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As I’d expected, Xavier wove to the side just as she pulled the trigger. At the sound of the gun firing, he lurched even farther out of the way and spun around.
Her body rigid, Mercy stood up to show herself. Her voice carried through the glass. “Hey asshole. I’m the one you want, aren’t I? So why don’t you come and get me?”
In answer, Xavier snarled and spewed bullets at her from his rifle. Mercy leapt down with her well-honed reflexes, rolling to the far side of the store. Xavier marched forward, his expression getting fiercer as he came.
Our plan was working, but I hated it now. He was getting way too close to her. My muscles strained all through my arms. I could dash out there and punch the lights out of him…
Except I wouldn’t get very far while he was still armed and totally aware.
“Missed me,” Mercy taunted. “What’s taking you so long?”
Xavier let out a wordless bellow and rushed at the car. Instead of hurtling around it, he leapt right onto the hood. Mercy dove underneath it, out of the range of his next spray of bullets. I winced at the thought of her limbs getting scraped on the asphalt.
“You’re stuck now, pathetic little kitty,” Xavier snapped, and jumped onto the sidewalk right outside the store.
The second his feet hit the ground, Mercy struck. She was fucking amazing, and in that moment, I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to call this woman my own. She whipped her legs out from under the car and slammed both of her heels into Xavier’s calves with all the strength she had in her.
Xavier stumbled and teetered to the side. His heavy form crashed into the window. The glass shattered around him. As he twisted to the side to avoid the jagged shards, his shoulder smacked into the edge of the frame.
It wouldn’t have mattered if we hadn’t set everything up. He’d probably have bounced right back around, barely bruised. But Gideon had been fucking amazing too.
The second Xavier’s shoulder hit the frame, a crackling sound hummed through the air. Xavier’s entire body jerked and spasmed, his muscles jiggling like Jell-O.
He managed to break away from the frame, but he was reeling so badly he nearly tripped over his own feet. And that was my cue to jump in.
I fired off all the shots left in my gun as I ran at him through the broken window. At least two caught him in the chest. He swiveled around, staggering, and I sprang over the window frame so my own body didn’t catch so much as a spark of the live electricity. Then I was on him.
I rammed into Xavier, shoving him to the ground. My fists connected with his jaw, then his nose, drawing a spurt of blood that added color to his scarred face. He twitched underneath me, and I pummeled him even harder, smacking his head back against the sidewalk, my vision hazing red.
Thiswas for all the horrible “gifts” he’d left that’d freaked out Mercy. This was for every injury he’d ever given her. This was for killing our men, kidnapping Gideon, and siccing his lackeys on Rowan. This was for passing out Glory like candy and getting all those people hooked. This was for encouraging the Storm to set his sights on our home in the first place.
“Kaige. Kaige!” Mercy’s voice reached me through my furor.
My mind started to clear. My hands slowed and then fell to my sides. I stared down at the ruin of Xavier’s face, his features battered beyond recognition other than a few shreds of the scars clinging to what was left of his cheeks. His skull had broken open like a cracked egg leaking brains and blood onto the concrete. His body lay totally limp beneath me.
Mercy’s arms wrapped around my shoulders. “He’s dead. Xavier’s dead. You did it.”
I had. I blinked a few times, and something released inside me. Pushing myself off of the mutilated body, I turned and grabbed Mercy in the tightest hug I had in me.
She squeezed me back just as hard, a bit of a sob coming into her next breath. The other Nobles and Claws gathered around us, Wylder and Gideon pushing through the crowd to reach us. Someone let out a low whistle.
I forced myself to look at Xavier again and then down at my raw, bloodied knuckles.
I’d done that. I’d beaten the man into a pulp. It’d been brutal and horrific, but also so fucking necessary. He’d already hurt so many people. I’d just spared who knew how many more the same pain.
“The guy on the roof made a run for it when he saw you take Xavier down,” Wylder said, clapping me on the back. “We managed to take him out before he got very far. They’re all gone.”
“It’s over,” Mercy said with an air of wonder.
A smile stretched across my face. Hell, yeah, it was. And I’d seen it through to the end, with my best friends and my woman with me every step of the way.
