"Babe!" Kody shouted from somewhere nearby, racing out from the shelter of some trees to scoop me up in his arms.
Dave seemed almost frozen in place, still upright on his knees with a look of abject horror on his face. A second shot tore through his shoulder, jerking his body, and a moment later, Steinwick appeared from freaking nowhere and slammed his fist across Dave's face.
"Steinwick?" I exclaimed, even as Kody tried to carry me away to safety. "No, Kody, put me down. It was Dave. It was him all along. Stop!" My order echoed through the suddenly quiet night air, and Kody froze in his tracks.
"Babe, you need—"
"No!" I cut him off, "I need answers. Put me the fuck down!"
He only needed to look into my determined gaze for a second before doing what I asked. He trusted me not to be an idiot, and I really didn't want to disappoint him. Besides, it was my wrist that was broken, not my ankle. I could walk just fine.
Okay, so it was more of a stagger as I made my way back to Dave and found Steinwick standing over him with a gun. Fucking Steinwick.
"Nice punch," I murmured to him as I dropped to my knees in the grass. Dave wasn't going anywhere. Not with two bullet holes in his chest.
Several more shots rang out, and I barely flinched. Now that I knew Kody was here, I was sure Steele was on the other end of that rifle. He must be cleaning up any remaining attackers.
James jogged across the lawn toward us, a rifle of his own tucked under his arm and blood dripping down his face. I ignored him, though, turning my attention back to the dying man before me.
"Why?" I demanded. "What connection did you even have to my mom? To me?" All his background checks had been clear. There had been no reason to suspect him. Not one... or not anything that we'd found.
Blood bubbling from his chest wounds, Dave gave a gasping laugh,. One bullet had struck him near his shoulder, not an immediately fatal wound. The other looked a whole lot more serious, though.
"We need to get him to the hospital," I announced to anyone who was listening.
Kody scoffed. "Fuck that, I'm not saving this sick fuck."
I shook my head. "I don't want to save him, but this is too fast. Too merciful. He needs to pay... painfully. For days. He can't die this quickly; he doesn't fucking deserve it."
James crouched down beside us and shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. That hole in his aorta will see him dead before we could even get him into a car."
Frustration burned through me, but I just gritted my teeth and glared down at the security guard who we'd thought to be so trustworthy.
"Who are you really?" I demanded. "You're dead in minutes, might as well rip the mask off, Dave."
Blood ran from his lips, but his familiar gaze was steady on mine as he tried to form words. Fuck. Fuck. He’d better not die before giving me at least one answer. Because right now all I had were more questions.
His lips moved again, and I crouched lower to try and hear him. There was a sickening wheezing sound mixed with the gurgle of blood, but right on the end of his last exhale, I got my clue.
"Declan."
It took a second for that name to click in my brain, but when it did, I felt like I'd been hit by lightning. Horrified, I jerked back from his lifeless gaze and lost my balance, putting my hand out to brace myself. But I forgot about my broken wrist.
An agonized scream ripped out of my throat, but it wasn't just from the pain in my hand. It was for my mom... because the man who'd stalked her, raped her, was her own twin brother.
39
There was no stopping the vomit after all those pieces clicked together in my brain. I crouched on my knees, emptying my stomach into a garden bed while Kody rubbed my back. Steele arrived just a minute later, his rifle tucked under his arm and a fresh bruise blooming on his cheek.
"Hellcat," he exhaled when he spotted me shivering under Kody's arm. "You're okay?"
Kody snorted as I wiped my mouth off on my forearm. "What the fuck does it look like, bro? She's far from okay."
I gave him a small jab in the ribs. "I'm okay," I told Steele. "Nothing that won't heal."
Movement from the house drew everyone's attention, and both James and Steele swung their guns up to aim before the person staggered out of the shadows and into the light from the security spotlights.
"Thank fuck," I exclaimed, staggering to my feet to run at top speed across the lawn. My broken wrist and multiple bruises were totally forgotten as I threw myself at Archer, clinging onto him as I sobbed into his chest.
He let out a small grunt of pain, but one arm wrapped around me tight, holding me against him with just as much desperation as I was feeling. I'd thought for sure he was dead. That hit he'd taken from the weight, then the gunshot... but of course he wasn't dead. This was Archer D'Ath; he was basically indestructible.
"I'm okay, baby girl," he murmured in my ear, his lips moving against my skin. "I'm alive. It's okay, shh, don't cry."
His words made sense, but I couldn't stop. I was shaking all over, tears pouring from my eyes and my chest aching with an overload of emotions.
"Hellcat." Steele stroked a gentle hand down my back. "Gorgeous, can you let go for a second? Arch needs his shoulder popped back into place, and your wrist needs attention."
I jerked back with a gasp, my gaze taking in the way Archer's arm hung limp at his side and the steady drip of blood coloring the grass at our feet.
"Shit, I'm so sorry." I sniffed to try and control my tears but had exactly zero luck. "S-sorry. Arch, you're bleeding really hard. Steele, he's—"
"We've got it, babe," Kody cut me off in a smooth, gentle tone. "Come, sit with me over here. Will you be okay a couple of minutes while James stops Archer bleeding?"
Nodding quickly, I let him lead me over to the outdoor table and took a seat when he pulled it out for me. James and Steele—the only ones who actually knew what they were doing—went to work on Archer where he stood.
Steinwick came rushing back over the lawn carrying a large medical kit, which he must have just fetched from James's shed. Anna appeared out of the house, looking pale and shocked, but rushed straight over to where I sat with Kody.
"Oh, my girl, what a mess," she murmured as she took in my newest injuries. "Wait here."
Not like I was going anywhere, but I nodded. My eyes were glued to Archer, though, watching with choking concern as James peeled Archer's T-shirt up to inspect the bullet hole on his side. Steele handed him wipes, and they quickly patched it up with gauze, then wrapped a bandage tightly around his waist to hold pressure against the wound.
They then worked in tandem to pop Archer's shoulder back into place. It took them several tries, and when it eventually slid into place, Archer's face was gray and sweat beaded on his brow.
"Just keep that there," Anna said to me, and I blinked rapidly, not having noticed she'd returned. An ice pack was wrapped around my broken wrist where it rested on the table, and I had no recollection of her having done it. Shock must be setting in.
"Ambulance is just two minutes away," Steinwick informed Kody, touching him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Archer will need to be taken in with Madison Kate. That gunshot wound needs stitching properly." He nodded over to where James was asking Archer a series of questions.