Page 112 of Where Angels Fall

I turn towards to exit, ready to carry her to one of these cars, away from this blood-soaked chapter. Ready to put oceans between her and tonight.

That’s when Matt steps into my path. His expression stops me cold. Concern lines his face as he glances at my angel first.

“You good?” He asks her softly.

She nods once against my shoulder, though her grip tightens.

Matt’s eyes shift to me.

“There’s a problem.”

Every muscle in my body goes rigid.

“What.”

He exhales slowly, jaw tight. “Zeke.”

The name alone is enough to make my vision sharpen.

“He’s not here.”

A cold weight drops into my gut.

“What do you mean he’s not here?” My voice is low and dangerous.

“There’s no body,” Matt holds my stare. “He’s gone.”

Behind me, one of the Devils curses under his breath. My mind whirls with thoughts, one being that Zeke is out there still.

But my angel is in my arms, and for tonight, that has to be enough. For tonight, we will rest. We will heal. And tomorrow, we will fucking hunt him down.

Chapter 35

Maddison

The faint scent of him lingers in the air, smoke and leather. It wraps around me like a hug as I cuddle deeper into the cloud of blankets in his bed. Finally, I understand Ash’s impulsive need to run his nose along my jaw and inhale, doing the same thing to his pillows.

It soothes me. Chases away the panic caused by waking up alone in a dark room. I tried to follow Ash earlier when he left to go down to the club to wrap up some business, but he made me stay put and rest. He sealed it with a heated kiss that just served to make me more restless.

My body may ache, but not as much as the need for him that swirls inside of me.

The doctor saw me as soon as we got back, stitching my thigh and wrapping it securely. All other cuts were stitched, and cream applied to my bruises. He said I was lucky the knife missed my arteries, as the outcome wouldn’t have been so good.

When he’d said that, Ash’s fists balled, and I had to reach out and grab one before he hit something. Or someone.

He gave me enough pain medication that my injuries feel blissfully distant, just a dull throb serving as a reminder of the last few days. Weirdly, when my mind drifts to those moments where I was tied to that chair in the concrete cell, I’m not as scared as I feel I should be. It changed me in a way I needed. I took control, and now... now I feel powerful.

And I feel loved. Even by my friend. Roxy all but barged the door to the club down, demanding to know where I was. Luckily, it was only Ash and Matt in the club at the time while I slept. She didn’t take no for an answer until Ash brought her upstairs to see me. The thought makes my heart swell, and I can’t wait to see her when I’m better.

Yes, the thought that I killed my own father sits in the back of my mind, threatening to unravel me from the inside out. But then, I think of all the women he put through hell. All the people he and his associates damned for the sake of some money. And I think of what he put me through. The things I normalised, when they were far, far from okay.

As much as I know that killing someone, let alone your own family member, is inherently wrong, I feel like I did the world a favour.

And my mother... I’m sure she knows what’s happened in a roundabout way. But we all know the police in this city won’t listen to a word she says. Especially when Ash releases the information on his drive that will damn a lot of men in this city, including my father.

Weirdly enough, Zeke isn’t on it. Maybe he was telling the truth... And he is still out there, which is a problem for another day, Ash said.

It turns out my father did send him an absurd amount of cash, for the sake of saving his own reputation. But he’s down too many men to try to fight right now, which provides enough comfort for me to be blissfully ignorant.