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Davis pulled out a cell phone and started to make a call as they went down the stairs. Hawk made her wait a few minutes, and then they came out from behind the sculpture. They looked for Archer, but he was nowhere to be seen.
They started down the stairs. “Hawk,” she said, her voice somewhat shaky, “what the hell have I gotten myself involved in?”
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “I have no idea.”
“Did you notice that Davis didn’t have an accent? His whole demeanor was different. It was like he was a totally different person.”
“I noticed,” Hawk agreed.
“I’m scared,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She wanted him to take her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he remained silent. Great. Who could blame him, though? He had no clue what was going on any more than she did.
Then it hit her. This, right now, had to be the end of anything between her and Hawk. She couldn’t ask him to be a part of this world. It was dark and dangerous and deadly. He deserved a life full of light and love. She couldn’t offer that now. Not ever. Her heart broke, and pain radiated through her chest.
They had just reached the bottom step when Hawk suddenly stepped in front of her. A shot rang out, and she screamed. Hawk fell against her, knocking her down to the steps, Hawk’s body covering hers. He didn’t move.
“You’re a conniving little bitch!” Najeddine came out of the darkness, a gun out in front of him. “You cost me everything. Everything! You won’t live.” He raised the gun again.
Remy couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. Why wasn’t Hawk moving? She tried to move him. “Hawk,” she managed to whisper. She tried again, louder this time. “Hawk!”
“He’s dead.” Najeddine smiled and then aimed the gun at her head.
The sound of the shot echoed around the foyer. Remy’s heart stopped. Najeddine fell where he stood, and Austin Davis came up behind him. “I should have let him kill you,” he hissed. “Be warned, your days are numbered.” He glowered at her.
Archer appeared at his side a second later, and Davis’s whole demeanor morphed back into his good ol’ boy southern thing. “It’s Najeddine. He tried to kill Mizz Tanger.”
Hawk groaned.
“Help me,” she said as she tried to lift Hawk.
Archer and Davis moved Hawk and flipped him over. There was a large red stain on his chest.
Remy let out a small scream. “Oh, my god! He’s hit.” She put her hands over the wound and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.” Where’s a phone? I need a phone. Call nine-one-one!”
Archer put his fingers on Hawk’s neck and checked for a pulse. Then he pushed Remy’s hands out of the way, yanked opened Hawk’s shirt, and assessed the chest wound.
She put her hands back on Hawk’s chest and applied pressure. “Why aren’t you calling the ambulance?” she demanded.
“Remington, you have a choice to make. Hawk is not going to make it to the hospital. The ambulance will take at least ten minutes to get here. He needs treatment now.”
“What are you saying?” What the fuck was he going on about?
“I have a fully equipped ambulance outside. We can take him to one of our facilities.”
“Yes! Let’s do that!”
“Wait.” Archer’s voice was harsh. She stared at him. “Hawk can only come if he’s your permanent partner. As a board member, you get this…perk. Regular members aren’t allowed to do this. But Hawk can never leave the Society, and you can never break up. You must marry Hawk, and you must stay together until death. If he tries to leave or you break up, Hawk will have to die. He’ll know too much, and he won’t be allowed to live.”
She stared at him. What the fuck was he talking about? She wanted Hawk to live.
“Do you understand what I’m saying to you? You must marry Hawk and never ever divorce or even be separated, otherwise he dies, and you will be forced off the board.”
She stared into Archer’s green eyes. He was telling her the only way to save Hawk was to force him to marry her and be part of the society. She glanced down at Hawk. She loved him. She had since he first came to her rescue. He was who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but what did he think? Did he love her? If she did nothing, he died. She must be a better choice than death. “Save him,” she said in a clear, calm voice. “I won’t let him die because of me. Surely, being with me is better than being dead.”
Archer nodded and then whipped out his phone. Within seconds it seemed, she and Hawk were in the back of an ambulance. The two EMTs worked on him as the ambulance went somewhere in the city and disappeared into a parking garage. Then they went down in a car elevator. The back doors of the ambulance opened to what appeared to be a fully functional hospital. They wheeled Hawk away, but Archer remained standing with her.
“They’ll take care of him. If he can be saved, they’ll do it.”
She looked up at him. “Thank you.”
