My Maddie (Hades Hangmen #8) - Tillie Cole Page 0,50

out who it was. “FLAME!” Roaring out in anger, I looked back. I recognized the bike. Ash, it was Ash. Clenching my jaw, I slammed on the brakes and spun the bike around. Ash stopped too, right in the middle of the road.

“Go home,” I ordered, and pointed my knife at his face. “Get the fuck home. You can’t stop me. I’m going to kill the bastards who hurt Maddie. No one can fucking stop me!”

“I know,” Ash said, and lowered my blade away from his face. I slashed the knife down my arm. My eyes closed as the blood spilled on my thighs. I gripped my cock under my leathers and squeezed until it hurt, until it made me bite my tongue so hard it bled. I drank the blood down. “I’m not here to stop you,” Ash said. My eyes snapped open. I had to move. I had to leave. Ash kicked his bike into fucking life. He pulled out his knife, moved his cut to the side and showed me his gun in a holster. “I’m coming with you.” Ash lifted the sleeve of his shirt and sliced along his arm. Blood ran down his arm, and to the ground. “I’m your fucking brother, Flame. Those cunts tried to take Maddie from us. Tried to take your kid.” Ash licked at the blade, blood covering his tongue. “I’m coming with you, to kill them. I swear, on this fucking blood, we’re gonna kill them and avenge Maddie.” Ash stared at me, keeping his knife in hand. “I’m not leaving, so don’t ask me to.” His head dropped slightly; eyes fixed on the road. “You’re my brother, Flame. You’re my blood. I ain’t letting you go in there alone. I’m coming. I’m a Cade. I can kill alongside you.”

Looking just like someone we both knew, brother… My head twitched as I remembered his words from the woods. He fucking hated me. Ash fucking hated me.

“Let me fight beside you, Flame. Let me…” His voice cut out and his eyes lifted. They shined with tears. I didn’t know why. He thought I was like our poppa. He thought I was evil. That I would hurt him like our poppa hurt us both. “Just let me come, okay?” His voice sounded different. Something broke through the anger and poison in my veins. A fucking ache in my chest—something I got with Maddie. I used to feel it with my mama and Isaiah. Now I felt it with Ash.

“We need to go, now” I said and slipped my knife back in my cut. I kicked-started the bike and my engine fucking roared. “We ain’t stopping ‘til we get there,” I pushed. Ash pulled beside me. I looked over at him. He had flame tattoos on his skin. We had the same black eyes and the same black hair.

Ash turned at me. “Let’s go kill these fuckers. Us two. Yeah? For Maddie.”

Then we set off. Death was coming to the devil-worshippers. The Cade brothers hell bent on delivering the fucking fatal blows.

Chapter Six

Maddie

I blinked my eyes open. The sound of the hospital machines beeped with a steady rhythm, the noise music to my ears. The rhythm told me we were alive. A nurse was at my side. “We’re removing all this today, darling. You’re going home. You and that little one are healthy and free of smoke. You’re very lucky.”

“Home,” I whispered, taking a deep, replenishing breath. I craved the comfort and safety of our cabin. I yearned for the warmth of our marital bed. And I needed to take Flame away from this place. I needed to remind him of who he was. I had to bring him back to me. Back to my heart where he belonged.

I turned my head, searching for my husband, who was sitting on the chair. I frowned when I saw he was not there. Not having him beside made me feel like I was missing a limb. For days I had to endure watching him slowly come undone, knife always in his hand, always pushing into his flesh. I felt my heart breaking, minute after minute, cracking in two, watching the man I loved beyond words rocking on the chair, eyes fixed on the floor. It was agony to witness him falling apart. No matter how hard I tried to console him, to hold him, to kiss away his fears, Flame held back. He stopped speaking. But his eyes betrayed his inner torment. His