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I stared at his face, almost peaceful in his unconscious state. His skin was so damn pale that I felt this thick knot become lodged in my throat.
I could hear everyone talking, but it sounded like I was underwater. I could only focus on his face.
I didn’t know how much time passed. It could have been seconds, definitely minutes, hell, maybe even hours had gone by. I stood still in my same spot, away from everyone, out of the way, too scared to move.
Nobody glanced my way, clearly having forgotten me. I should’ve snuck out, ran, left out the door. No one would probably notice. But for some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t move, my eyes wide as I stared at the woman trying to save him.
Blood. There was so much blood. God.
I felt the tension of the room so thickly it wrapped around my throat, squeezing the air from me.
And then it was as if something was loosened, the noose not as tight around everyone’s necks. The three men stepped away, murmuring softly to each other, their voices deep and, although hushed, had a hard edge to them.
The one named Cullen leaned down and kissed the woman on top of the head who’d been working on the wounded man. He ran his hand up and down her back, said something softly to her, and I watched as she nodded, tipping her head back to look at him, the strain and exhaustion very clear on her face.
There was another woman in the room, one who stayed close to the man named Dom. These were their women, I assumed.
“Is he going to live?” the driver asked, although his face was hard and devoid of emotion. The stoic expression on his face was startling, but his voice betrayed how he felt. He was worried. Everyone in the damn room was worried.
The woman who’d been working on the wounded man exhaled and shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, Frankie. I got the wound to stop bleeding, and he’s stable right now by some miracle, but I just don’t know.” The room was silent again. “Right now, he’s out of immediate danger, but the next couple hours will be pretty iffy.” The woman looked over at Frankie. “If you’re not a praying man, now might be the time to start.”
Chapter Five
Wilder
I tasted copper, like I had a mouthful of pennies. It coated my tongue, slid down the back of my throat. Weights held me down, a thickness that coated me in this visceral sensation.
“Fucking hell, someone do something!” I heard Dom shout, or maybe it was Frankie, Cullen.
“He’s losing blood. Get me all the supplies,” a female spoke, maybe Dom’s woman. Cullen’s?
I’m fine. What’s all the fucking panic about?
I thought I said those words out loud, but they rattled around in my head over and over again like that lone shoe in the dryer just banging the shit out of itself.
I tried to open my eyes, but they felt glued shut.
What the fuck?
“Who the hell is she?” one of my brothers spoke, but I couldn’t place who it was. Everything started sounding more distant, distorted. Whoever spoke, his voice was clipped, angry.
“She saw it all. She saw too much.” That was Frankie’s voice, sounding strained, heavy with something, an emotion I couldn’t place, one I’d never heard come from him before. “No fucking way I’d leave her. So she could tell the cops? Fuck no.”
There was a distinct female murmur, one that sounded muffled, as if a hand was over their mouth. I tried to sit up, open my eyes. I needed to know what the fuck was going on.
“Everyone out that is only going to argue. You’re making it worse,” Cullen’s female, Kimber, yelled. She sounded pissed.
There was a rush of voices.
“Everyone, calm down,” Kimber snapped. “I need to focus on this or I can’t help him.”
I groaned as pain started to lance through me like a fucking hot poker.
“Cullen,” Kimber whispered. “I can’t do this. I’m not a doctor.” I heard tears in her voice, but for the life of me, I couldn’t move anymore, could barely breathe.
“Baby, you got this. Please. You got this.” I’d never heard Cullen sound so… distraught.
And then there was silence, a door closing, the heaviness of the room tangible.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to try to save your life, Wilder. I’m going to try, and God help everyone if you don’t make it.”
Kimber was still crying, but it became more distant, like I stood down a long hallway and she kept moving farther from me.
“God help the world, because this’ll break the Preacher brothers apart and have hell raining down on them.”
And it was that last sentence she spoke that finally pulled me under, and I gratefully let that darkness claim me.
Chapter Six
Zoey
He’d been in and out of consciousness for the last hour, and I could see the worry on everyone’s face each time he woke up then passed back out. He murmured incoherently every once in a while, but I never moved from my spot. My legs ached, my body was tired, and the adrenaline high was starting to wane. I had no idea what they’d do with me, but one thing never left my mind.
