Page 1 of Ace's Ascension

Prologue

Madeline LeRoux

My bones hurt from my old age as I lean over the table, reading the cards and stones scattered in front of me. My heart pounds against my chest as I raise my eyes, “Evil swallows you whole, boy.” I shake a bony finger at Tomas, my grandson. We’re sitting in my living room with my deck of cards and bag of stones. He scoffs at my remark until I snap my fingers in his face and slam a tarot card down onto the table, making the stones jump. “This is serious, Tomas.”

My son, Beau LeRoux, called me when his son, Tomas, showed up on their front door bloody and broken a few nights ago. Things are happening to my grandson that I can’t stop unless he believes in the powers I hold. I move my hand to reveal the death card. My eyes snap up to Tomas’s and watch his reaction. His blue eyes like his sister’s widen in surprise.

“You can take this card,” I slide it toward him slowly, “One way or another. It can mean the death of the trouble you’re heading into or the death of the comfortable life you live. The choice is yours.” I stand from the table, my bones creaking withevery move, and leave the room. Tomas’s future is now in his hands.

Elizabeth, my granddaughter, is waiting for me in my room. She rises from the chair, setting the book down on the table. I smile when I see what she’s reading,Intro toSpiritual Folkways.Our legacy will continue through Elizabeth when I take my last breath. From the way I’ve been feeling lately, it’s going to be sooner rather than later.

“Memaw,” Elizabeth hurries over to my side and gently grabs my arm, leading me to the edge of my bed. I sit and she follows suit. She’s the light in the darkness that surrounds our family. Without her, our bloodlines die. “How’d it go with Tomas?”

I listen intently to the bayou speaking before answering her. The gators and the insects are singing their songs of death and destruction. Sighing heavily, I pat Elizabeth’s knee. “Soon, Tomas will have to make a choice. I don’t know which direction he will go, but I pray it’s the best for us all.” I lean over Elizabeth and grab the wooden jewelry box on the stand beside my bed. I open it and carefully pull out a gold necklace with a crystal charm. “Here, Bebe. This is to keep you safe. Wear it always and never take it off. I’ve enchanted the crystal so no matter where you are or what you’re doing, this will protect you from evil.”

I set the necklace in Elizabeth’s hand and gently close her palm. I chant quietly to myself before releasing her. “Memaw, I cannot accept this.” She tries to hand it back, but I don’t take it.

“Hush, Bebe. You do your Memaw a favor and take this. I want to know when my time is up that you are safe.” I squeeze her hand with my own until she relents.

I watch the moment Elizabeth’s bright blue eyes waiver and she pushes a tear away. She knows my time is coming soon, just like I do. I just hope when it does come, the evil that takes me to my grave doesn’t push her too far away.

Chapter One

Ace

The air is thick with tension as I sit in this metal chair waiting for the knock on my door. Only two brothers at Savage Saints know what I enjoy and how I relieve stress, even though they haven’t seen me fight yet. If they do, they might not understand how dark it really is. Three if you count my Prez. I don’t even need to say anything and he knows what I do and when. Kayne has an uncanny ability to know shit about his members and it’s creepy. He’s the only one who knows I’m here tonight doing what has to be done for the club.

It all started when I was a teen, waiting for my little brother Spencer to get out of his MMA class. I was sitting there in the dark, minding my business when several men surrounded me. They did things I’d rather not dwell on when I need to have a clear head. Spencer still doesn’t know exactly what happened and I’m going to keep it that way for as long as I can. It’s been Spencer and me for the last thirteen years until I found Kayne and the Savage Saints MC. Then Spencer moved to Vegas to fulfill his dream as the next up-and-coming MMA fighter andnow it’s just me, sitting in this cold metal chair with my wrists taped, my body vibrating with adrenaline and my soul growing darker by the minute.

A knock on my door signals it’s time. The knob turns and the door bangs against the wall when Seth, who is the emcee for the fights, opens it.

“It’s do or die,” Seth’s voice is low with tension. I get what he means. It really is do or die. Either I kick this motherfucker’s ass or I die trying. I rise from my chair, tapping into the rage building deep inside of me. My mind is focused on what’s waiting for me on the other side of the door.

Tonight’s fight is one of my hardest fights yet. But the harder they are, the more I crave. Only one of us will walk away tonight. If and when I win, I’ll get the answers I need. Answers my club needs.

Stepping into the cage, the crowd’s chants assault my ears. They know it’s going to be a blood bath, the scent of death and destruction thick in the air. I know it’ll be a battle they haven’t seen before. Looking around the crowd, three men capture my attention. They’re trying to stay low-key, but I’ve seen them lurking around a few times. One has long, dark hair pulled back and twisted at the nape of his neck. His face is covered with the beginning of a goatee. The other man with him has a reaper tattoo on his arm. They’re sitting front and center tonight, not hiding the fact that they’re here. They’re both wearing Krymson Destroyers cuts.

Krymson Destroyers has been trying to get a sit down with Kayne for a few weeks now. They’re an up-and-coming MC out of Pennsylvania. Not sure what it is they want or need and I really don’t give a fuck.

I turn my attention back to the ring and study my opponent. His dark hair is cut close to his head in a high and tight. He’s all brawn, no brains when it comes to a match like this. If I beathim, then Kick, Blayde’s father has agreed to a sit down with Kayne. Kick might be our main chapter president, but after all the information we’ve found that the old president, Steam, was doing we started separating from his chapter. We want nothing to do with the human trafficking Steam was in deep with. If anything, we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum with it. Steam bought and sold women through the Black Market Railroad and we are hired to take them out. We already took out Steam a while ago, along with Kingston and a Russian asshole. They had no idea that the funds from their operation were being diverted into our accounts. We’re close to finishing this, but I need to win tonight to seal the deal. And the deal was only one person would walk away.

The bell dings and we both advance to the middle of the ring. This fucker thinks he has an advantage over me and takes a powerful swing at my head but misses. I push him back, staying on the balls of my feet. He charges again and tries to body slam me, but I step at the last second and his meaty fist catches the corner of my ribs. I’m playing with my prey, making him tire out before I deliver a deadly blow. He catches me off guard and nails me in the ribs again.

We go at it blow for blow. Both of us are bleeding from the harsh blows we’re taking from each other. There is no stopping in this fight. It doesn’t end until one of us stops breathing. Done with fucking around, I go on the attack and land a deadly strike to his throat, cutting off his air supply and crushing his windpipe. My adrenaline spikes with every jab and I have tunnel vision. This guy is all I see and hear. No crowd, no chants, no cheers. He grabs his throat gasping for air when I hit him again in the stomach. He goes down to his knees still clutching his throat, blood dripping down his face. I step up behind him to finish him off. With my adrenaline running at an all-time high, I grab his head and twist, snapping his neck and ending his life.I’ll deal with the aftermath later. Shoving the now dead fighter away from me, I rise to my full height, and the bell dings.

The crowd is a frenzy of activity. Cheers, chants, hoots, and hollers echo through the arena as the cage doors open and I’m quickly ushered out and back to my small changing room. I open the door and step inside. The three men from Krymson Destroyers are waiting for me, making the room smaller and my adrenaline spikes looking for a threat.

“What the fuck do you want?” I growl. I’m in no mood for petty little shit. I just killed a man and need to decompress. These three in here are stopping me from doing it.

“My Prez wants a sit down with yours and we’re here to make it happen.” The dark-haired man says. There’s a look of appraisal in his eyes like he knows what I do. It’s a bond formed from one killer to another which allows me to let my guard down just a little. His cut reads Cobra and he’s an Enforcer for the club. The second one reads Reaper and the third is Tank.

I size them all up deciding if it’s worth taking three more lives tonight or not. “Why should we do what you’re asking? What’s in it for us?” I sit down in the metal chair, my adrenaline is starting to run low.

“Rumor has it, you want out from under Steam. We can make that happen but to do it, we need your help.” Tank responds. It’s hard to get a read on him, but by his tense body language, there’s more at stake here than he’s letting on. Not my fucking problem. Tank leans against the door, crossing his arms over his chest. “And if fifty G’s will help persuade you, I can have it sent to your account with one phone call.”

I weigh my options. These guys know more than they’re letting on. Do I want to bring them back with me or tell them to fuck off? They don’t know we already eliminated Steam, but we do need more information about the Russians coming after us since we killed one of the Kozlov brothers.

Weird things around our legal businesses have happened, but no one can explain it. Many appointments at our auto shop were canceled, and deliveries to the bar have been diverted—weird shit with no explanations. Rooster and Tatt have been working overtime trying to get to the bottom of it with no luck. If this helps us, I need to do what I can.

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