to have more fucking space.”

  “Do you have any connections with Dragons?” I ask, suddenly realizing he doesn’t know anything about my half-sister and might be able to help.

  The corner of his mouth twitches. “One simply doesn’t have a connection with Dragons. You’re my Old Lady, didn’t I just mention the whole sharing thing? What’s this about?”

  There’s hope blooming in my chest. “I need for you to reach out and ask if they know where my half-sister is.”

  “Fuck,” Vike growls. “There isn’t a chance you’ll let go of this by any chance? You can’t just reach out. Dragons are...well, Dragons.”

  “Well, duh,” I sigh. “Come on, this is the first time I have any hope of finding her.”

  “What’s up? Why are the two of you all cuddled and hiding in a corner?” Dio says, her voice way too cheerful if you ask me.

  I spin around and throw my thumb over my shoulder. “He...we...I asked if they have connections with Dragons.”

  Dio’s eyes go wide while Gunnar, who’s standing behind her, doesn’t look impressed by this fact. In fact, he looks angry and is glancing over me to lock eyes with his brother.

  “What’s going on?” I question, sensing there’s something they’re not telling us.

  “One doesn’t have connections with Dragons, Tria. You either work for them or owe them. You don’t have tea and a nice chat, you have orders or you stop breathing,” Gunnar easily supplies.

  I swallow hard and a thought hits me and slides over my lips. “But how come our father managed to knock one up?”

  Gunnar’s eyes widen. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding.”

  “She’s not, we have a half-sister who is part Dragon,” Dio says and adds, “We found out our father used a witch, Nixie’s mother, to create hex bags to ensure pregnancy. Maybe he captured a Dragon?”