Eden's Joker (Devil’s Nightmare MC Next Generation, Book 7)

Chapter 43

I told the Devils where to find us. Something I didn’t tell Eden when she made that horrible ultimatum: her or vengeance. Not in a million years could I make that choice.

So I ignored it. I deflected. And spent the night with my brothers in the Saloon instead of at the house, in bed beside her, inside her where I wanted to be.

Drinking, playing cards and getting hit on by beautiful women is boring now. Talking about destroying the Devils is hard. But I did both. All night. Until the scouts returned in the early hours of the morning.

I sent them out to watch the Devils and report back when they were on the move.

The sun is rising, but it’s just a pale white shadow above the hills to the east. There are no stars in the sky. No moon. My inner circle is crammed into the small living room of the house Scorpio chose as his own. It’s hard to find an available space to sit, or even just look at, without an empty bottle or a can or some other piece of trash littering it.

“You should have one of the women come in here to clean,” I tell him as I knock some trash off one of the armchairs so I can sit.

“Or five,” Razor says. “How can you live like this?”

Scorpio just shrugs and tosses his empty beer can across the room. It hits a pile of them and for a while the sound of that pile tumbling and rolling around is the only sound in the room. If we survive this, he’s going into rehab.

“So, the report,” I say, turning to Razor. He’s one of the scouts I sent.

“They’re on the move, riding fast,” he says. “They’ll probably be here by tomorrow morning. Though I doubt they’ll just come riding in on the main road.”

The text I sent to Ice telling him where they can find me had a picture of Cherry covered in strawberry syrup and ketchup that looked sufficiently like blood attached. I figured that would be enough to spur Ice and the Devils into action and I clearly wasn’t wrong. All my plans are coming together so smoothly now, just like I envisioned it all. Too bad it’s also leading to a place I don’t even want to think about.

I nod. “They’ll probably try to find a better way in.”

“They’re already doing that,” Manic says. “We’ve been shooting down their drones non-stop yesterday. They’ve stepped up their surveillance.”

“How many of them are there?” I ask Razor.

“At least three hundred. They have a couple of other MCs with them,” Razor says and turns to Scorpio. “Karma’s with them again.”

The look that passes over his face is hard to read. And hard to watch.

“I’d like to keep her alive.” He grins, but it’s a cold thing. “But then again, I’m not making any hard plans to be alive after this.”

It’s amazing how in sync our thoughts sometimes are. I’m not making any hard plans in that direction either. Maybe it’s better I die in battle with the Devils, go out at the height of my glory, rather than die a slow death from Eden hating me afterwards.

“And we’ve got, what, four hundred guys at last count?” I say and look at Sarge.

“Give or take a few,” he says. “But they’re not exactly what you’d call disciplined. I’m starting to see why they were losing the war even though they started with greater numbers than the Devils.”

“All right,” I say and stand up. “We have a day and a night to make all the preparations. Let’s get to it.”

I’ve been working on how best to defend this town pretty much since I found it. And then I started working on how best to lure our targets in and kill them all. I’ve been doing that for years too. The plans are all laid. I just have to get the men into positions. As long as I just work the plan and not think of anything else, everything will be fine.

It won’t matter so much if they’re disciplined or not. As long as they’re willing to die for the cause. And they’ve been proving that they are for over a year now.

There’s actually no way to give Eden what she’s asking for. It’s already a snowball and it’s rolling fast downhill. There’s no stopping it. Even if I was inclined to. It’s hard having her ask for something I can’t give her. Because honestly, I just want to give her whatever she wants.