AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even though I could tell it was hopeless, I strained at my bindings again, trying with all my might to break free. Then the gunfire stopped. I inhaled shakily through my nose, fear clamping chilly hands around my lungs.
The footsteps pounded toward the barn now. My heart leapt to my throat, but an instant later the door flew open to reveal the exact four figures I’d wanted to see on the other side, none of them looking all that worse for wear. Well, other than the fact that Dess appeared to have poured a bucket of blood over herself. From the steadiness of her gaze and her posture, it wasn’t hers.
At the sight of me, she let out a little yelp and ran over, the guys rushing with her. Dess hugged my legs while Talon hauled a crate over to stand on so he could slice the ropes that bound my arms. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling fully into Dess’s damp embrace.
Someone yanked the gag from my mouth, and the meaty stink of fresh blood flooded my throat as well as my nose. Normally it’d have turned my stomach, but right then it was the perfume of victory. I hugged Dess back, reveling in the strength still radiating from her body and the little noise of relief she made at having me in her arms.
“Are you okay?” she murmured. “They didn’t—”
“All they did was tie me up,” I said quickly. “Nothing’s damaged but my ego.”
“And we know you had more than enough of that anyway,” Blaze teased, and a ripple of startled but joyful laughter rippled through our group.
“I heard a noise in one of the back rooms,” I added with a jolt of memory. “If there’s anyone else lurking around…”
Talon strode over to check the rest of the building with his usual ruthless calm. He returned in a moment with a grim expression. “There’s no sign of anyone around. I think we got them all.”
“Good. We don’t want to stick around here too long,” Julius said in his typically commanding way. “I don’t think there are any neighbors near enough to have heard the shots, but I’d rather not tempt fate by thumbing our noses at it. Let’s get cleaned up so we don’t look like we’ve just carried out a massacre and then get out of here.”
Dess nodded, drawing back enough that I realized the blood was smeared all across her neck and the ends of her hair as well as drenching her shirt. What the hell had she been through to get to me?
The set of her mouth told me she didn’t want to talk about it—and I got a clear enough story when we marched outside, her arm still wrapped tightly around mine.
The bodies of several people I recognized from the Malik family—and a few I couldn’t recognize at all because of bullets they’d taken to their faces—scattered the stretch of grass between the barn and a house I recognized from the photograph Dess had shown us. Right in the middle of them sprawled Dess’s father, his throat slit, a puddle of blood seeping into the soil around him. I had no doubt at all who had delivered that killing strike.
I reached down and grasped Dess’s hand in a show of solidarity, not minding the prickles of receding numbness that bit into my nerves at the motion. Dess swallowed audibly and squeezed my fingers in return.
“It had to be done,” was all she said, and that was all I needed to know.
The door of the house was unlocked. We pushed inside, and Julius motioned Dess upstairs. “You need a whole shower,” he told her. “I’ll see if I can find some clothes around for you to change into.” He and the other guys had a few splatters of gore on them, but nothing compared to her drenching.
Dess glanced at me and made a face. “I made you a mess too. I’m sorry. Come on.” Her fingers curled even more firmly around mine as she tugged me toward the bathroom. “Look for something new for Garrison!” she called over her shoulder.
She didn’t let go of me until we’d reached the large bathroom with its pearly gray walls, as if she was afraid she’d lose me again along the way. There, she pulled back the shower curtain and sighed happily. “There’s plenty of soap.” She turned on the shower hot enough for steam to immediately start fogging the air.
When she turned back to me, I still barely noticed the blood coating her skin and shirt. All I could see was her. This strong, stunning woman who’d destroyed her own family to save me.
An impulse gripped me that thrilled and frightened me at the same time. My hand moved of its own accord, my thumb swiping a scarlet drop off her temple while my palm lingered against her cheek. Dess’s gray eyes turned a bit puzzled as she gazed back at me, maybe wondering if I’d suffered a hidden brain injury.
I needed to say it. She needed to know. If today had proven anything, it was how quickly our circumstances could turn sideways.
Next time I might not be bait. Next time I might be dead. The thought of leaving this life without her knowing how much she meant to me scared me more than being so whole-heartedly genuine.
“I love you,” I said, not giving myself another moment to think about the words. I forced my masks to drop in the hopes that she could see all the emotions that ran through me as I spoke the words. That she’d know how true I was being in this moment.
Dess’s eyes widened. She placed her hand over mine against her face and leaned into my touch, but her expression was as uncertain as it was appreciative. My gut started to twist with apprehension as she opened her mouth and closed it again, no sound in the room but the hiss of the water.
“I—” she started, and swallowed audibly with a little shake of her head. “I don’t know if I can say that back. I feel like I’m still learning how to be a normal person overall. I hardly even know what love is supposed to mean.”
My throat tightened, and I had the urge to yank my walls back into place. To toss out a snarky remark that would turn the situation around and make it seem like I’d only been joking. But I held myself firm against it. I felt what I felt, and I would own it no matter how she responded.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I didn’t say it because I expected anything from you. I just wanted you to know how much you matter to me. How much I’d have hated to lose you if something had gone wrong today.” A self-deprecating laugh slipped from my lips. “From the moment those pricks grabbed me, that was pretty much all I thought about.”
A soft smile curved Dess’s mouth. “I can talk about that. Maybe I don’t know what love will be for me, but you and the rest of the crew are more important to me than anyone else in the world. I’d kill for you. I’d die if I had to go that far to protect you. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second.”
The honesty of those words rang through her voice and washed away any trepidation I’d felt about my confession. How many people offered that level of devotion when they did say, “I love you”? Her declaration meant more than those three little words would have.
“That’s more than enough for me,” I said, my voice getting rough, and pulled her into a kiss.
