Chapter 89
eighty-nine
JO
I thought my heart couldn’t break any more than it did when Maverick yelled at me and blamed me for Ezra getting hurt.
I was wrong. So wrong. Maverick not existing is the worst pain I’ve ever felt.
My legs give out and pain flares in my knees when they hit the ground.
That pain pales in comparison to the one in my chest.
Screaming. Someone is screaming, but I can’t see anything.
The scream is painful. Life shattering.
Oh. It’s me. I’m screaming.
The scream turns into a sob, but I wipe my tears with the sleeve of my shirt and look for Ezra. I watch as he drops his arms and lets Patrick cut his chest.
“Ezra!” I yell, climbing to my feet. I can’t lose him, too.
But he’s not fighting back. I watch Patrick’s arm pull back and know I won’t make it in time.
“Ezra!” I scream again, but he doesn’t even flinch.
I’m sobbing mid-stride, knowing I’m about to lose both men I love in a single night.
It’s as if everything happens in slow motion.
Furious, icy blue eyes emerge from the dust, and I watch in shock as Kai tackles Patrick to the ground. “You stay away from my brother, you fucking psycho!” He punches Patrick hard in the face, busting his nose and causing blood to fly everywhere. Patrick laughs manically.
Once I reach Ezra, I pull his face down to me and kiss him. It takes him a second to return it, but it snaps him out of whatever paralysis he was in, and he pulls away to help Kai. I watch the brothers pull Patrick to his feet, still laughing.
“I might not get Maverick now, but you don’t either,” he says, grinning at me.
Then he unlocks his knees and drops to the ground.
The twins lose their hold on him. Ezra reacts faster than Kai, but Patrick is quick and already up and running.
I’m right behind Ezra as we chase Patrick, all three of us stumbling with the lack of visibility.
“Careful! The house is coming up!” Kai yells, out of breath behind us.
I have no idea how he can tell, but I reach out to slow Ezra down.
I know he won’t on his own, too single-minded in his pursuit of justice to care about himself.
The evidence of that is seeping through his shirt right now.
If that cut was any deeper, he’d be in big trouble.
As it is, he’s definitely going to need stitches.
Ezra’s head whips around when I tug on his arm to stop him.
“Just slow,” I tell him, jogging to his side.
Patrick is still within sight, and the dust has cleared enough to see we’re running next to a paved path.
That at least explains how Kai knew where we were.
We keep pace next to each other, but then Patrick picks up the speed.
Neither of us has time for a discussion, but we’re in sync when we sprint for him.
What remains of the house comes into view and Patrick turns around, sticking out his tongue and running backwards to taunt us.
I watch as he trips, his eyes wide, and then he disappears into the rubble.
We hear a blood-curdling scream and a squishy, but somehow almost crunchy, sound that has us stopping in our tracks.
Kai catches up and the three of us slowly make our way to where Patrick disappeared.
I hazard a glance and almost lose the protein bar I ate before coming here.
A sharp, jagged, broken pipe protrudes through Patrick’s right eye, starting at the base of his skull.
I watch in horror as he slowly slides down, leaving blood and brain matter in his wake.
“Oh fuck,” Kai says, turning to vomit.
“What the hell were you doing out there? You could’ve been killed!” Ezra shouts at his brother after being nice enough to let him stop puking first.
“Me? What the fuck were you doing? You were just standing there waiting to die, Ez!” Emotions clog Kai’s voice, and Ezra must hear it too because he throws his arms around his brother in a fierce hug.
“I’m sorry,” Ezra says. “I don’t know what happened. The only thought I had was that I couldn’t leave Jo, too, but I froze. I couldn’t get my body to move.”
I hold back the sob that threatens to break free because I know if Ezra hears a single noise from me, he’ll be at my side in under a second, and right now, I think Kai needs to hold his brother.
“Just don’t do it again,” Kai mutters into Ezra’s shoulder before finally letting him go.
“There’s a wine cellar in the basement. That’s what I was coming out here to tell you.
When I was looking at the blueprints with Dad, he mentioned that it also doubled as a panic room.
There’s a chance if Maverick got in there, he’s okay. ”
Hope I’m too scared to acknowledge grows in my chest.
“We have to dig him out!” I almost turn back to the house before I remember the scene waiting behind me and stop.
“My dad knows what happened. He’s already working on getting a construction crew out here. I told him to offer to pay them whatever they wanted to get here fast and work through the night,” Kai says. He frowns when he looks at Ezra. “You need stitches. You’re still bleeding.”
Ezra looks down at the wound on his chest, surprise written on his face like he forgot it was there.
He winces when he pulls the fabric away from the blood.
I don’t want to leave Maverick even though I know there’s no way I can get to him myself, but I also know that if I stay here, Ezra will, too.
I have to hold my breath and shove the heels of my hands into my eyes to keep myself from passing out. I really hate blood.
“Take him to get stitches. Martha called Darren once we finalized the plan, so he should be back at the house already. Willa and Declan are on their way here with my dad to meet the construction crew,” Kai says, typing rapidly on his phone.
“Take the truck keys.” I catch them before Ezra can, smiling for the first time in days when he pouts.
“Thank you,” I tell him, wrapping my arm around Ezra’s waist. I can’t see the blood, but I know it’s there, and it’s making me dizzy.
I have no time to be dizzy. He slips his arm over my shoulder and squeezes as we make our way back to the truck.
“Let’s get you fixed up so we can come back and save our man. ”
Ezra smiles, but it’s weak. His face is pale, probably a mix of blood loss and adrenaline crash.
The property is well lit, which was hard to see before all the dust settled.
Acres of forest surround the mansion and a garden with a large detached garage towards the back.
The only building left standing. I can see why Patrick wanted this property.
“Why did the house fall?” I ask, more to myself because I don’t think Ezra knows.
“Could be something Patrick did to it,” Ezra muses.
“Maybe some sort of failsafe, but that doesn’t make sense with the way he reacted to Maverick being in there.
” A shiver moves through his whole body, but he keeps voicing his thoughts out loud.
I’m glad to have him at least a little distracted from the pain.
The moment I pull the truck into the driveway of Adira’s house, Martha and Darren are ushering Ezra inside like a couple of worried parents.
It would be pretty cute if Ezra’s actual parents weren’t standing by, looking baffled by all the fuss.
It’s not that they don’t care about their kids, because it’s become clear they would do anything to protect them, but there’s a coldness to both of them that Martha and Darren make up for in spades.
I follow behind them, both exhausted, but too anxious to even sit down. Belle sees me and pulls me into a quick hug. “We’re going to get him out of there. No matter what.”
I hear what she isn’t saying. We’ll get him out of there, but will it be Maverick or just the body he’s left?