Page 10 of Jezebel’s Liberation (Hellfire Hackers #1)
“ F ucking hell.”
The words rush out of me as I drop to my knees next to Jez. Demon is handling Ted McCormick, and I trust him to eliminate the bastard.
“I should’ve killed you years ago,” Demon snarls right before a gunshot echoes in the space.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him what the hell he means by that, but my focus is on the unconscious woman we came to save.
Brushing a strand of hair off her face, I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. “C’mon, baby, wake up for me.”
The endearment slipped past my lips, and I have no doubt she’d cold cock me if she heard it.
“Motherfucker, what did he do to her?” Demon asks as he crouches on her other side.
“I don’t know.” I glance over my shoulder and see Ted lying on the floor with vacant eyes. “He’s dead?”
“Yeah.” Demon slips his arms under Jez and easily lifts her in his arms as he rises to his full height. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
I pull out my cell and search for the nearest hospital. “St. Joseph’s is a few miles from here,” I tell him.
“No hospitals,” he snaps. After sliding her into the backseat of the car we drove, he digs in his cut and grabs his own phone.
“She needs medical att?—”
“Abyss,” he barks into the phone before putting it on speaker. “We’ll be coming in hot in a few hours. Need you ready to provide medical care.”
“Ah, who’s we, and who needs care?” the man on the other end of the line asks.
“Does it matter?” Demon snaps.
“Demon,” another man says. “What the fuck is going on?”
The man next to me sighs as he climbs into the driver’s seat, and I sit in the back with Jez.
“Hey, Prez,” he says, resignation in his tone.
“Answer the damn question,” Soul orders.
Demon glances in the rearview mirror at me and Jez, a scowl on his face. “It’s Jez,” he admits. “And we’re bringing her home from Phoenix.”
“What the fuck are you doing in Phoenix?” the MC president shouts.
Jez stirs, and I tense. “Care to keep the fighting to a minimum?” I snap.
“Who the hell is that?” Soul demands.
“Phantom,” Demon replies. “He’s, uh, a friend of your sister.”
“A friend?”
“I’m the man holding Jez together at the moment, and that’s all you need to know,” I snarl.
“Demon, you’ve got a shitload of problems waiting for you when you get back here,” Soul says. “But for now, take care of my sister.”
“Yes, Prez.”
The call is disconnected, and Demon sighs loudly.
“So, that’s Soul,” I comment dryly.
“Yep.”
Jez stirs again, and she slowly blinks her eyes open. Terror fills her pretty irises almost immediately, and she tries to sit up.
“Shhh, Jez,” I soothe, gently holding her down. “You’re safe now.”
Her skin is caked in blood, and what’s left of her filthy bra and panties will definitely need burned because there’s no salvaging them, but she still looks beautiful.
“Hey, Jez,” Demon says as he continues to navigate the highway.
“D-Demon?” she stutters.
“Yeah, babe, it’s me.”
Babe?
“How’d you f-find me?”
A quick glance at the rearview mirror shows me his frown. “I had some help.”
She turns her head to look at me. “Phantom?”
I grin, even though the situation is anything but positive. “Hi, Jezebel.”
Her eyes narrow as she struggles to sit up, wincing as her wounds are irritated by the movement. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like how or why you’re here?”
I shrug. “Because you won’t. But I don’t give a fuck. You were missing, and we’re a team, so get over it.”
Demon snorts. “Maybe I was wrong. You don’t know her very well.”
She presses her fingers to her temples as if warding off a headache. “We can sort out the how and why later. Right now, I only need to know one thing.”
“What’s that, babe?” Demon asks.
“First of all, it’s Jez,” she snaps. “Not babe . And second of all, are you here on behalf of the club?”
“No,” Demon and I reply in unison.
She presses her cracked lips together for a long moment before jerking a nod. “Good.” She resettles and rests her head on my lap. “Then take me the fuck home. I could really use a shower.”
Demon and I exchange a look, but neither of us says a word as the miles fly by over the next few hours.