Devil’s Vengeance (Devil’s Disciples MC #6)

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

MARIAH

My hands shook from the adrenaline of watching all that. I couldn’t get my feet moving without Lacey’s help. She guided me back to Chase’s room long enough to grab my shoes and my bag. There was a level of finality to it. Just like that kiss. He was saying goodbye. They were taking me away from him. What were the chances I’d ever see him again? That he’d survive the night?

“Lacey–”

She gripped my shoulder in a supportive gesture, but shook her head. “We can’t. If you go down there and start making demands, it’ll only make things worse. Not even I can do that. I like Chase, I really do. He cares a lot about protecting us. He’s a good guy. But he fucked up by not telling his crew. Especially after they warned him to drop it.”

Dropping my bag on the bed, I threw my hands out. “Can you blame him?”

Lacey sighed heavily. “Yes and no. I understand wanting retribution but from what it sounds like, that girl made her decision to go. It’s not like she and Chase were together anymore either. She went out with her boyfriend to a shady bar, she got hurt, and now Chase is pissed and looking to put all the blame on someone who was a kid at the time.” She shrugged. “I’m sure there’s more to the story, but from where I’m standing, it doesn’t feel like a good enough reason to lie to the crew. ”

I shook my head, rubbing my temples. “He doesn’t just put the blame on Trick. He puts the blame on himself too. Honestly, he could probably use therapy after what he went through, but–”

“But none of them would ever agree to that,” she said with a chuckle. She sobered pretty quickly. “I get that there’s a lot to the story I don’t know. I’ve only got a portion of it, and I’m not as close to it as you are. I’m not saying Chase deserves to die. I just don’t know how to help him right now.”

And I couldn’t fault her for that. She was being honest with me. But I couldn’t help feeling a little desperate. “Is there anyone who can help? Anyone who Croy would listen to?”

It obviously wasn’t me, since he seemed to hate me. And it wasn’t Lacey, who glared at him whenever they were around each other. So who else could get him to let Chase go? Even if they kicked him out of the crew, it’d be better than him losing his life.

She frowned, thinking it over for a second. Then a smirk flashed across her face. “I do know one person who could speak up for Chase. It’ll probably put me back on Croy’s shitlist for the rest of my life, but I honestly don’t care.”

“Who?” I asked, following her as she beckoned me out the door and downstairs to the front door. I followed her to her car. We’d need to split up to bring mine with us, but I needed to hear the plan first.

“Who do you think?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. When I just frowned at her, she rolled her eyes. “Who’s the one person who can sway the devil himself?”

I gave her a look that said I didn't know what the hell she was going on about.

She scoffed. “The Devil’s old lady. Let’s go talk to Riley. She’s going to want to know that her favorite bodyguard’s head is on the chopping block. If anyone can stop Croy, it’s her.”

We bypassed Lacey’s place and went straight to the end of the block, where Riley was waiting for us. Lacey must’ve called her on the way. She stood on the front porch, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. When Lacey stepped out, she raised her eyebrow.

“What’s the big emergency? I just got off work. I was going to take a bath.”

“Chase is in deep shit. Looks like your hubby is going to kill him. But if your bath is more important–”

Riley waved her hands wildly, her eyes wide. “Woah, woah. Start over. What’s going on with Chase?”

Lacey glanced over at me. “You’re up.”

I spent less time with Riley than I did with the others. I was closest to Lacey and Sam. Not that Riley was a bad person or someone I didn't like. She was just busy. She worked full time as a nurse, and our schedules didn’t match up often. I didn’t know her that well. Hopefully, her connection to Chase was enough to get her to take action.

Explaining it all took time. Too much time, in my opinion. Every minute that ticked by was a minute we weren’t actively fighting for Chase. Who knew how quickly the officers’ meeting would finish up? He could be dead already for all I knew. Riley asked a few questions to make sense of it all, but she wasn’t looking for gossip. She got the facts, and then spun on her heel and stormed inside, forcing me to follow her or stand in the front yard like an idiot.

I shot a frown at Lacey. She shrugged. “Go. Either she’ll call or go back there, but you need to be around to answer the questions Chase was refusing. I need to check on my son. Meet me at my place when you’re through. If you’re right about that guy targeting you, then it isn’t safe to go back to your place.”

She turned back around and headed to her house, leaving me to chase after Riley. I found her in her living room, arguing with a familiar face.

“I’m sorry, Riley. I can’t let you do that. Croy said you gotta stay here,” Bear argued.

“What’s going on?”

All eyes swung my way when I came in. Riley looked pissed, but the rest looked determined and whatever she was arguing about, it wasn’t going to go her way. She scowled .

“I want to stop Croy before he does something stupid, but these assholes stole my keys. I’m not a damn prisoner in my own house, Bear!”

“No, what you are is our First Lady, and we were ordered to look out for you,” another biker said, his voice firm. “If Chase fucked up enough to earn the wrath of Prez, then it’s his own damn fault. You aren’t putting yourself at risk to save him from himself.”

The others didn’t notice when Bear winced, but I did. He obviously cared about Chase and it bothered him to leave him to face the consequences alone. I tipped my head at him. I wanted to ask if he knew, because he didn’t seem surprised by what was happening, but that would only get more people into trouble. When he glanced my way, I raised my eyebrows, but he masked his expression and looked away, focusing solely on Riley.

“Look, why don’t you just go upstairs and relax?” he cajoled her. “You said you were tired when you got back. If Croy called a meeting, then all the officers will be voting on it. It won’t just be him making the decision.”

Riley rolled her eyes hard. “Like that would matter? They will go along with whatever he says.”

“Have you called him?” I suggested. We were wasting too much time standing around arguing. If they weren’t going to let her leave, there were other ways to get her voice heard.

My suggestion got me a few dirty looks from the bikers, but Riley didn’t even hesitate. She whipped out her phone, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me upstairs while she was already dialing. It rang all the way to voicemail the first time and worry swam in my gut as I asked, “Do you think he won’t answer?”

“He will if I call twice. It’s our signal. I only do it if there’s an emergency. Stopping him from killing my friend freaking counts as an emergency.”

She dialed again, leading me into a room with a double door entrance at the end of the hall. I wasn’t sure why at first, until she dragged me past her and swung around, slamming the door right in Bear’s face. I hadn’t even noticed him following us.

“You’re not allowed in here, Bear. Fuck off!”

“Riley, come on. He’s busy, and– ”

She ignored him, putting the phone on speaker so he could hear the ringing. It was obvious he wanted to stop her, but he wasn’t willing to enter the room to do it. Bringing me up here made more sense. She knew they wouldn’t be able to come in here to do anything about it.

The phone clicked as Croy answered with a terse, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is you’re threatening my friend’s life. Where is he, Croy? If you hurt him–”

“How the fuck do you know about that?”

Riley ignored his question, thankfully. I got the feeling Croy already hated me. I didn't want to make things worse. Saving Chase’s life by putting myself on the shit list of the actual devil seemed counterproductive.

“Is he alive?”

“That’s club business. Who the fuck told you?”

“That’s my business,” she snapped back. “Did you think you could just sneak around behind my back and I wouldn’t notice? He’s my friend, Croy!”

“He brought trouble to our crew for a personal grudge. He put you and my entire crew at risk for his own shit. Whatever happens to him, he fucking asked for it,” Croy growled.

They went back and forth for a while. Riley refused to back down. Lacey was right that she was the right person to go to. She wasn’t afraid in the slightest to argue with Croy. And he cared enough about her that he didn’t ignore her and hang up like I expected. I thought the phone call would be a long shot. It would at least let him know she was unhappy about it before he made any decisions. But he was actually listening to her. Arguing against every point she made, but he still listened. I’d be impressed if the man didn’t hold Chase’s life in his hands.

“Enough! I’m done arguin’ about this, baby. This is club business. I’ll be home later.”

“If you go through with this, I’ll never forgive you.”

Riley’s voice was low and deadly serious. It wasn’t a stupid threat in the heat of an argument. She was one hundred percent serious. I held my breath, silently praying that he loved her enough to take her words seriously.

The line went quiet. For a moment, we both thought he hung up, and Riley tapped on her screen to see if they were still connected. When he spoke again, Croy’s voice was almost deadly.

“We’re taking it to a vote. He made his bed. If the crew decides he dies, he’s gonna lie in it. End of discussion.”

That time, he did hang up. Riley growled in frustration, drawing her hand back like she was going to chuck her phone at the wall. I stopped her before she could.

“Don’t. Maybe he’ll call back.”

She shook her head, letting her hand drop down to her side. “No, he won’t. Croy doesn’t ever change his mind.”

My heart sank. “So… What now?”

“Now… we wait.”