DARK FALL (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (21 page)

twenty-five.

Erik knew he needed to move fast.
He walked along the wall, Shay at his side. They had their hands on their guns,
ready to make the kill when needed. The crowd erupted every few seconds when
something happened and it took all of Erik
’
s
will to not look to make sure Kaity wasn
’
t
getting hurt.

But there was business to be handled.

Shay bumped into Erik.
“
Right around this corner,
brother.
”

“
I
want this done. Both of them.
”

“
We
’
ll get it. Just play safe.
Smart.
”

They worked through the crowd and
when they turned the corner, Erik spotted the man.
Mr. Arengson.
He
spotted Shay and Erik. The way his eyes went wide indicated that he knew
exactly who they were.

“
Fuck!
”
Shay yelled.

Mr. Arengson turned and started to
run. Shay took off, leaving Erik for a few seconds to look around wondering
where the other man was. When he didn't see him, Erik took off after Shay. He
caught up to him as they cornered Mr. Arengson at the back of the warehouse. It
worked in their favor, because he had moved away from the crowd. Mr. Arengson reached
for his gun and pointed it back. Shay was fast, but Erik was faster. He would
die to get his revenge. Erik jumped and tackled Mr. Arengson. They both hit the
ground with a thud. Erik ended up on top of the man and started to unload on that
way, but Shay grabbed Erik by his leather cut and pulled him off.

“
Christ!
”
Shay yelled.
“
Stick to the plan, brother.
”

Erik stood and looked down at the
bloody man. He put a hand up and then pointed to Shay.

“
We
’
re coming,
”
Mr. Arengson said.
“
You need me. I
’
ll help you. I
’
ll tell you where they all are.
”

“
What
the fuck is
…”

Erik couldn
’
t finish the question before Shay shot Mr. Arengson
between the eyes. His head snapped back and body went limp.

“
What
the fuck Shay! That was mine!
”

“
He
needed to die right now,
”
Shay said.
“
You got your
punches.
”

“
What
was he trying to say?
”

“
Nothing.
We have to move.
”

There was a loud cheer from the
crowd and then Erik heard the whistle of a man and words that made his stomach
sick.

“
This
fight is over!
”

“
Oh
fuck,
”
Erik said.

He started to run and once he heard
that Kaity had won the fight, he smiled and ran faster. All he needed to do was
get her to safety. Erik looked back and saw Shay making the call to Miller so
they could all get the fuck out of the warehouse.

Erik pushed through the crowd and
looked to the floor. There was a woman trying to sit up. She had black hair and
her face was a mess. But there was no sign of Kaity. Erik looked around and for
a split second he thought he saw Kaity
’
s
feet.

Kaity
’
s feet dragging on the floor.

“
No,
”
he whispered.

Erik ran faster, hitting everyone
he could with his shoulders. People yelled, threw things at him, and when Erik
produced his gun, all hell started to break loose. Someone yelled
GUN!
and the crowd started to shift. Erik realized how stupid and dangerous the
situation had become, but he needed to get to Kaity.

Where the fuck was she?

What was happening?

Who had her?

Erik moved through the crowd as
fast as he could and then he tripped over something. He went down. The floor
was unforgiving, but the sight on the ground was even worse.

“
No,
”
Erik said.

Kaity's lifeless body lay on the
ground. Her face was covered in blood. It wasn
’
t
blood from the fight either. Someone had sliced her face open.

Erik crawled to Kaity and looked
around. There was so much movement it was impossible to see anyone. It wasn
’
t until Erik saw Gaige and
Miller dropping to their knees that Erik remembered he had come here with other
people. He just held Kaity, trying to wipe her face of the blood. He touched
her neck and felt a pulse.

“
She
’
s alive,
”
he said to Miller.
“
But
she was attacked.
”

“
By
who?
”
Blaine called out.

“
Motherfucker,
”
Shay said as he caught up.

“
We
killed one,
”
Erik said.
“
Mr. Arengson. He
’
s gone.
”

“
We
have to be gone too,
”
Gaige
said.
“
Hurry.
”

“
What
do I do?
”
Erik asked.

“
Carry
her,
”
Miller said.
“
Go out a side door and we
’
ll get you.
”

“
What
about the motorcycles?
”
Erik asked.

“
Just
fucking move,
”
Miller
bellowed.

Erik scooped Kaity up and ran with
her. The crowd was still moving. People were shouting commands, yelling for
help. The sight of a gun made all these businessmen uneasy.

Once outside, Erik fell to his
knees with Kaity in his arms. He touched her face again, feeling the blood. The
cuts were deep. Could someone die from being cut in the face? Maybe. Maybe not.

He needed to find the other guy. He
did this.

Erik
’
s
mind raced, wondering why the hell Shay killed Mr. Arengson before he finished
saying what he was trying to say.

The thunder of motorcycles echoed
and along with the guys came Strokner
’
s
SUV. The back door opened and Strokner hurried out.

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
he said.

“
Come
on,
”
Gaige said.
“
Put her in the SUV. I
’
ll take you to get your ride and
we have to get to the hospital. Right now.
”

Erik nodded and placed Kaity in the
back of the SUV. The door shut and Strokner jumped in the backseat and screamed
for the driver to move. Erik looked at his bloody hands and started to shake.

This was supposed to be about
revenge, not more blood. Not more pain. Not more
…
war.

“
Come
on,
”
Gaige growled as he
touched Erik
’
s shoulder.

Erik spun, ready to fight.

“
Easy
now, brother,
”
Blaine said.
“
Let
’
s get your woman patched up, okay? She
’
s going to be okay.
”

Erik shook his head.

No.

Nothing was going to be okay.

Erik looked at Shay and Shay turned
his head.

If there was one thing that could
tear a club apart in seconds, it was a secret.

Shay was keeping a fucking
secret.

twenty-six.

Kaity opened her eyes and Erik was next
to her. He leaned forward, his leather cut crunching as he did. The background
noise was filled with beeps of different pieces of medical equipment hooked up
to Kaity. She blinked a few times and reached for Erik. He took her hand and
squeezed it.

“
Am
I dead?
”
she whispered.

“
No,
”
Erik said.
“
We
’
re
all alive.
”

“
What
happened?
”

“
I
was hoping you could tell me.
”

“
How
long has it been?
”

“
Two
days, babe,
”
Erik said.
“
You
’
re okay though. Stitched up. Patched up. None of
the cuts were deep enough to really hurt you. Looked worse than it was.
”

Cuts?

Kaity closed her eyes and it all
rushed back to her. She shuddered and started to panic. She hurried to open her
eyes and looked at Erik.

“
What
is it?
”

“
I
remember,
”
Kaity said.
“
The man with the it, and a few
seconds later there was a gathering in Kaity
’
s
room.

Miller, Gaige, Nate, Landon,
Griffin, Shay, and Jace.

“
Hey,
”
Kaity whispered.

“
Look
at you,
”
Miller said. He
touched Kaity
’
s leg.
“
I
’
m
sorry. This one is on me."

“
No,
”
Erik said.

“
No,
”
Kaity said.
“
I wanted to do it. I wanted to
fight. I really hurt that bitch.
”

Everyone laughed.

The door opened again.
“
Fuck, man, my balls are sore. My
left one is like
…
tender or
something
…”

Kaity didn
’
t need to look to know it was Blaine. He walked to
the side of the bed, one hand down his pants. He smiled and said,
“
Hey, beautiful.
”

“
Blaine,
”
Erik growled.
“
Not with your hand down your
goddamn pants.
”

“
Listen,
”
Miller said,
“
I
’
m
sorry this happened.
”

“
We
all are,
”
Blaine said.
“
That was brutal.
”

“
But
you got what you wanted?
”
Kaity asked.

“
We
did,
”
Gaige said.
“
We got one of them.
”

“
The
other one did this to her,
”
Erik said.
“
He wanted to
scar her.
”

Scar her.

“
Can
I see?
”
Kaity asked.

The crew looked to Erik. He
motioned to the door and they all left. Each one patted the end of Kaity
’
s bed as they left.

Once it was just her and Erik, he
sat back down.
“
I wanted
you to see that the club is behind you, Kaity. We care about you. What you did
means a lot to the club.
”

“
You
trust me?
”
Kaity asked.

Erik swallowed.
“
I trust you, babe. I trust you.
”

“
Then
let me see my face.
”

Erik went into the bathroom and
Kaity heard the sound of something breaking. He walked from the bathroom
carrying the damn mirror. Kaity laughed and Erik smiled. This guy didn
’
t give a shit and it was sexy.
She loved him. She really did love him.

Erik put the bathroom mirror in
front of Kaity. She saw her face and gasped. There were stitches almost
everywhere. Different angles and patterns. Red blotches of cuts and scars. It
was bad. It was really bad.

“
I
’
m sorry this happened,
”
Erik said.

Kaity pushed the mirror away and
looked at Erik.
“
I don
’
t care. We can wear our scars
together.
”

Erik slowly and gently touched
Kaity
’
s face. He nodded.
“
You make me want to stay alive,
babe. For so long I wanted to end it all. But you make me want to keep going. If
I ever have to wake up alone or with some other woman, I
’
d rather be dead. With you, I feel incredible.
”

“
I
love you, Erik,
”
Kaity
said.
“
I want to be here.
Just like this. Well, not in a hospital
…”
Kaity smiled.
“
But with
you. I'll be whatever you want and need.
”

“
Right
now I want you to know something,
”
Erik said.
“
I want you to
know that I love you too.
”

“
Kiss
me.
”

“
Fucking
right,
”
Erik said.

He moved toward Kaity and the taste
of his lips was better than any drug the doctors could hook up to an IV for
Kaity. She put her hand to his face and felt the ridges of his scars. She would
have scars of her own now, because of Erik. Because of the club. But wearing
her scars on the outside for the world to see only meant she was strong enough
to do so.

Strong like Erik.

And strong like Back Down Devil MC.