AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shit. My hand spasmed and I dropped it. Yep, I shouldn’t have touched it with my fingers. Oh that was stupid. But it would pass.
At least it was off Ransom.
He groaned and reached for me. “Butterfly.”
“I’m okay.” I wasn’t but I would be, I knew, and I gritted my teeth as fear tangled with the gel off the patch in my system.
The door flung open and Crew rushed into the room. He grabbed both Ransom and myself in his arms, burying his face in my neck. “Are you okay? Are you both okay?”
“They’re not.” Mace touched us both. When did he show up? “But they will be. The effects of the patch pass , as long as we get it off them.”
“It passes us.” Gunnar was there, too? “But she touched it, and she’s fragile.”
Already, the pain fled my body, my head clearing. “I’m okay. It’s going away. I swear it is.”
“Okay.” Crew set me down before he placed Ransom in a chair. The latter held his head in his hands. How badly was he hurt? It had been on him so much longer. “Where did he get that fucking patch? Why are all of these old weapons showing up? He shouldn’t have had that.”
Past tense. “Is he dead?”
Ransom lifted his head and extended his hand, pulling me to him. “Don’t you ever do that again. Don’t you ever risk yourself for me again. You run. Do you understand me? If there’s danger, you run.”
“Nothing had to happen.” My voice shook. “You were going to kill each other. It didn’t have to happen. He only called me a name. I don’t even care about it, and he’s not even wrong. You called me that yourself, since it was literally my job title, just…how long ago was it? A week? And…”
Ransom dropped to the floor. In a flash, his head pressed against my stomach as my arms came around him, instinctively holding him to me. “I’m sorry, butterfly. I’m so sorry. I should never have said that. It was mean, and I was grief stricken, but it’s absolutely not okay. Forgive me. I should never have used that word, especially not with you. That is not what you are.”
I kissed the top of his head. “It’s okay, Ransom. It really is, but that’s my point. It’s only a word. It doesn’t matter. And, look at me. Maybe you don’t see it anymore, but the tattoos on my head have always—and will always—tell people I’m a whore. For some people, I’ll never be more than that tattoo. I’m sorry, but if you want to be part of my life for the long run, you’re going to have to get used to hearing that sometimes without reacting to facts. I can’t have anything happening to you because of me.” My voice broke, and I scrubbed at my wet cheeks. I was crying and I didn’t even realize it. I blinked up at them, searching their faces. “Is he dead? I killed him?”
“You did.” Gunnar kissed my cheek, letting my tears fall against his mouth. “And you were perfect as far as I can tell. You aimed and you shot. You didn’t miss. You did just as you should have.”
I closed my eyes. “Who will come to arrest me?”
“What?” Mace waited until I opened my eyes to regard him before he spoke again. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
“I killed a man. There are laws, I’m sure. Someone will arrest me, and someone else will decide what happens to me.”
Ransom rose from the floor, pressing our foreheads together. “Butterfly, half the town heard what happened. They were all rushing here but stopped when the guys arrived. I could hear them distantly. It all happened very fast.”
“Felt slow.” Not that it mattered.
Crew continued speaking when Ransom stopped. “Everyone heard what happened. No one would dare arrest you, not that we have an agency set up to manage that sort of thing. We tend to…handle each other, and no one would want to do anything but give you a hug.”
I blinked. Considering his words, I turned to Ransom. “I shot some mean words at you that night, too, Ransom. I told you I had no blood on my hands and accused you of basically being a killer. Tables sure have turned now, right? I’ve killed someone. I’m the one with blood on my hands.” I looked at my hands, as if to show him, and noticed they shook.
I was in Ransom’s arms then. He carried me like I weighed nothing, and he pressed my head down on his shoulder. “There’s no blood on your hands. Evans was mean as hell, a bully. He did shit work, and he demanded payment for things he didn’t earn. We’ve been dealing with endless problems with him. We tried to get along, but you saw! He came carrying that patch, which meant he intended to kill one of us. It was him or me. If you hadn’t stopped him, I’d be a lot more hurt, and who knows if he would’ve gotten you before the guys got here? No, that was self-defense. You did everything just right.” He swung around. “I’m going to take her upstairs and help her get ready for bed. This has been too long of a day.”
I should have argued, but I was tired. Shaky. And also wide awake, practically vibrating with adrenaline. How could all of those things be true at the same time? But they were. Ransom carried me upstairs, hardly jarring me the whole way.
“Sit here.” He set me on the edge of the bed and vanished into the bathroom. The sound of water greeted my ears, and I realized he must be warming up the shower for me. I stood up to follow him, but my legs shook. He came back out, regarding me for a second, but I couldn’t make out what he thought. “Sit,” he repeated. He gently pushed my shoulder back down. “Don’t get up right now, okay?”
I obviously couldn’t anyway, since my legs shook like leaves in the wind. “Why do I feel like this?”
“Little bit of shock, I think. Totally normal. You’ve never been through anything like this, nor should you have.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, as if it made enough sense to him.
But he wasn’t exactly right. “I’ve seen lots of violence. So much I can’t even speak about it.” Blood, running down faces or hands…I saw pain.
“You’ve never had to do what you had to do to save me,” he replied gently, and I wondered if he was right about the shock. He might be, since I heard the word he didn’t say—killed. I killed someone—and jerked in reaction anyway. He took off my shoes, setting them aside, before he continued to meticulously undress me, one garment at a time. “Another time, I want you to tell me about the violence you’ve seen. I’ll do my best to eliminate the people who made you see things you didn’t want to see.”
I believed him. I’d never doubt that Ransom could be lethal. “You can’t be okay,” I said, remembering the patch. I reached out to stroke his brow, and his lips lifted in a half smile.
