Page 71 of Devil's Work: Dark

“Reap, Dark?” Sarge calls out to us.

“Back here,” Reaper answers for me. A few moments later, Sarge busts into the room with Dusty on his heels. He stopped to grab Dusty. Fuck, I’d never even thought of that.

“Back up—now,” Dusty orders. She’s got a bag full of goddamn doctor tricks at her side that I hope to god contains enough magic to save my woman. I lay Rae flat on the ground again, but I can’t back up. My heart, my life is lying still on that floor with her.

Dusty drops down next to me and immediately begins to assess the situation. “Ambulance is on the way,” she says, presumably to me as she pulls out a syringe from that black bag. She fills it with a clear liquid from a tiny dark brown glass bottle, finds the spot she wants to use, and plunges the needle into Rae’s pale skin. Rae doesn’t fucking move. Not a flinch. Not a twitch. Not a sound.

I run my hand over her hair, pushing it back from her face, then bend in to kiss her forehead. “Please, baby… don’t do this. Don’t you leave me. Ty and Lacy need you, baby. They need their mama… Please, baby, don’t leave me this way.” I know I sound ridiculous, my voice thick, crying in front of my brothers like a damn pussy.

Reap leans in to snag my arm, attempting to pull me away from her. I shove him off. “Dammit, baby!” I yell. “Open your eyes.” I’m pissed at her for not fighting to wake up. “Call me ‘a dick.’ Tell me to go fuck myself…”

“Dark, brother, let Dusty do her work,” he says. I shake him off. He pulls me away to allow Sarge to assist.

“Come on, Rae,” I hear Dusty whisper to her. But it’s when she says, “Don’t give up,” that’s whenIdie. Only woman I’ve ever loved. Those kids own my heart. For two seconds, I had a family. People who meant more to me than my own goddamn life.

Now… it’s all gone.

I don’t even wanna breathe.

20

DARK

It’s a gray day. Overcast. I smell rain in the air. There’s a sea of brothers in black here, along with the few women accompanying their men. Ty sits next to me with his head tilted down. When he’d told me, “I wanna look like you, Dark,” I walked him outside to my truck and helped him inside, buckling him in his booster, then he and I drove to the nearest Harley shop, where I kitted him out with a leather jacket and boots.

Today, wearing a button-down shirt and a black tie with those damn boots and jacket, his hair slicked back, he looks like a little man. Pussy move or not, I drape my arm around his shoulder to pull him closer to me in order to drop a kiss to the top of his head. He’s a kid and he needs it today.

Lacy’s too little to understand. She rests on my lap, head burrowed into the crook of my neck, sound asleep. I watch on as those who’ve come to pay their respects wait in line. The brothers voted to pay for the funeral. They did so for me… and for Rae.

There’s a beautiful woman gone too soon from this world, long, silky brown hair and rosy lips laid out like a modern-day Snow White.

“She’s dead,” Ty whispers, and it fucking breaks my heart. I wish I could’ve saved him from having to deal with this. But I wasn’t fast enough.

“I know, bud… I know.”

“Mumma said when you die, you go up to heaven like my dad.”

“Yeah,” I repeat myself. “She’s right.” I swallow hard. The kid is far too young to be learning these types of life lessons. It’s fucking unfair. He falls against my side and I wrap him tighter with my arm, giving him my strength.

A sob rips from his throat and Rae, who’s been standing next to the casket issuingthank yous while trying to come to grips with the loss of her sister, whips her head to look at us. She starts to make her way over, but I wave my hand.

“Got this, baby. Do what you gotta do.”

She smiles a watery smile at me that doesn’t reach her eyes. Dela was the last of her family. Or, I should say, her old family. She’s got me, the kids, and my brothers now. And I’m never letting go.

On the other side of Dela’s casket sits Winky’s. The guy was young. Had a mom and dad who loved him, even though his dad’s in the joint. Listening to his mom wailing is fucking ripping at my heart. Even Rae isn’t crying that hard. But I have to remember that Rae may have helped raise Dela and tried to take care of her, but that’s not the same as being someone’s mom.

This whole situation is so fucked up. I wish I had the power to take away all their pain.

We paid for the funeral of Cutter’s friend, too. That son-of-a-bitch killer set up a large animal trap. Like a bear trap and hid it. Guy didn’t stand a chance despite how good he was.

Green’s a fucking mess. Hasn’t been sober since the night we found the women. He’s been on a 24/7 watch with the brothers because we’re all afraid he’ll hurt himself. Dusty prescribed something, but he doesn’t take it, opting for Kentucky’s own—Knob Creek. Don’t get me wrong, I love my bourbon, but we only get one liver. The man didn’t realize he loved Dela until she came to stay with us and they started hanging out together again. Now he blames himself for breaking up with her, sending her into the life that got her killed. His words. But Dela was a grown woman. She’s responsible for her own actions.

We had to put off the funerals to get Rae strong enough to attend. Her body is still healing. She’ll have to wear those scars for the rest of her life. It’s a reminder I have to live with for the rest of mine, too. But I force myself to look at them every time she changes her clothes or goes for a shower. Sex is off the table for a while. Old me, the me before Rae, would’ve said fuck that and gone to get laid somewhere else. As it stands now, I can’t imagine ever wanting to dip my dick in another pussy. I need to become desensitized to those puckered pink, sutured, scabbing slices marring her perfect body because the last thing I need is for Rae to think I don’t find her sexy. Please, those damn scars don’t diminish anything. She’s every bit as cock-hardening as she was on the first day I met her.

What we haven’t been able to figure out is how the Bible Belt Killer found them. It sounds like he got to Dela first, which makes sense, given her lifestyle, but she was supposed to be up at the clubhouse. Why would she have left the safety of the compound when she knew this maniac was out there hunting women? I never understood her and now I never will.

But more than that, why did he choose Rae as one of his targets? She’s a single mom. Keeps her nose clean. Rescued a fucking kid from fucking perverts. How did he know to use Dela to draw out Rae? None of it makes sense.

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