"His head too," I added, my voice hoarse and thick with emotions. "He got hit in the back of the head with a dumbbell."
Kody's brows shot up, and Steinwick nodded his understanding, then crossed over the lawn to tell James this additional information. Archer shot me an accusatory look, like I'd just tattled on him, but I didn't fucking care. He could have had a concussion or something, and he needed that checked out properly.
"Babe," Kody said, carefully cupping my face and stroking his thumb over my less bruised cheek. "Hey, stay with me. It's all over now. It's done. No one else is going to hurt you, I swear."
It wasn't until he started speaking that I realized I was shivering. More than shivering, I was damn near convulsing. My wrist was numb from the ice, but my whole arm ached with a dull pain. Frowning, I forced myself to draw a couple of deep, slow breaths. I needed to calm down, or I'd do more damage than I already had.
Two ambulances with lights and sirens came speeding across the grass from the direction of the front gates, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Archer needed their help, and Steele needed to be checked out too. Who knew how hard he'd been hit to make that bruise on his face—not to mention whatever the fuck we'd all been gassed with. Shit, everyone needed to be checked out.
"What do we do about the bodies?" I asked Kody with chattering teeth. "Where did he even get so much backup?"
Kody grimaced. "Wraiths. I spotted a gang tattoo on one of the first attackers. Trust me, babe, Charon has a lot to answer for after this mess."
Surprisingly, no cop cars followed the ambulances onto the property. But then, that wasn't actually so surprising, was it? Archer D'Ath was above the law, at least in Shadow Grove. They'd attended the scene when Bree's car had crashed because it had been so public. But here? On our private property? They were firmly turning their heads the other way. And thank fuck for that.
It took some time for the EMTs to check everyone over, but at the end of it, only Archer and I needed to go to the hospital for further treatment. Steele had taken a solid hit to the face but was given the all clear with only a mild concussion.
Kody, though? Fucking Kody. Not a damn scratch on him.
"Seriously?" Archer grumbled at his friend while the EMTs strapped him into a stretcher and stabilized his arm. "How the fuck are you so slippery you didn't even catch a black eye or something? This is such bullshit."
Kody just grinned like a shithead. "Hey man, don't hate the player, hate the game. I can't help that I'm just a bigger badass than you."
Archer glared daggers but couldn't do anything as he was loaded into the back of the ambulance.
"Don't worry about all of this," Steele told me as I frowned in the direction of Dave’s—or Declan's—body. "After you get that wrist sorted, we can debrief. Your injuries take priority, Hellcat."
I jerked a nod of understanding and let the nice, older female EMT coax me into the other ambulance. Even though I was the only one who'd heard my stalker's dying confession, I was a long way from being able to pass the information on. It was so much worse than I'd ever anticipated, and just the idea of voicing the reality made my stomach churn again.
Nope. No, Steele was right. It could wait a couple of hours.
That couple of hours turned into the rest of the night, as Archer was admitted for observation, despite his protests. After my wrist was x-rayed and set in a cast and I'd been given a couple of painkillers for all my other bruises, I'd given him a stern talking to.
James had accompanied us to the hospital, offering to keep an eye on me while Kody and Steele dealt with the cleanup, and I weirdly appreciated his company. I liked him, despite really knowing very little about him. A small part of me hoped that maybe we could get to know each other when my life was less blood soaked.
After all, he was the only genetic family I had left. Chosen family, though? I had plenty of that. Archer, Kody, and Steele owned equal parts of my soul; they were my fucking everything. But the events of the night had brought me clarity regarding the other members of my new family. Anna and Steinwick had gained my undying respect. I doubted I'd ever forget the image of Anna beating a man to death with a skillet.
"He'll be out for a while," James told me softly as I sat beside Archer's bedside. "They've given him some sleeping aid to help his body heal."
I nodded, tired as fuck. "Probably smart," I mumbled. "He wouldn't rest otherwise."
James gave a soft laugh. "Ain't that true. Never met a man so hardheaded in my life." He paused, but I could sense he had more to say.
I didn't push him, though. I was too damn exhausted.
Eventually he sighed, sitting down beside me. "You know... I never even thought about kids. It just never seemed to be in the cards for me, and I was content with the life I had."
I said nothing, but I was curious to see where he was going with this.
"I definitely never thought about what it'd be like to have a daughter, that's for fucking sure. And I sure as fuck never thought I'd be the father to a grown-ass woman who is perfectly capable of standing on her own two feet." He ruffled his fingers through his hair and blew out a long exhale. "Listen, you don't know me from a bar of soap, but for what it's worth..." He trailed off like he had no idea what the right phrasing was for what he wanted to say. Eventually he just shrugged. "You've got three guys who would quite literally die for you, Madison Kate. They love you with a force I never even knew possible. I guess... that's all any parent could want for their kid, right?"
It didn't sound like a rhetorical question; he was genuinely asking if that was the right reaction to his newly discovered adult daughter dating three violent killers.
Glancing over at him, I gave a small smile. "Don't overthink it, James," I advised with a hint of amusement. "It just is what it is."
He gave a small grimace somewhere in the realm of awkward embarrassment. "Well, anyway." Another pause. "Are you happy, Madison Kate? I mean, if you could ignore all the shootings and bombings and stalkers... if you were just a normal girl, dating three guys who loved her equally, would you be happy?"
I raised my brows, not totally sure what point he was making. "Um... well, I don't think I can ignore all those things. Without all of that, I might never have met Archer, Kody, and Steele, so then the answer would be no. I can't possibly picture my life now without the three of them in it. They're it for me, and I love everything that comes with them—blood, violence, and all. So, if your real question is would I change anything if I could? Hell no. This is me, now. The real me. And they're just the other parts to my whole piece."
James held my gaze for a moment, his eyes curious but not judgmental. He just wanted to understand, and I appreciated that about him.
After a second, he jerked a nod. "Well, good. I'm pretty glad I took the job with Archer, that's for sure. I never could have seen this coming, but I'm surprisingly okay with how it's worked out."
I returned his smile. "Me too."
James cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, then gave another short nod. "I'll leave you be. Whenever you want to head home, I'll be in the waiting room, okay?"