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Rage exploded in my veins and if I hadn’t reaped their souls already, I would have tortured those punks for a lot longer. Fighting for breath, I had to gulp in large mouthfuls of air before I fuckin’ hyperventilated. Pulling out my cell, I dialed 911. They wouldn’t have an ambulance out here in time and it would be another hour to reach the nearest hospital once they did. Just another tragedy that happened in Tonopah. Nobody gave a fuck.
Sighing, I ended the call and glanced down at the girl. There was no way I could put her on the back of my bike which meant I needed a cage. Dialing up Shadow, I called the prospect.
“What you need, Azrael? I’m right outside the Crossroads.”
Good. “Hop in a cage and hurry. I have an emergency. I’ll text you the address.”
I hung up and sent him the info, waiting as I stared down at the stranger who shouldn’t be suffering the way Willow did. Fuck! My hand ran over the top of my head where the hair was growing back on top. Usually I kept it shaved but I’d been too busy the last few days. Teeth grinding as I clenched my jaw, I had to summon all my strength in order to push through and not lose my shit.
Shadow arrived in fifteen minutes.
“You okay, Azrael?”
“Yeah,” I answered as he approached. “Take my bike back to the Crossroads and tell Grim what you saw. I’ll text him as soon as I can.”
Shadow nodded. Swallowing hard, he leaned down and draped a small blanket over her lower half. “You want help?”
“No. I don’t want your DNA mixed up in this.”
He backed away as I tossed him the keys to my Harley. “I’ll talk to Grim right away. He wasn’t keepin’ company when I left. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
Shit. Grim was probably drinking alone in the chapel again. “Watch over him.”
“Yes, sir. Always.”
Shadow was almost to my bike when I halted him. “Hey Prospect.”
“Yeah?”
“You did good.”
Ducking his head, the kid smiled a little before walking away, his limp the only visible sign that he wasn’t whole. I’d taken Shadow under my wing and he hadn’t disappointed me once since I became his sponsor. I didn’t have any doubt he’d be patched in when it was time. I liked his spunk and passion, but he had a lot of shit to deal with in his past. It would happen once he was ready.
The same way the Reaper dealt with all of us.
THE NEAREST FACILITY with an ER and trauma unit was Mt. Grant General Hospital over a hundred miles away. Total bullshit but I couldn’t dwell on it now. I needed to hurry. It was easy to load the girl in the back of the SUV, but I worried that I would injure her further. She’d already lost too much blood. I knew she was underweight, and that shit pissed me off. In the back of my mind was the thought that this was more than a simple attack. She never spoke or regained consciousness the entire ride and that was beginning to freak me the fuck out.
All I did for that lonely and quiet hour was think of Willow and her final moments. There hadn’t been a stranger to find her and intervene. No one stopped the monster from raping and savagely killing her. She died at the hands of a man who never should have had access to her at all. Chest aching, I could hardly focus enough to drive. Jameson and I should have been there that night. It was our job to protect my sister and we failed.
We failed Willow.
Fuck. No matter how much time lapsed, it never stopped hurting.
Sorrow was an old and unwelcome friend and I quickly shoved the motherfucker back. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly I was sure it would crumble beneath the strain. I didn’t know if there would ever be a day that I wasn’t haunted by my past or stuck in a vicious cycle of rage and vengeance because of it.
“Soon,” I whispered into the silent cab. “Our revenge will be soon.”
My Reaper agreed but he was agitated, and I struggled to rein him in.
When I pulled up to the ER, I didn’t pause to consider how it looked. Fuck, I’d been covered in blood enough times in my life that it never fazed me, but I must have looked shocking to the staff as I parked in front of their doors and yelled for help. Before I knew it, I was following a gurney down the hall with the injured girl and about a dozen doctors and nurses.
I was stopped in the open doorway of what looked like an O.R. It was total chaos. The staff was shouting and one of the doctors was calling out orders as everyone rushed to do their jobs. I was all set to back away and call my pres when my eyes locked on a nurse standing beside the bed. The blonde was the only one not moving. She appeared shocked as she picked up the unconscious girl’s left hand and held it, tears filling her eyes.
Fuck me.
She knew the victim.
This wasn’t going to over well.
