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Shouting and hollering comes from outside the door distracting Sean, and in that split second, I take the only chance I’m going to get. Ignoring the pain, I buck my hips just as the door to the room flies open. It’s enough to knock Sean off balance and in turn releasing my good arm. With my now free hand, I grip his hand holding the knife, and with every ounce of pain, anger, fear and shame, I twist his hand round and shove upwards as he looks towards the door. As if in slow motion, the knife plunges into his neck.
Instantly, his other hand comes up to the knife now sticking out of his neck, and his head swings back to me. Blood gushes from the wound, and a horrid gurgling sound rises up from Sean’s throat as his eyes settle on me. When he tries to talk, blood spurts from his mouth spraying me in tiny droplets as his throat fills with blood, and he begins to choke. Drowning in his own blood.
The black of his eyes begins to clear, and I’m met with the dark brown ones I fell in love with all those years ago. As his skin begins to pale, he falls backwards. I pull my legs clear, and then he drops to his side as blood pools beneath him.
Movement at the door has me lifting my head, and there stands Ryder with blood splattering his face and clothes. His hands are clenched tight, and his nostrils flare as he takes in the sight before him.
A rasping from the floor in front of me has me looking back to Sean, and the pool of blood on the floor creeps across the tiles like the evil that lived in him is searching for a new host. I watch as Sean’s breathing becomes shallow, and his eyes glaze over before the light in them fades altogether as he takes his last breath. Lifeless eyes now stare back at me, and I release the breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
Relief. Such beautiful relief surges through me knowing he can never harm me again. Knowing that he can never hurt another person. That I got justice for my mum and Faye. I killed him, and I don’t feel even the tiniest bit of remorse for his loss of life. I have no idea what that says about me, and I’m sure a psychologist would have a field day with that knowledge.
Someone crouches down in front of me, and as a hand comes out to stroke my cheek, I flinch and scramble backwards away from the touch. I pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my one good arm round them.
“Cam, it’s me, Ryder. It’s okay, you’re safe now.” His deep voice washes over me, calming my raw nerves and slowing my frantically beating heart. I know it’s him, my body knows it’s him, but my mind struggles to catch up with the rest of me. I have never feared this man, never worried that he would lay a hand on me in anger, only with passion, but my heart is fractured at his deception.
I look up at him, his beautiful blue eyes are a swirling storm that speak of his restrained anger, but I can see pain too. And I don’t understand that.
He drops to his knees, resting his hands in his lap so I can see them. My body is screaming at me. Pain. Fear. Shame and guilt, but the overriding emotion is the need to crawl into his lap and let him hold me and bathe in his warmth and love. It may not be real, or true but it’s what I need to feel right now, and I give in to it. Scrambling to my knees, I shuffle towards him as his eyes track me wearily, and I cautiously climb into his lap when I reach him. Ryder’s arms hesitantly wrap around me, and I relax into him.
After a few seconds, Ryder’s fingers brush over my cheek, pushing back hair from my face. “Cam. We need to get you to a hospital.” I wince as his hand glances across the slashes on my back and every injured part of me makes itself known as the adrenaline wears off.
Keeping my head buried in his chest and my eyes away from his penetrating gaze, I give the gentlest of nods.
Careful to avoid my shoulder and back as much as possible, Ryder scoops me up into his arms, stepping past Sean’s body on the floor as we leave the room.
Thirty-Five
Blue
When we crash through the doors of the small church hall, the team takes down the men that are still here, while I scan the room for Cam. Not seeing her anywhere, my chest hurts at the thought we are too late.
The sound of my voice breaks through the shouting of the men as they are restrained, and my heart sinks when I hear the words that I know Cam will have heard. I don’t doubt that she would have believed them too. Fuck. I fucked up not telling her I knew what she’d been through, and what that fucker Sean had done to her. But I can’t worry about it now, I need to find her first.
Just as I go to move through the room, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and dodge the fist that flies towards my face. It’s Lincoln, Lewis’ brother.
“You motherfucker, you murdered my brother!” he bellows, as he comes for me again.
“Not me, prick, though I wish it had been,” I spit out, just as he reaches me with his fists swinging. I duck, then land a blow to his gut that knocks all the air from his lungs. Following up with a jab to the kidneys before finishing him off with an uppercut that has his jaw rattling and eyes rolling in his head. He hits the deck, cracking his head on the wood floor, out cold.
The phone he was holding, still playing my voice, lays on the floor next to him, and I snatch it up. Turning it off, I shove it in my pocket for later.
I see Seb take down two other guys over on the left as I stride down the hall. I catch a glimpse of Russ as he limps through a door at the back of the room. No way, arsehole. Rushing forward, I pass a girl, of no more than twenty, in a pool of blood, and my heart rate skyrockets.
I push through the door cautiously, knowing Russ can fight with the best of them, but I needn’t have worried. He hasn’t got far, the injury to his leg slowing him down as he reaches a door at the end of the hallway.
“You’re a dead man walking, Russ,” I shout, as I charge at him. He doesn’t even try to fight back as I smash my fist into his face, and he lands on his back. I grab the front of his shirt, lifting his face to mine. “I would kill you, but instead I’ve arranged a nice welcoming party in prison for you.” I punch him again, letting him drop to the floor unconscious.
I hear Cam’s voice in the room next to me, and I burst through the door, coming to a dead stop when I catch sight of the woman I’m in love with. Her face is contorted with pain, eyes wild, looking almost feral. She’s beautiful. I watch with pure admiration as she rams the knife into Sean’s neck, with a snarl on her face. Blood sprays all over her as Sean tries to talk but chokes on his own blood. Good. As he falls back, she shifts her legs away from him, no longer trapped. I see that her left arm hangs limply at her side and her dress is torn at the back, but I can’t see anything else from this angle. Cam’s eyes meet mine, and I try the best I can to rein in my fury so I don’t scare her.
Cam looks back at Sean, and I watch her watching him as he breathes his last breath. I move very slowly towards her, then crouch down in front of her. I reach out a hand to touch her cheek, but she instantly flinches away. I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t fucking hurt. It cuts like a knife. She scrambles back from me, out of reach, so I stay where I am and wait.
When her eyes meet mine again, I drop to my knees in front of her, and I watch a myriad of emotions cross her face as she stares out at the room. Then she’s in my lap. I wrap my arms around her, feeling the wetness of blood on her back, and I grind my teeth, looking back at Sean and wishing I could kill him all over again. She buries her head in my chest, and I give her a couple of minutes hoping that she can feel my love for her.
As her breathing evens out and she relaxes in my hold, I brush the hair from her face, seeing her split lip and bruises. It slays me to see this beautiful woman marked in such a way. A woman that I love. I tried to deny it, but I can’t any longer. No woman has ever made me feel the way Cam does. I know she’s going to be mad at me, she’s going to have questions, but I just hope the answers I give are enough.
Telling her she needs to go to the hospital, she gives a small imperceptible nod, and as carefully as I can, I scoop her up and carry her out.
I hate fucking waiting.I’m pacing the floor of the small waiting room the nurse showed us to after they took Cam in for examination. I didn’t get a good look at the marks on her back, but I have a pretty good idea what they are. Every muscle in my body tenses and feels like it’s going to snap when I think about that bastard laying his hands on her and hurting her. I want to rip him limb from limb, and then put him back together so I can do it over and over again. I wanted him to suffer, and although he did, it wasn’t even close to the pain I would have inflicted on the man that killed my brother and hurt the woman I love.
