Page 55 of Demon
My face flushed with heat, and I glanced at Demon, a smirk pulling at his lips.
“He’s winding you up, darl’.”
“Ignore Magnet,” Suzy said from the other side of the bike. “I’m glad you like it. I sewed that pattern into the leather. Just for him to sit his arse down on it.”
“You did that?”
Suzy nodded. “I’m kinda handy with a needle and thread. Pleased you’re coming with us today, Ciara. Be nice to see Demon smile for a change.”
Demon frowned beside me, hanging his helmet on the handlebars, and wandering off, Magnet half a step behind him. A little way in the distance, men I recognised gathered, chatting and laughing. All apart from Indie and Demon. Both of them looked tense. Distracted.
“What’s going on with those two?” I asked the petite blonde watching from beside me.
“This is the first time Indie’s ever led the ride.”
“Led the ride?”
“Yeah. The club ride in formation. The president always at the front. This is the first time since Ste’s been Pres that he’s ever missed it.”
“How long has he been president for?” I asked.
“Thirty-odd years. Maybe more. Demon wasn’t even born when he took the reins from the oldest brother.”
“I didn’t know Demon’s dad had a brother.”
“He had two. Ade and Si. They’re both dead now.”
“How?” I lowered my voice, knowing I was asking something personal. Personal to Demon and personal to the club.
“Ade was killed by the Notorious MC. Years ago,” she added, when I was sure I could feel the colour draining from my face. “It was back in the 1990s. When the biker wars were rife. Ade was the president before Ste. The wars have all ended now. So long as no one cocks up and does something stupid, the clubs generally respect each other’s patches.”
I swallowed, that ball of anxiety forming in my stomach once again. I knew what these MCs were. I’d heard the rumours. But maybe I’d just romanticised what they all got up to.
“And the other brother? He die the same way?”
“No,” Suzy’s voice lowered, and she glanced nervously in the direction of the leather clad men standing not too far away. “I don’t know exactly what happened. But rumour has it one of the club members killed him.”
My heart beat harder.
“Which one? Is he here?”
Suzy shook her head. “No, he was exiled. A long time ago. No one’s ever seen him since. I don’t know why they didn’t kill him. It’s club rules; an eye for an eye.”
I glanced again at the men standing around chatting, watching Indie still looking uncomfortable and Demon looking like he would have preferred to be anywhere else. Is that why they stayed in this life? Because there was no other choice. Just like the mafia, death the only way out.
And those thoughts bounded round my head as the men moved back to their bikes and replaced helmets. I pulled mine back on too, hiding the war of emotions behind the clear visor. The mass of bikes started up. An orchestra of roars and deep guttural purrs vibrating into the gentle summer’s day. A flock of birds took flight, disturbed from a nearby tree, the sudden growls from below dangerous, and as I watched their dark bodies get smaller in the sky, I wondered whether I should do the same.
Demon climbed over the bike, kicking back the side stand and straightening it before twisting around and patting the back of the seat. And I hesitated, watching the rest of the riders and passengers mounting up. Maybe this was a bad idea? Maybe I was setting Demon’s expectations too high, letting him think this, us, could go somewhere.
“Come on, Ciara,” Demon growled from behind the helmet as the first bikes peeled out of the carpark, pulling onto the road, and waiting to take up this ride formation Suzy had talked about.
I glanced around again and back up to the trees, to where the birds had followed their instincts. Seemed I wasn’t as sensible as them. And then I swung my leg over the seat, settling into place behind him and wrapping my stiff leather arms around his waist.
Indie passed in front of us, his bike rattling with that low thrum of power and the three crowned skulls staring at me as they went. Another rider followed him, and the rest of the ride waited patiently, until Fury and the big old guy I’d seen a few times with the white hair pulled in behind the two riders leading the ride. Then, the lazy tones of vibrating bikes changed, an angry roar filling the air as twenty or more engines revved and growled, pulling in behind the first riders to take up position and looking more like they were riding into war rather than heading out for a leisurely bike ride.
Demon joined nearer the end, letting a mass of grinning skulls go before him. The only ones left to join were the two men with the plain leather cuts and a handful of randomly dressed bikers after them.
And now, under the steady rumble of the big engine and the cacophony of the bikes around us, we took to the road. There was no getting off now. Literally. But something else told me that there was more. That this feeling of dread, trepidation and excitement meant something. And despite my worries, and despite the annoying little voice in the back of my head, I had this feeling of finally belonging to something, someone. And I guess I could get used to it.