Lucifer's Hounds MC Book One

Chapter One

Lilly Summers tapped her foot anxiously as she watched the clock move slowly toward six. Mindy, her relief as well as her best friend, was usually early. Like clockwork, Mindy walked in fifteen minutes early, her light brown curls bounced down the middle of her back with each stride as she walked through the bar with confidence.

She disappeared into the back but not before kissing Lilly's cheek in passing. Lilly called her last call before shift change to the two customers who sat at the bar. They were older, a man and a woman, and they reeked. Sitting at the end of the bar, directly in front of the window unit, the smell of body odor had been blowing into her since they arrived.

The first few times they had been in the bar, Lilly found herself nonchalantly attempting to smell her own armpits, thinking that maybe she had forgotten to apply deodorant. After the second time, Lilly caught on and realized it wasn't her. It was John and Melinda, a couple who had been married for about twenty years. They were what Lilly and Mindy would call "Semi-regulars" because they only came in sometimes.

"Lilly! Shifts over. Clock out and go home, woman." Mindy yelled from down the bar.

"I'm finishing paperwork now. Don't fuss me. Besides, I'm leaving town when I get out of here," Lilly said, sticking her tongue out at her friend.

Mindy's eyebrows went up. "Is that so? Where to this time, my little drifter?"

She can't help but laugh. "Why must I be a drifter? Why can't I just be spontaneous?"

"Because you're a drifter, Lilly."

Lilly's eyes met hers and she saw a look in them that said she understood her. She knew Lilly better than almost anyone. "I'm going to Houston for a few days. I need a break from this place."

"Houston sounds wonderful. Let me know when you get there."

"Of course, ma'am."

Lilly closed the day shift binder and put it in the safe along with her bank bag. Creek's Sports Bar was a tiny bar room in the small town of Port Vincent, Louisiana, on a side road. Although it was a hole in the wall, she loved it there. She got a moderate amount of time off and her gypsy soul needed that.

She kissed Mindy on the cheek before heading to the car. Lilly's three days off would be spent in Houston with a camera by day and a drink in her hand by sundown. She had always been a random road trip kind of girl, and she didn't think that would ever change. There was something about the complete and utter freedom of a long drive and music, tuning out everything else in the world.

Lilly whipped into the driveway of her small, but cozy home. She went straight to her closet, rummaging for clothes. Throwing in a week's supply, she zipped her duffel bag up and tossed it into the passenger seat. She took off for Houston, more excited for the drive itself than the actual trip. It was only a five-hour drive from her hometown and she'd been looking forward to this trip for weeks now.

With Sammy Kershaw Pandora blasting through her speakers, she drove down Interstate Ten. She didn't think she would ever get over the Atchafalaya Basin. That had to be the longest bridge ever. The sun began setting in the distance, and Lilly couldn't drag her eyes from the way the sunlight made beautiful colors of purple and orange across the horizon. The water beneath the bridge was calm and looked like glass with the sun beating down on it. Moss hung from the trees and a flock of birds flew overhead, catching Lilly's eye. She thought it would be nice to be a bird, to fly wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted, but the more she thought about the technicalities, she realized that maybe that wasn't for her. Heights were not her strong suit.