Page 64 of Cinder (MC Fables #2)

L ars

The bullet hits Luca between his eyes, and he drops dead on the marble floor, blood spreading out from under him.

Ella drops the gun and looks over her shoulder at me. Moonlight streams down from the sky dome above, washing her in a white glow, and I’ve never seen her look so strong.

I close the distance between us and take her in my arms, pulling her to my chest. “Are you okay?”

I kiss the crown of her head and hold her tight.

She lets out a rough exhale and nods. “It’s over. He can’t hurt me anymore.”

“That’s right. He won’t ever put his hands on you again. ”

A sudden scream rips into the night. We both look in the direction of the screaming banshee tearing down the stairs toward us. Carolina De La Cinto’s face is a mask of evil as she runs toward her dead son, her hands curled into claws at the end of her outstretched arms.

She looks possessed. Wild. Insane .

I ready my sword, but it’s Ella who stops her. As soon as Carolina is close enough, Ella stops her with a right hook that sends her flying onto her ass.

Then, standing over her, Ella slams another into the old witch’s face and knocks her out. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

I grab her and kiss her. Fucking gorgeous girl.

She pulls back to look up at me. “We need to get out of here before Luca’s men arrive. They will have heard the gunshot. Not to mention Wailing Wendy over here.”

I can’t help but look sheepish. “You can’t hear when you’re dead.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “You killed them?”

“They were in my way.”

“All of them?”

“They’re like weeds. You kill one and another one appears. So yeah, I killed all of them.”

She smiles, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “You’re amazing.”

I grin. “I know. ”

She reaches up and brushes her fingers along my jaw, and I turn to Jell-O beneath her touch.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her beautiful eyes roaming my face. “I wish it never came to this. I want to say I wish he never sent me to your clubhouse. But if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have met you.”

“It happened how it meant to happen, Little Cinder,” I tell her. “Something a lot bigger than us decided how this was going to play out. Turns out that higher power had our back. That’s got to mean something.”

“It means everything. You mean everything.”

Cupping her jaw, I kiss her, and I don’t stop kissing her until I hear the rumble of approaching motorcycles.

“The Knights are coming?” she whispers, hearing the approaching thunder of bikes.

“They’re here to help clean up.” I caress her cheeks with my thumbs. “But before they get here, baby, I need to tell you something.”

She frowns. “What is it?”

“Santo was alive. He survived the bomb that was meant to kill him and has been following you for a few weeks.”

“Santo?” Confused, she shakes her head. “Why didn’t he let me know?”

“He thought it was safer if you didn’t know. He was waiting for your brother’s downfall. He knew there would be an uprising eventually. ”

“You said he was alive. Does that mean he’s not anymore?”

“I’m sorry, baby. He died trying to fix his mistakes.”

“Does that mean he was involved with my father’s death?” she asks, a slight quiver to her chin.

“Not directly. Your father was already dead when Luca blackmailed him into convincing you he died.”

Her eyes sharpen. “My father didn’t die in the car bomb?”

“No, according to Santo, he was murdered by Luca and Viktor the night before. The car bomb was a cover-up.”

Frowning, she looks away. “This is such a mess,” she whispers.

I gently lift her chin. “You’re not a prisoner anymore. You’re safe.”

Her eyes widen as she suddenly remembers something. “Oh my God, Lars, there is someone in the basement.”

It’s like a flash of electricity zips through her, and she bolts across the foyer and down the hallway toward the kitchen.

I chase after her and stop her at the cellar door. “Wait,” I beg. “Let me go first.”

“Get out of my way, Lars?—”

“You don’t know who is down there.”

“I was just down there. I saw someone. I don’t know who. But there is someone alive down there.”

It could be anyone .

“Just this once, Little Cinder, listen to me and let me go first.”

Surprising me, she concedes, and I open the door.

Immediately, the blast of cool, stale air hits me, and I descend the tight stairwell which is lit by wall sconces, and the air gets cooler as we descend deeper into the bowels of the mansion.

I can hear the Knights moving around upstairs. They’re checking rooms for anyone who might be hiding in the mansion.

At the bottom step, there is a long hallway which leads to a door.

We stop at the door. It’s timber. Probably reinforced, but I’ll take my chances.

“Stand back, baby,” I say. We don’t know what’s behind this door, and if it’s someone waving a gun around then I need to be able to protect Ella.

She does as I say, and I kick the door, but it resists. So I kick it again and again until it implodes inward.

Immediately, the room behind it comes into view. It’s large, with brick walls and a low ceiling. It’s pooled with golden light from more wall sconces.

The only shadow in the room is near the far wall where there is a bed, medical equipment and a trolley of medical supplies.

And lying on the bed is a body connected to IV fluids.

Angelo Moretti.

Ella’s father .

Behind me, Ella cries out and pushes past me and flings herself at the bed. “Father!”

“Goddammit,” Beast says from behind me. His head is bent because of the low ceiling. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Looks like he’s been locked down here and drugged.”

Beast looks around. “Walls look soundproof so no one could hear him scream if he woke up.”

“Fuck, this is medieval shit,” I say, taking in the old man’s form on the bed. He is out cold. Pale and gaunt. Barely alive.

Beast pulls out his phone. “I’ll call an ambulance.”

“There’s a few bodies around,” I warn him.

“Inside or out?” he asks.

I give him a sheepish grin. “Both.”

He nods. “I brought Bear, Gambit, Axe, and Ryder with me. They’ll load the bodies into the van and dispose of them in the usual place.”

The usual place being the Devil’s Mouth.

“We’ll leave Luca where he is for the authorities,” Beast adds. “He’s too high profile to hide.”

“He was able to hide his father,” I say, looking at an emaciated Angelo on the bed.

“Yes, but he put on an elaborate funeral. Don’t think your girl is going to give him such a farewell.” He pauses. “It’s your kill, so it’s your call. It’s a clear case of self-defense. Although the severed hand might be tricky to explain. ”

“It’s not my kill. It was Ella’s.”

Beast’s expression doesn’t change. He simply nods.

“Go take care of your girl,” he says. “We’ve got this handled.”

I walk over to the bed where Ella weeps, holding her father in her arms.

I look at the old man.

Five months.

Five goddamn months, drugged and locked in a cellar.

Killing Luca Moretti once isn’t enough.

The evil fuck should’ve died slowly, over and over again.