Jed swings the rope over a particularly thick branch and hoists himself off the ground, swinging back and forth totest its sturdiness. “Hope you like dancing,” he tells our captive with a sharp grin, “because that’s the last bit of sport you’ll get to do. But don’t worry, me and Warren’s gonna sing for you so you don’t feel like you’re performing alone. Just keep the tempo steady for us, yeah?”
Watching the son of a bitch dancing for death at the end of a rope while trying to dodge bullets is gonna be fun. First from our revolvers, then the shotgun for last. He’s gotten away with this for far too long, and now it’s time to pay. But first, I need to make doubly sure Mara understands what’s about to happen. I rest my chin on her head and keep my voice low. “This is gonna get ugly. Ugly enough to haunt a man’s dreams, let alone someone as sweet as you. So it’s okay if you change your mind about wanting to stay. Just say the word and I’ll bring you back to Pop and the children.”
“No.” Anger flares so brightly in her beautiful blue eyes as she fists my shirt. “I want to watch him take his last breath. And then I want to go home and be with you. With my babies and Patches all safe around me.”
I ensnare her wrists and keep them pressed to my chest. “I want the same thing exactly, Mara. But what I don’t want is you getting bad dreams afterwards. Once you witness someone’s life being taken like this, there’s no coming back from it. You can’t unsee it. Can’t unhear or unsmell it. A man going by way of hanging? It’s an ugly sight, the way the eyes and tongue bulge and the face turns an ungodly shade of purple and black. He’ll probably shit himself, too.”
All is silent but for Blackwood’s muffled screams behind his gag as I let Mara contemplate what I just told her. But by her dead-set jaw, I know her mind’s made up.
Hell, she knows it, too.
Voice resolute, she says, “If I don’t see him dead with my own eyes, I don’t know that I could ever completely believe Iwas free of him. And I need to know for myself that he won’t be chasing after me or our children just like you say Vengeance has been chasing after him.”
I settle my hands on her shoulders, shoulders that feel too slim to bear the burden of another man’s death. But slight as she is, she has a spine of steel to rival any man’s. And if she has nightmares after this, I’ll be there to hold her through them just like before. “Okay,” I say simply. “If that’s what you want, that’s what it’ll be.”
Her lips twist. “You may be right about one thing, though. I don’t know if I can stomach watching him hang.”
That’s what I thought. “Doesn’t have to be hanging. There’s guns, knives…hell, even a rock can bash a head in.”
She perks up at the gun. “Do you remember when you told me that you’d teach me how to shoot? We never got the chance, but I want to learn now.”
“I did say that, didn’t I?” I study her determined face, unable to hold back a smile at her sudden bloodthirstiness.
“I reckon you better show her how it’s done,” Jedidiah calls over, staring at Mara with brotherly pride. “Because if you don’t, I will.”
Blackwood tries to roll away, but Jed nonchalantly plants a firm boot onto the man’s bleeding crotch and curtails his futile attempt. “Now, now,” he tells the groaning form as he tries to draw his knees up, “stay still and wait until the grownups are finished speaking. Don’t you want to find out how you’re gonna meet the devil? Least now you know it’s not by hanging. Shame, that.”
I take a deep breath, but Mara steals the thought right from my mouth as she narrows her gaze. “Don’t ask me again if I’m sure. My mind isn’t going to change.”
Then it’s settled. “If shooting him is what you need, that’s what you’ll get. We’re going to do it together, though.You’re not going to shoulder the weight of it all by yourself.”
Because I also remember telling her that it was a husband’s privilege to make things right again for his wife. And here and now, I believe the real privilege is in me helping her exact her own vengeance.
Something shines in her eyes as they finally soften. Something deeper than love. Like if love, relief, gratitude, and righteous vengeance all mixed together and spilled over. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Christ Almighty, I love this woman. I cup her head and press my lips to her forehead. “Don’t thank me for doing what a husband should do for his wife. Wait here until we get him ready.”
Blackwood fights as best he can, but between me and Jed, we stand him up and secure him to a tree.
“How about that, Blackwood? Guess you won’t be doing any dancing today,” Jed teases as he tests the knots for weaknesses. Only thing he can move is his head, so that leaves the rest of him nice and stable for target practice. Blackwood garbles something, but my brother’s face hardens. “Actions have consequences, and now the devil’s come to collect his due. We were already coming after you for Mara, but you moved up your own death date by taking her first. You don’t fucking mess with a Shay.”
“Wait a second.” Something just occurred to me. Something very important. Blackwood’s eyes dart to me in a last attempt to silently plead for mercy, but I flash a dark grin. God may grant mercy, but I don’t. “Before we get started, there’s something on your hand that needs tending to. Stand back a little bit, Mara. Don’t want any blood getting on you.”
His eyes widen in horror when I unsheathe the knife that severed his cock, and I ignore his muted, high-pitchedwails as I cut off the birthmark so eerily similar to Emmaline’s. No wonder Mara was traumatized when she first saw it on our daughter’s tiny hand. “That’s for my baby.Mybaby,” I emphasize. The flap of bloody skin lands at his feet. “She’s gonna grow up without any ties to you.”
I back up and ease Mara about five feet away from our captive and unholster my gun. Blackwood screams behind his gag as his head thrashes back and forth, but Mara’s riveted by the gleaming weapon of death.
“Wait just a minute now,” I caution as she angles her chin to see it better. “I’m still holding it until we go through a few things first. Shotgun’s gonna have too much kick, so we’re using this. Lesson one—don’t aim it at anything you don’t intend to kill.” All of us, with the exception of Blackwood, need to go home in one piece after this is over. I wait for her acknowledgment before I continue.
“Two—fingers stay off the trigger until it’s aimed in the right spot. Chest shots are easier to land. See how far we are from him? You’d need to be closer than this if you wanted a clean head shot for the first time, but this is as close as we’re getting.”
As close as I’m letting her get, rather. Don’t want any more of him on her, whether blood or skin. The piece of shit whimpers and squirms as much as he can, but we ignore him.
“Three—hold it with your entire body, not just your hands. When the bullet leaves, it’s gonna be loud and knock you off balance unless you brace for it. Steady feet and steady arms.”
Mara adjusts her stance and looks to me for guidance. “Like this?”
God Almighty, but she looks something fierce. No doubt in my mind she was scared to death when they were taken,but right now, she’s a warrior goddess preparing to bestow the holy wrath of justice upon the evil of humanity. And I’m here to help her do it.
