Demon's Hellfire (Dark Leopards MC East Texas Chapter Book 7) Read online

  I let the door shut quietly behind me, blocking out the sound of voices and music. It was dark, except for a dull light above the door, but I could see her clearly. She was upset, and I hated it.

  I hesitated before slowly walking toward her. “Hey,” I whispered, the sound low and gruff. I had no idea what to say after that. It wasn’t like I spent a lot of time talking to women. Hell, I’d never even been in a real relationship before. We’d spent most of our life on the run until we’d fallen in with the Dark Leopards. There hadn’t been time for anything like that. And now I had a mate. After I was thinking just ten minutes ago that I never wanted one. The irony of it didn’t escape me as I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’m Demon.”

  “Demon?” she whispered, turning to look at me, her gaze once again zeroing in on my patch. I smelled the cat in her, and knew she had no trouble making out the patch in the darkness with her shifter eyesight.

  “Brady,” I said hastily, my hands resting on my hips as I forced myself to stay where I was. She lowered her head again, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. A low groan slipped out at the sight before I could stop it, and she stiffened, taking a step back. “My name’s Brady. My club name is Demon.” I pretended to ignore her retreat, even though I hated that I had scared her enough that she backed away from me.

  “The Dark Leopards in Texas,” she said quietly.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “East Texas.”

  I heard her quick intake of breath, and then she raised those amazing eyes to mine. “This will never work.”

  I froze, watching her carefully. Just minutes before I had been telling myself the same thing. I didn’t want or need a mate. Now, I was pissed that she would even suggest that we wouldn’t work. “You don’t know that.” It came out as a low, almost challenging growl, and I cursed silently to myself when she took another step away from me.

  “Yes, I do,” she said, resolve in her voice. Her gaze hardened, her eyes glittering in determination. “This mating will never happen, Demon. It can’t. I won’t let it.”

  I watched her turn away from me, and a deep rumbling growl escaped as I quickly closed the distance between us and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her back against me. She froze, grabbing my wrists, her fingernails digging into my skin.

  “Let me go, Demon,” she snarled angrily, but the scent of her tears filled the air.

  Was I hurting her? I wanted to slip inside her mind, see what she was thinking, but it didn’t feel right to take from my mate what she wasn’t willing to give. Her thoughts and feelings were her own, no matter how much I wanted to know what they were.

  “Talk to me,” I muttered, leaning down to breath in her scent again. It was so sweet, fresh, addictive. “Tell me your name.”

  “Fuck you!”

  I chuckled, rubbing my nose along the side of her neck, reveling in the shudder that shook her body. I had no doubt it was in pleasure, no matter what she might want me to think. Her breath was coming in small gasps, her nails digging deeper. She moaned softly, tilting her head to the side to give me more access to her silky skin. I groaned, gently kissing the rounded curve where her shoulder met her neck, unable to stop myself from a small taste.

  “Demon,” she moaned, when my lips skimmed over her skin, followed by my tongue.

  “Brady,” I growled, placing my mouth over her shoulder and sucking gently. I wanted to sink my fangs deep, claim what was mine, but I wouldn’t do that to her. Not yet.

  “What?”

  “Call me Brady,” I rasped, unsure why it was so important that she use my given name. I wanted to hear it on her lips, wanted that to be the name she thought of when I came to mind. Not Demon, the crazy motherfucker who could take almost anyone in a fight. Who had killed numerous times, and would do so again. I wanted her to know me, not the person everyone else knew.

  That thought made me pause, lost in confusion, and I didn’t see the elbow coming that slammed into my gut. I grunted in surprise, my arms loosening, and she easily twisted out of them and slipped away.

  “I told you, Demon, this won’t work,” she snarled, glaring at me, her hands fisted at her sides. “I already have a family full of overbearing assholes who try to control me. I’m not going to add a mate to the list.”

  The woman was mad as hell, her wild riot of curly hair fanning out around her, her now dark golden gaze seeming to glow. She was fucking gorgeous.

  “Too late, sweetheart. I wasn’t looking for this any more than you were, but it looks like Fate has chosen. We aren’t going to be able to fight it.”

  “Watch me,” she snapped before opening up her hand and waving it in my direction.

  “Fuck!” I yelled, jumping back as a huge wall of flames appeared, effectively cutting us off from each other. It was just for a minute, no more than two, but when it was finally gone, so was she.

  “Holy shit,” I heard someone mutter, and turned around to see Shadow and Shyla standing behind me.

  “Who the hell was that?” Shyla demanded.

  A small smile curved my lips, and I looked back to where the captivating woman had disappeared, shaking my head. “That little hellfire is my mate.”

  2

  Rian

  I waited impatiently on top of the roof, staring down at Demon, wondering how I’d gotten myself into this mess. I was in New Orleans, almost six hours away from my home in Texas. What were the odds that I would run into my fated mate here? One who was also from Texas. One who lived less than thirty minutes from me? I knew this, because even though Demon had no idea who I was, I knew exactly who he was. I’d heard his name spoken so many times around the dinner table in the past few months, it had almost felt as if he was a part of the family.

  Demon and his brother, Shadow, were a part of the same MC chapter my brothers had joined. They’d both been sponsored by an old family friend, Holliday. Riordan wore a Dark Leopards patch on his cut now, having proven that he had what it took to become a full-fledged MC member. His twin brother, Rory, was still a prospect, but I had no doubt that his time was coming soon.

  “Damn, Demon.”

  I cocked my head to the side as I squatted down low on the roof, resting my arms on my knees and taking in the scene below. I wasn’t afraid that they would see me, or sense that I was near. All shifters had a gift, one they were born with. Me… I had two. I could produce and command fire at will, but I also had a built-in shield of sorts, allowing me to hide my presence from others. Which meant, the people below would have no idea I was anywhere near them unless I wanted them to. Not even my mate.

  Demon grinned, his teeth a flash of white in the night. “She’s awesome, isn’t she?”

  “Uh, yes?” Shadow said hesitantly, his eyes narrowing as he looked down the alleyway past Demon.

  Demon threw his head back and laughed, a deep laugh that echoed throughout the night.

  A slow smile crossed my lips as I watched him, my heart a little bit lighter than it had been just moments before. I’d done that. I’d made him laugh. According to my brothers, Demon hardly ever smiled, let alone laughed. He was quiet, kept his thoughts to himself. They wouldn’t tell us much more than that. Said the brothers in the MC had secrets, and they were theirs to keep. I understood that. I had secrets of my own.

  “Brady?”

  I stiffened, my eyes going to the beauty standing next to Shadow. Bounty hunter Shyla Thomas. My brothers talked about her as if she walked on water. I didn’t care who she was, or that she was already mated. She was calling my mate by the name he’d wanted me to use. I didn’t like the sound of it coming from her. A low growl began to build in my chest, and I bared my fangs at the woman, even though she couldn’t see me. Demon was mine, dammit, even if I wasn’t ready to claim him, and might never be.

  “What?”

  “She’s gone.”

  “Naw, she’s not.”

  I went completely silent, sure I’d heard wrong. He couldn’t know I was here, watching them, could he? My shield had never
failed me before.

  Shyla frowned, her gaze slowly going around the alley. “She isn’t here, Demon.”

  “She’s right,” Shadow said, taking a step closer to his mate.

  Demon grinned again, making my heart skip a beat. It was dark, but I could see his face clearly. His short, brown hair, the hard line of his jaw, the way his dark brown eyes flashed from his cat and back as he inhaled. “Trust me, my little hellfire is around. I can scent her, feel her.”

  “All I can smell is that damn gift of flames she left you, little brother,” Shadow grumbled with a shake of his head. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  At first, I thought Demon was going to fight them on leaving, but he ended up following them down the alley and around the corner. Quickly, I scaled down the ladder on the side of the building and followed. I couldn’t help myself. My lynx was clawing at me, insisting I go after my mate.

  I watched as they walked over to a couple of Harleys parked in the front of the club. No surprise there. My brothers both owned Harleys themselves. Me, I preferred my crotch rocket. One they had no idea their sweet little sister owned.

  I waited until Demon and Shadow pulled out of the parking lot before sprinting over to my own sleek, black bike I’d parked beside my teammates in the back of the parking lot.

  Shit, my team. They would be wondering where I was.

  Taking out my phone, I shot off a quick text to Nitro, our team leader, letting him know that I was heading back to the hotel early, and then shoved it back into my pocket. Yanking on my black helmet, I straddled my bike. Starting it, I popped the clutch and took off after my mate, cursing myself for being a fool the entire time.

  I thought I’d lost them at first but soon found their taillights three cars in front of me. They didn’t seem to be moving too quickly, and a part of me wondered if maybe Demon knew I was back here, stalking him. Maybe he was letting me. Wanting me to know where to find him. And then, I knew it was true. If he somehow was able to breech my shield before and know I was still there somewhere near them back in the alley, then he had to know I was still near.

  When they turned into the parking lot of a hotel, I kept going. Circling the block, I came back just in time to see them disappear into the front doors. Not ready to leave yet, I turned down a side street, went to the end of the block, and then came back to park beside a curb. I made sure not to park under any streetlamps, not wanting Demon to see me if he happened to glance out a window. Although, I had no idea if their rooms were even facing the street or not.

  I had a clear view of the hotel across from me, and my eyes were skimming all of the windows, begging for a view of my Demon, when I heard the low rumble of another Harley. As I watched, a man rolled into the lot, a woman riding with him, her long, dark hair streaming out behind her.

  He parked his bike beside Demon’s, and they made their way toward the hotel. It was clear he was with the Dark Leopards MC by the patch on the cut he wore. He was looking down at the woman as they walked, and she was laughing up at him. She reached up as if to touch his face, and he stopped, catching her hand in his.

  I was distracted and didn’t notice the black SUV until it was almost on top of them. By then it was too late. Before I could do more than scream Demon’s name, they were both shoved into the vehicle, and it was tearing out of the parking lot and down the street. I screamed for Demon again, afraid there was no way he could hear me. I was torn between going to get him to tell him what happened and following the SUV. In the end, I did the only thing I could. By the time I would have gotten to Demon and his brother, the SUV would have been long gone. The people inside of it needed help. Help they wouldn’t get if no one could find them.

  I trailed the vehicle through the city, making sure to keep enough of a distance that they wouldn’t know I was behind them. When they turned onto a side street, I cut my headlight and followed. It didn’t take me long to realize we were heading toward Port NOLA, which meant we were only fifteen minutes or so from the hotel. It also meant there would be ships nearby. What did they have planned for this couple?

  The SUV came to a stop in front of a warehouse just a few minutes later, and I cut the engine on my motorcycle quickly, gliding under an overhang into darkness before they could see me. Scrambling off my bike, I ran to the corner of the building I was next to, praying I would go unnoticed.

  I shouldn’t have worried. No one was paying attention to anything except for the couple they yanked from the vehicle. I froze when the stench of hyenas floated my way. My eyes landed on one large form in particular. That of a vicious bastard my team had been hunting the past two months. The very reason we were in New Orleans in the first place. Wexler, head of a clan of hyenas from Red Stone, Arizona, known for child kidnapping and trafficking.

  Wexler grabbed the woman roughly by the arm and gave her a hard shove, laughing when she fell to the ground, crying out in pain. The man she was with let out a roar of rage and lunged at Wexler, but one of the other hyenas slammed the butt of a gun into the side of his head, dropping him to his knees.

  “Bring them inside,” Wexler snarled, baring large fangs at the woman. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  I swore when the door to the warehouse opened, and two more men walked out. As much as I didn’t want to leave the couple alone, I knew there was no way I could take on Wexler and his clan of thugs by myself. There were too many of them. I needed backup.

  3

  Demon

  “Calm down, Demon. I’m sure she’s fine.”

  “Fuck you, Shadow! She was yelling for me!”

  Something was wrong, I could feel it, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I’d heard her scream, so had Shadow and Shyla. But by the time we’d reached the parking lot, there was nothing. No one. Just the normal traffic driving by in front of us. I’d ran the length of the lot, in front and behind the hotel. We’d fanned out in the neighborhood, going as far as five blocks out, but she was nowhere to be found. I’d caught a hint of her scent on the street directly across from the hotel, but it was faint and led nowhere.

  “Hey, guys?”

  I glanced over at Shyla to see her staring over at our bikes in confusion. “What?” I snarled, as I tried to figure out where my mate was. I’d even attempted to connect with her for the first time, touching her mind with mine, but there was just silence. Where the fuck was she?

  “Did you see Kid and Aine come back to the hotel?”

  Shadow swung around, his gaze following hers to where our bikes stood. There were now three Harleys instead of two. His brow furrowed as he looked over at me. “Did you see Kid, Demon?”

  I shook my head, wondering what the hell was going on when suddenly, I felt her again. My little hellfire. She was near.

  “What is it?” Shadow growled, his eyes flashing to his cat and back.

  “She’s close,” I rasped, fighting the urge to run in the direction I felt her coming from.

  “What the hell?”

  I stiffened, but didn’t respond as a pitch black crotch rocket appeared as if out of nowhere at breakneck speed, skidding to a stop on the street just in front of us. The back wheel went out from under the small slip of a person riding it as they spun it around and came barreling into the parking lot, managing to stop just in front of me. I didn’t move as the rider reached up and removed the all black helmet, revealing my sexy-as-sin mate.

  Ignoring us, she slid a phone from her front pocket, quickly dialed, and hit send. “Nitro, Wexler’s at a warehouse in Port NOLA. Meet us there in fifteen minutes. He has prisoners, so be stealthy.” She rattled off an address, and then ended the call without another word, sliding the phone back into her pocket as she looked at me. “Come on, we have to go. Those bastards have your friends.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Shadow snarled, his eyes narrowing into mere slits as he took a step toward my mate.

  I growled in warning, but she shook her head holding up a hand. “Look, we don’t have
time for this. Your friends showed up right after you did. Wexler and his goons must have been waiting. They grabbed them and took them to the Port. We have to go. Now!”

  She didn’t wait for a reply. Slipping her helmet back on, she turned her motorcycle around and was almost on the road before we made it to our own bikes.

  As much as I hated letting her get too far away from me again, worry for Kid and his mate was what pushed me to my Harley. Soon, we were racing behind her to the Port, and I was caught in fear like I hadn’t felt in years. Not since I was a ten-year-old boy and standing off against the Lycaon Wolves MC with my brother. The day I lost my mother. I was about to jump into danger with my mate by my side. I couldn’t lose her, too. I wouldn’t survive.

  It wasn’t long before she was coming to a stop a good mile away from the Port. We pulled up next to her, me on one side, Shadow and Shyla on the other. Cutting our engines, we waited for her to speak.

  Removing her helmet, she whispered, “We need to go the rest of the way on foot. Your bikes are too loud.”

  We left our Harleys there and took off at a run, silent in the dead of night. The stench of hyena was thick in the air, and it wasn’t hard to differentiate which warehouse was the one we wanted. When we got closer, I stiffened when I smelled something else. The scent of fresh blood. Kid’s blood.

  “Shadow,” I growled, quickly pulling a knife from a sheath in my boot.

  “I smell it,” Shadow snarled in anger, motioning to a guard standing at the front door. “He’s mine.”

  I nodded, glancing over at my mate where it looked like she was slipping something into her ear. She began to speak, and it took me a second to realize she was communicating with someone else.

  “My team is doing some recon,” she whispered softly, her eyes slowly tracking the area. “There are four of them, along with Wexler. This one, one at the back door, one roaming around out behind the building. The last one is in the warehouse with Wexler and your friends.”