Finally, the gunfire stopped, and strong hands grabbed me. A scent that I craved as much as oxygen filled my lungs. “Gatlin,” I gasped, and I was spun and encompassed in strong arms. Finlo was right behind him, and he fell to his knees beside Raiden, sucking in a breath at his injuries. “How long has he been out?”
I shook my head, because I didn’t know. This ordeal felt like it had taken months, but it could have been only an hour. “Forty minutes maybe? I don’t know, he’s been in and out of consciousness.” The panic that I’d kept locked down now threatened to rise up and consume me.
Gatlin squeezed me tightly and passed me into Finlo’s arms as he bent down to check out Raiden. Finlo enveloped me completely in his arms, like he was trying to merge us into one person. “God, I've never been more scared, Princess. Terrified.”
I swallowed hard and suddenly realized I was crying. “Luisa? Ellar and Seven?”
FInlo squeezed me harder. “All fine. Seven was shot, but Doc is patching him up. Luisa and Ellar are at my parents’ house now, and they couldn’t possibly be more protected, I swear to you.”
Guilt washed over me. The Pack house. “The house?”
Finlo hushed me, kissing my face and hair. “We’ll talk about it later. Nothing we can do about it now.”
The shouts of my uncle had me tensing in Finlo’s arms. He was swearing, and I stepped out of Finlo’s arms to look back into the open space. My eyes skittered over the pool of blood where Raiden had been lying and over to my uncle, who was on his knees in front of the man who’d bought me. I was so fucking confused right now.
Finlo must have gleaned the direction of my thoughts. “We’re as surprised as you are, but apparently there's some super secret task force that's been watching your uncle for decades.”
Thank the Goddess. I desperately wanted to watch him taken away in cuffs.
Actually, no I didn’t. I walked toward my uncle, handcuffed on the ground. I walked toward the man who had been a waking nightmare to me for as long as I could remember. He had the fucking audacity to smile up at me, the evil shining brightly in his eyes.
“Ah, Naja. I will be seeing you.”
Calm came over me. Calm like nothing I’d ever felt. I was floating in a sea of nothingness, no sound, no emotion. Just all perfectly blank. I looked down at my uncle and shook my head.
“No, you won’t. Enjoy Hell, you piece of shit.”
I whipped the gun out from between my breasts so fast, sliding off the safety in the same movement, that no one had time to react before I put it to his head, blowing his brains all over the concrete floor.
I had conquered my monster and he’d haunt me no more.
Someone was laughing. I looked up to see one of the big guys pointing and laughing at the other one. Actually, staring at them now, I was fairly sure they were twins.
“Franklin, you’ve got brains on your shoes,” he chortled, like it was the funniest thing ever. Franklin shook his boot, dislodging the chunk of my uncle's brain until it slid onto the floor. “Gross. A little warning next time so I can get out of the splash zone, hey?” he said to me, and seemed more amused than pissed off.
I looked between them all. The only ones who looked concerned were my Alphas, and I was pretty sure that was because I’d just murdered someone in cold blood.
The biggest guy shrugged again. “Eh, he deserved it, and it's less paperwork this way. We’re going to have to get clean-up in here though.”
“Leave it to me.” The Witch Miranda appeared from somewhere, completely bathed in blood, and grinning. The actual fuck?
The big guy rolled his eyes. “You know this is why we don’t invite witches to these things normally, Miranda. You guys always have to play with your food. It's hell on stealth missions.”
Miranda continued to grin completely unapologetically. She murmured something beneath her breath, waving a finger, and then everything disappeared. The bodies, the blood, all of it.
“Waste not, want not, young Alpha,” she said to the big guy, before turning to us. “Are you guys ready to go? I’ll give you a lift home.”
Gatlin was nodding, but someone cleared their throat. It was the guy who’d bought me. I froze. “I’d like a word with Naja, if I may?”
I could sense my Alphas preparing to say no, so I stepped toward him and nodded. The more I stared at him, the more familiar he looked, but I couldn’t work out why. Oh, he was still cold, dead behind his eyes, and yet there was something about those eyes that my brain was furiously trying to remember.
We were silent for a long time, and I was wondering if he was ever going to speak when he finally said, “All your siblings are safe. The babies. I bought them from Iago every time one came up for sale. He thought he was scamming me out of money, but the truth is, I would have paid a lot more to save their lives.”
Of all the things I’d expected him to say, that wasn’t it. “What?” I shook my head, not understanding. “Why? I mean, thank you, but why?”
He sucked in a deep breath. “Because they were innocent. Because they were your siblings. Because they deserved the happiness I couldn’t give you.”
I could hear Gatlin’s low grumble behind me, but he made no move to pull me back to him. “But why? Why do I matter enough that you’d pay to save my siblings?”
