Chapter Two

Leia thought that was the end of the man named Brimstone. She hoped she had saved him, like he had saved her from the clutches of the drunk. Death always followed, but perhaps she had given him one more night. She had done a good deed and hadn't suffered any consequences, so all's well that ended well. Or something like that. Clint and the other staff wished her good night and left her to clean the bar. Alone. Just like she preferred.

As she mindlessly wiped off tables, her mind drifted once more toward the biker. She knew what he was by the patches on his leather vest. She'd watched plenty of cop shows to know they were bad news. Still, he had been a handsome son of a gun. Big. Muscular. Silver threaded through dirty blond hair. Piercing blue eyes. A scruff beard covering his strong jaw. If she'd been a normal woman, and he'd been a normal man, he would be the type of man she would've found attractive. Too bad she'd never be able to have a normal relationship.

She worked her way from the back of the bar toward the kitchen. The work was a bit monotonous, but she liked it that way. No other people around to figure out how weird she was. Once upon a time she had tried being an ordinary person, working an ordinary job. But her curse had reared its ugly head and caused her world to come crumbling down. That was when she gave everything up. Moved far away. Decided working alone cleaning a bar was preferable to living with people. Having to serve customers had pushed her anxiety to the limit.

Once the bar area had been mopped and wiped down, she put her cart away to tackle the kitchen. The bathrooms would be the last thing she cleaned before leaving for the night. The dirty dishes had been left behind, so she rinsed everything off before loading them into the large commercial washer.

Her night almost over, Leia made her way toward the bathrooms, when suddenly the side door opened. Brim strode forcefully inside, directly up to her, and she quickly backed up to escape. He grabbed her arm, halting her retreat, and gave her a shake.

"Did you set that up?" he demanded. Fire burned in his gaze, and he scared the hell out of her. "Are you working with the club? Well? Are you?"

"Let me go!" she cried.

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me who paid you to assassinate me."

She frantically clawed at his hand, trying to free herself. The big, unforgiving biker took hold of her other hand and marched her until her back hit a wall. She stared up at him, fear slicing through her, until she noticed the shadow of death was gone. Leia stilled. She never had seen one completely disappear before.

"It's gone," she whispered.

Brim narrowed his eyes. "What's gone?"

"The shadow of death … it's gone."

If possible, his scowl deepened even more. "Don't throw that paranormal shit at me."

"You don't understand," she said. She didn't know why she wanted to convince him, but this was a monumental moment and she needed him to understand. "The only time I've seen it go away is when it takes the soul. But you're here. Not dead."

For a moment, her fear had been replaced with confusion. He was the first person to defeat death, at least from her point of view. She had spent her whole life hiding from the specter. Never did she think there was a way to escape it.

"What did you do?" she asked. "How did you make it go away?"

"You don't want to know."

She frowned. "Yes, I do."

He didn't answer right away, which locked them in an odd silent battle of wills. Where she got this burst of bravery she didn't know, but something compelled her to learn how he had defeated the shadow.

"Please," she finally said, not in the least bit ashamed to beg.

"The assassin was right where you said he'd be," Brim replied. "I never travel anywhere without a way to protect myself. I made sure to get him before he got me."

Understanding flooded her. "You gave the shadow of death another soul to take, instead of yours."

He blinked, looking slightly confused. "Did you just hear what I said?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand what I said?"

"Yes. You killed him."

"You don't seem too scared about my confession."

She shook her head. "That's where you'd be wrong. I'm scared of everything … including you. But I think I'm more scared of that black hole of death."

"He was the enforcer of my club," Brim said harshly. Anger was still present in his countenance. "Tell me the truth, Leia. Are you working with someone in my club to bring me down?"

"No, of course not! Why would I give you a warning if I was working for someone who wanted you dead? Didn't you question him before you killed him?"

"I thought it was that drunk asshole!"

"And I told you it wasn't."

They stared at one another, and she had no idea how to convince him she wasn't his enemy. Slowly, he let go of her, although he didn't take a step away. He kept her confined against the wall by placing his hands on either side of her head.

"I've been gone for a while," he said, finally breaking the silence. "I went nomad to get my head on straight. I'm not stupid in knowing that politics can shift during an absence, but sending someone to kill me is a layer of betrayal that can tear a club apart. This runs deep."

Just when she thought she would be free of him, he took hold of one wrist and clicked one end of a handcuff around it. Then quick as lightning, secured the other side to his beltloop. A new type of horror shot through her, and she tugged futilely at the confinement.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Are you crazy? Let go of me!"

She was no match for his indomitable strength. He didn't even budge when she used her shoulder to ram into his frame.

"Stop it," he ordered. "Until I get to the bottom of this, you're coming with me."

"This is kidnapping! You'll be arrested."

He gave a sardonic smile that in no way resembled humor. "Darlin', I just told you I killed a man. Do you think I give a flying fuck about a kidnapping threat?"

"I don't care about that! I'm not involved with your group. Please! Let me go."

She kept yanking at the handcuff, but all it did was scratch her skin. Until he took his jeans off, she was trapped. Frustration bubbled over and she growled her irritation. She should have known. Do one nice thing for someone and now she was this madman's prisoner.

That about summed up all her bad luck in life.