Devil's Ride (Royal Bastards MC Tonopah, NV #3) - Nikki Landis Page 0,6

with the prospect. “Because I like fucking with sick and demented souls.”

A grin widened my lips. “Fuck yeah.” But I wasn’t interested in turning into a woman. Fuck that.

The devil chuckled. “You won’t be getting that handy little trick. I must keep some of my abilities mine alone.”

Yeah, I figured as much.

“What I can do is give you a gift that few can boast.” He tilted his head to the side. “You familiar with the Grim Reaper? What he does?”

Yep. “Like killing people with a scythe?”

He smirked. “You could say that. A true reaper harvests souls. He sends them to hell for eternity. It’s the soul that matters.” He knelt down in front of me, careful not to get a speck of dust or sand on his suit. “For you, I’ll throw in a little something special. Auras are the true reflection of the soul. You want to know who’s worthy of the Reaper’s blade? The darkest souls. Those that are covered in ebony shadow.”

My head grew a little fuzzy with his description. The blood loss was starting to take its toll.

Two fingers snapped in front of my face. “You don’t have a lot of time left, Dexter Lanford. The devil is knocking. Will you answer?”

I groaned as the pain in my body increased. It was a trick. I knew that. The devil was messing with my head, but I also knew that I wanted retribution and blood for what the Scorpions had done to my club. Keys and Lockjaw were dead. That shit wasn’t going unpunished even if I had to come back from the dead to do it.

The devil laughed and stood, snapping his fingers one more time as a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air. An invisible pen began writing words in onyx ink quickly down the page and left two blank lines at the bottom. He lifted his other hand and bit off the edge of his finger as blood dripped from the digit and he signed the bottom line in his dark crimson blood. The wound healed immediately.

“Your turn.”

He thrust the contract close enough that I could read the contents from top to bottom. A twisted smile curved my lips. I was bound to the individual who signed this contract. Lucifer Morningstar.

Given carte blanche, my only requirement was reaping souls and handing them over to the devil to fulfill the contract. There was no specific number written down but explicit instructions for recognizing souls that were to be reaped. Fail to take out those marked, I was in violation of his contract. Punishment could mean revocation of my abilities and immediate death. If that happened, my soul was Lucifer’s. Either way, he won.

Brilliant. There was no way to trick the devil. He was a master of deception and had already proved it. Lucifer was ensuring he received exactly what he wanted. If I didn’t sign his contract, he would simply find another soul that would. It wasn’t complicated to understand.

“My club?” I asked, taking an unsteady breath.

“You will take the position that Keys wanted. The president of the Royal Bastards MC. The devil’s instrument.” He paused and leaned forward, touching the tip of his finger to my forehead.

A shock jolted my body back into full awareness and I realized I had nearly died before I could sign the contract. “Shit,” I cursed.

“You will take on a new road name. A name that personifies your position and authority and you will rule over all others beneath you. Your brethren will also join and sign my contract. Each member will take the Devil’s Ride. If they live, they’ll become patched in. If not, they are not worthy.”

“Yes,” I finally agreed, swiping a finger through the blood on my abdomen and signing the blank line on the contract.

At the devil’s urging, I took on a new identity to cement my leadership and allegiance to my club. It wasn’t hard to come up with a road name that instantly evoked fear. A name that perfectly described my transformation. I wanted vengeance, the suffering of my enemies, and the calculating ability to rain down hell upon those deserved it. A name that symbolized the cold, hard bastard I’d become.

Grim, the Reaper.

Lucifer’s hand pressed to my chest and he smiled with triumph.

“Reap. Your. Souls.”

My body was seized in a wave of pain so strong that I felt every limb ripped apart all at once. A cry of agony left my lips and my eyes fluttered shut. I briefly wondered