Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Angel
I didn’t want to leave Stella in that hospital bed, but hearing her side of what happened, I was losing it. I wasn’t about to do that in front of her. When the doctor came out and said she was damn lucky not to be hurt more than she is was a damn miracle.
Someone had to be looking out for Stella.
The only thing she ended up with is the cut on her forehead from impact with the steering wheel and airbag.
Her body is bruised from being jerked around and the seatbelt.
Fuck, I don’t want to think about the damn bruises marring her skin. She’ll be feeling them for weeks.
Pulling up at the cabin, I reach in my pocket and snag my phone as it vibrates against my leg.
“Yeah?” I answer holding the phone to my ear not bothering to check to see who it is.
“Stella is flipping the hell out right now,” Ivy spat through the line.
“Why?”
“Why the hell do you think?” Ivy snaps, causing me to falter my steps. “I swear you and your brother are just alike.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I growl checking the damn phone.
“You left . . . what . . . moments after Stella woke up. You find out her side of things and decide to join in on the action. You’re an ass for leaving the way you did.
” Of course, my sister-in-law would say that.
Hell, Reaper fucked around in getting his head right where she’s concerned for a while before finally claiming her as his.
“It runs in the family.” I grunt and glance around the woods surrounding the cabin. “How is she flipping out?”
“Well, she’s demanded that the doctors discharge her and that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
The docs have given into her demands and right now Sutton and Isabelle have gone to get her some clothes while I stand in the hallway talking to you about how you’re a moron.
She shouldn’t be leaving, and we all know it.
She banged her head and has a concussion. ”
Fuck.
“That doesn’t tell me how she’s flipping out.”
“Yes, it does. On top of that she’s upset you ducking left without reassuring you weren’t mad with her.
Not that she did anything wrong. I would’ve done the same thing,” she rambles on.
“In fact, I did do the very same damn thing and totaled my Jeep in the process. I swear to God thinking about it now, it’s like déjà dumplin’ vu right now.
Except it’s not me. I feel like I’m lookin’ in on the outside, but at least your brother stayed at the hospital with me then left afterward. ”
She’s got a point there. “I’ll fix things with her after I finish what I’ve got to do.”
“Oh, you’ll have a bit to fix with Stella. Lots of groveling,” Ivy says, hanging up on me.
Lowering the phone from my ear, I let out a heavy sigh. I’ll deal with her when I’m done here. There’s no way I’m letting anyone else handle what’s my job to deal with. Stella’s my woman and whoever is behind this is in for a rude awaking.
Three hours into tormenting the other car’s driver, he’s ready to sing. My brothers had already taken time in toying with him, but they left the best part for me. On the floor below the little weasel are the guy’s fingernails and part of his ear. I’m honestly surprised he’s held out this long.
“You gonna tell me who hired you?” I demand, ready to slice off another part of his ear.
The blade in my hand was familiar in feeling, blood dripping from it. It’s the very same weapon my dad gave me for hunting, as he called it when I was a kid. But he knew what I would one day use it to do.
“Either way, I’m dead,” the guy spats, spitting a tooth out of his mouth.
“True, but you tell me, and it’ll be a lot less painful,” I say, drawing the blade through the flesh of his ear.
“Okay . . . Okay . . .” he screams, flinching away from the pain, but I hold him still.
“Was paid off by a woman. Didn’t get her name.
But the woman wasn’t who hired me, just the middle person.
Or something like that. She paid extra for me to crash into the woman.
Though orders were to simply get her off the road and pick up would be behind me. ”
I nearly see red at the information spilling from his mouth. “What does the woman look like?”
“She was wearing a dress. Slinky like. Skinny and you could tell she was wearing a wig—black.”
“What did the dress look like?” Diablo demands from where he’s leaning against the counter.
“Don’t know how to explain it. It didn’t have any straps,” he answers.
“What else do you remember?” I seethe, already figuring out who the hell he’s talking about.
Juniper. She’s a dead bitch.
“Nothing,” he mutters.
I ask him a few more questions, cutting into him more and more. Time passes and I know I’ve got to finish this and get to Stella. I’ve already been away from her long enough.
Lifting the blade, I slice through his throat as I look up and meet the eyes of the woman who sits in the cage by herself. She glares at me, yet I see the fear in her gaze. She knows her time is coming, but not before we find out what she’s keeping from us.
But as I look at her, I notice something else. She’s got a resemblance to Juniper.
Fuck me.
How did I not see that before?
Probably because I couldn’t care less about either of them. Not until now when my woman’s safety is on the line.
Stepping around the dead fucker, I close the distance between me and Claws. “Where is she?” I demand, jerking my chin up at her.
Claws smirks. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
I snarl and bang my hand against the bars of her cell making her flinch back. “Tell me where the fuck Juniper is.”
“If only I knew,” she says, laughing. “Unless she wants to be found, she won’t be.”
Sneering, I turn from Claws and face my brothers. I meet Reaper’s gaze for a brief moment before looking to Scythe. “See what you can find out.”
At my words command, Scythe nods and steps toward the cell as I pass him. I don’t need to be in here anymore. Not when I have a woman to get back to and blood to wash away before doing so.