Released (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(63)

I’m about to give up hope when I hear Viper scream out in pain. I jerk up just in time to see the man fall back, his eyes wide. Blood darker than even the worn leather of his jacket stains his chest. I look behind me, my eyes blurry from the force of the hit on my head, and try to find out who shot him. I expect to see Torch there, any of them.

But what I see instead makes my dick hard. It makes me prouder than hell, but I still want to spank her ass. Beth stands there looking calm, cool, collected… and f*cking beautiful.

“I have a present for you, brother,” she says, then shoots Viper again.

Damn.





“What the f*ck are you doing here? Beth, you get your ass out of here right now!” Skull yells, but I’ve got my gun aimed at Colin now that the other guy—apparently my brother—is dead.

“Sorry, lover. I’m a little busy right now.”

“No, you’re not. You get your ass out of here,” he orders, swaying on his feet as he tries to walk towards me.

“That would be more convincing if you could say it without looking like you’re drunk. Oh my God! You still have your gun?”

“I told you, I had this under control.”

“You really are an idiot,” I tell Colin.

He’s looking at me like he’s ready to kill me. I’m sure if I make a mistake here, he will.

“It doesn’t matter,” Colin responds. “I was going to kill him; you just interrupted. There’s no way you’re getting out of here. If you drop your gun now, I promise to make you feel good before I kill you. We both know how much you like the things I do to you.”

My hands shake, but I don’t back down because I can’t afford to. One wrong move and Skull and I will die here. There’s not a man here, except for the one I killed, who doesn’t have a gun drawn. I feel sick to my stomach. There’s five men left, including Colin. There’s no way to take out all five before one of them gets us. Shit! Why didn’t I think this through better?

“Skull, why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?”

“I was trying, querida…”

“Do not call me that again. Not after hearing you call that bitch that.”

“Beth…”

Colin cuts in. “Do you think we can stop the love chat, as interesting as it is? I’m going to give you two minutes to put your gun down, Beth. If you do that, I’ll let your boyfriend live.”

“He’s lying through his f*cking teeth, quer—”

“I’m warning you, Skull!”

“Dolor en el culo? Better?”

“Pain in your ass? Really? If we survive this, I’m going to need a divorce.”

“Since that means you’ll have to marry me first, we’ll discuss it,” he says, and then he drops his voice an octave to add, “I say we shoot and run behind the bar for cover.”

He said that last part in Spanish, which catches me off guard, as it takes a minute for me to understand. I hope they don’t know what he’s saying.

Then, it’s too late. One of the men shoots. I wait to feel pain, even as I’m pulling the trigger. I take off running, but I don’t get two steps before Skull is covering me with his back, picking me up and throwing me over the bar, all while shooting behind him. A second later, he dives for cover with me. I sit up and shoot again. It doesn’t take long before I’ve emptied my clip.

I have to be more careful. I just have Katie’s backup clip and then I’m out.

“How are you on ammo?” I ask Skull, not turning around to look at him.

“Are Torch and the boys on their way?”

“Should be fifteen, maybe twenty minutes behind me.”

“Use this gun and protect yourself, mi cielo,” he says. His voice is gruff, and when I turn around to look, I find him pale. I don’t see any blood, so I start to breathe easier.

“You use that gun. I’ve got Katie’s,” I tell him, taking another shot at Colin’s men. “We just need to hold on a little longer. I’ve been here ten minutes, so help will be here shortly, sweetheart.” I shoot again. “He must have hit you really hard. I should have made myself known sooner. I’m so sorry.”

All the time I’m talking, I’m shooting. I could almost squeal in victory when I take out one of the shooters. I look briefly back at Skull to see why he’s not shooting.

“Te amo,” he whispers, then falls against me.

My heart feels like it’s in a vise grip because only when he falls do I notice the river of red on his back. He’s been shot! It must’ve happened when he played all hero and tried to cover me.

I lay him down on his side, as best I can with one hand. I shoot with the other. I don’t know if I hit anywhere within the vicinity of the others. Once I have Skull turned to his side, I pull my shirt off and push it against his wound. I stay like that, applying pressure while shooting blindly every few minutes over the top of the bar.

I’ve just fired the last bullet in Katie’s gun when I hear Torch yell.

“Skull! Beth!”

I scream, “Behind the bar! Hurry!” and then drop my gun, holding onto the blood-soaked shirt on Skull’s back with all my might. “They’re here, sweetheart. Your men are here. We’ll be okay now. You just need to hold on. Hold on for us, Skull. Hold on,” I repeat over and over, my body shaking and tears running so hard down my face that they blind me.