Darkness Embraced (Hades Hangmen 7)

“You betrayed me,” I snarled, desperately trying to keep a check on my rage. “You fucking betrayed me.” My voice barely made a sound at all, but it was dripping with poison.

The tears that had been building in Adelita’s eyes seemed to vanish in an instant, replaced by a spark of rage. She opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the room opened.

“Tanner?”

I spun around, unable to hold back my anger. “Get the fuck out of here before I kill you.” Slash, Zane, and Ash’s eyes widened, and the three of them hurried back from the door. Their faces were confused, like they didn’t know what the fuck was happening. But I’d lost it. I didn’t have it in me to explain. I was done trying to be the Tanner they all knew. The one who kept his temper in check. The one who tried to pretend he wasn’t a stone-cold fucking killer. The one who kept back the part of him that was fucking tapped.

I pulled my knife from the back of my jeans and made sure the gun in my holster was loaded. “Fuck!” I spat, knowing my brothers would be here soon. Knowing the shit was about to go down. My muscles vibrated as I waited for whoever was gonna come through that door. Because they would. And even though these men were my brothers, if they tried to get anywhere close to Adelita, I’d fucking ruin them.

I didn’t have to wait long. Minutes later, Bull, Tank, and Beauty rushed through the door. I fisted my knife and stood in front of Adelita. It was Tank I focused on. He took one look at me and his hands went into the air. “Tann? What the fuck?”

“Get back,” I warned. My voice was pure threat. Bull stepped forward around Tank. “I said get the fuck back!”

“Tann! Shit! What the hell is happening?” Tank blocked Bull from coming any closer. Bull’s face was laced with fury as he watched me like a hawk.

“Tank, get the fuck back. I won’t ask again.”

“Tann, I don’t know what the fuck is happening here. But speak to me. I’m your best friend. Tell me what the fuck is going on! You planning on taking her somewhere? This about your bitch?”

My eyes darted around the room. I had to get Adelita out of here. I had to protect her. No one was touching her. The thought of Shadow taking her from her room, or whoever had tied her to the chair binding her hands and feet, almost pushed me over the edge. My vision was misting with red at the thought.

The door flew open again, and Ky, Styx, Vike, AK, and Rudge barreled through. I locked onto Styx. He was my biggest threat. More brothers piled in. Cowboy and Hush and Smiler. The prospects I’d threatened. The blood in my veins flowed like rapids now, my ears echoing with the adrenaline that was surging through me.

Ky stepped to the front. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Get back,” I said, slowly, so the fucker would know not to test me. Ky blinked in shock, then tipped his head to the side. I knew that look on his face. I’d pissed him off. Before he, or any of them, could speak, I said, “I’m warning you. Any of you try to get to her, I’ll fucking kill you. No one will touch her. Just fucking try me.”

“Finally!” a voice said. I found Vike. Fucker was smiling. “The beast has awakened. The fucking White Prince is here. The beast we’d all heard of. I was wondering where he’d been all this time.”

Ky took a step forward. “I mean it!” I warned. “I don’t wanna hurt you, but I will if you try me.”

“Tann?” Tank pushed Ky back and kept his hand on the VP’s chest to hold him off. Then something flashed across Tank’s face. “The bitch . . .” he said, and I saw he was trying to piece shit together by the look of concentration on his face. He tried to see Adelita behind me. I blocked her from view. “It’s not the cousin in that chair, is it?”

The room filled with tension as silence fell. My eyes flitted from one brother to the next, my knife held out, just in case they tried to blindside me. I heard Adelita hitch a breath as I said, “This is Adelita Quintana.” This time it was Tank I addressed. “And she ain’t my bitch, brother . . . she’s my fucking fiancée.”

Tank’s eyes closed briefly. That was what I’d been keeping from him. That she was so much fucking more than just my bitch. I never moved my attention from him, so Ky caught me off guard when he plowed past Tank and punched me straight across the face. He pushed me against the nearest wall. “Your fiancée? Anything else you’re fucking keeping shut about, asshole?” His words were fuel to the fire that was flaring inside me.

Slamming my hands on his chest, I threw him off me and caught Adelita’s eyes. Tears were running down her cheeks. My stomach fucking plummeted at the sight. Ky used my distraction to hit me again. I tasted blood in my mouth as the fucker kept coming at me.

“No!” I heard Adelita’s voice call out. Shoving Ky back, I fought to get to her. Ky grabbed my arm, and I swung. My fist connected with his lip, busting it wide open. He only smiled, licked his lip, and stormed toward me again. Fucker didn’t know when to stop.

Tank got between us. “Quit it!” he ordered. I looked back at Adelita. Her worried

eyes were still locked on me. “Tann, calm the fuck down.” I breathed in and out, edging away from Tank and back toward Adelita.

A loud whistle cut through the room. Styx pushed through the brothers to stand before us like fucking Hades himself. His hands lifted.

“Calm the fuck down before I make you,” he signed. Tank interpreted. I kept my chin high. I wasn’t backing down, and I wasn’t gonna be made to feel like shit. This was Adelita. My fucking old lady.

Styx signed to Beauty.

“He’s told her to take Adelita back to our room, in the clubhouse,” Tank told me, knowing I didn’t know ASL.

“Sure.” Beauty looked at me, sympathy flooding her eyes.

“Lita,” I said without looking her way. “Beauty’s Tank’s old lady. I’ve told you about her, remember? About Tank?”

“Si,” she whispered. My stomach turned at hearing her voice again. She was scared, but like always, she was refusing to show it.

“Smiler, AK, take Beauty and Quintana’s daughter to the clubhouse and keep guard.”

AK stepped forward with his knife.

“Stay the fuck there,” I said. AK’s jaw clenched. “I’ll untie her.” Keeping my eyes on my brothers, I sliced my knife through the ropes around Adelita’s ankles, then moved behind her to untie her hands. As soon as her hands were free, they found mine. I took a deep breath as her fingers entwined with mine. That fucking feeling I’d held on to for all this time came flooding back. The settling of the rage in my blood. The steady beating of my heart, and the sense of home. Not giving a shit that all of my brothers were here, I moved in front of her, lifted her to her feet, and crushed my lips to hers.

Adelita melted into me as though no time at all had passed. If I hadn’t been aware of where we were, I could have tricked myself into thinking that we were back in Mexico. Back in her room. I was fucking consumed by her. Her smell, her feel, her taste.

When I broke away, Adelita’s eyes opened. Tears fell down her cheeks, and I had to fight back the anger that still burned inside me. She’d been getting married. Here she was, in Texas, in my fucking arms . . . in a white dress meant for someone else.