Chapter Thirty-Four
Kay
“Why did you do that, Col?” I screamed at the man I have loved for a decade over the stranger’s shoulder.
“Who are you?” I screamed at the masked man who had just set me down on the floor of the tunnels. He pulled off his ski mask, his brown hair a mess as he eased my love against the wall. Collin shook his head when the man tried to ease him down.
“I’m Deacon, Ms. Jones. We haven’t had the pleasure yet,” he said breathlessly as he pulled off his gloves. He was covered in weapons and ammo.
I ignored him and focused on Collin. Fuck, I was so mad at him! He took a bullet for me.
“Why did you do that?” I cried.
“This world doesn’t need to lose another angel, Karina,” Col said, wincing as he leaned against the stone. He looked at his man.
“Deac—”
“Don’t talk, boss. Let me look at you,” he said, pulling open Collin’s shirt. Our eyes scanned the wound and bile rose in my throat. Red blood coated his tattoos and scars, leaving a trail down his abs. It was too much to bear. I averted my eyes, my heart hammering in my chest as my mouth trembled.
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. We hadn’t had enough time…
A few weeks compared to a lifetime of loneliness.
I leaned against him, cupping his face when he turned his head to look down at me. His eyes met mine, slightly dazed and dilated.
“Hey, baby,” he croaked, giving me a weak smile. My eyes drifted down to the blood seeping from the hole in his tattooed chest once more as Deacon handed me some gauze from the pack on his hip.
“Here. Take this and hold it to the wound. We gotta get that bleeding down.”
I did as he asked, trying to be strong for my demon, who was watching me in silence as I tried to stop the bleeding.
Shouts sounded from the right end of the tunnel. We all looked in that direction. “What do you want me to do, boss? The car is about a block down that way,” he said, pointing to the left down the darkened tunnel. I had never been this far.
“He can’t make it that far!” I cried, pressing the gauze against Col’s bleeding chest, panic sinking its claws into my back.
The shouts became louder, and the new Mafia King looked to his man. “Hold them off—just for a minute,” he grunted as he shifted on his feet, bracing himself further into the wall. “Don’t kill anyone.”
“Yes, sir.” And then, we were alone.
“Give me that mouth,” he growled weakly, pulling me to stand in front of him. I put my hands on his chest, gauze forgotten as I held him up. He didn’t want to sit, and I didn’t have it in me to make him. His heart beating and his breathing were precious gifts I didn’t want to waste.
My lips touched his softly, and when I tried to pull away, his hand tightened in my drooping ponytail, holding me against him. I whimpered and more tears fell.
“I want you,” he pleaded against my lips as I distracted him from the pain. I pulled back to look up at him, bracing his weight on me and the wall.
“You have me,” I whispered through my trembling lips. I felt the warmth of his blood seeping through my shirt. It was the worst form of torture, out of all the pain I had come to bear in this life.
Seeing him dying was the worst.
I would endure everything all over again if it meant Collin would be alive and well.
He hissed in pain.
No, no, no, no.
“Do I, angel? Do I have you?” He cupped my head in his bloody hands, spreading the warm liquid on my cheeks as he stroked my face.
“Forever,” I whimpered, pressing my lips to his again. My tears fell down between us, and he groaned at the taste of them before pulling away. “I wanted you from the moment I saw you in that stupid burger joint. You were an angel sent from heaven to tame a demon like me—”
It sounded like a goodbye and I shook my head rapidly, letting out a choked sob.
“We—we don’t have to talk about this now,” I said, kissing him once more. He turned his head away from me, his eyes looking down into the darkness.
“No, I have to. I have to tell you... I have to tell you the truth. I wanted to be the good guy. I wanted to be the hero,” he said as he looked at me once more. “I wanted to be good for you.”
“You are, Col. You are!” I sobbed as I moved my hands down, applying more pressure to his wound. He crushed his lips to mine once more, groaning in pain.
“Angel, I’m sorry, I have to…”
He started sliding down the wall, and I guided him gently. This couldn’t happen. No. Not now. Not after we finally found each other.
I stood back up to get help—from someone who would accept us. Deacon couldn’t have gone far, and the shouting had stopped. My hands were trembling as I rubbed his blood on my jeans.
“Karina, don’t leave me.”
His plea had me looking down at him, and my soul cried out in fear, reaching out to hold onto his dark one. “Collin, I need to get you help."
He smiled weakly at me.
“I'm dying, my love,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “I don’t want to be alone when I go. Stay with me.”
My love.
He loved me.
A lump formed in my throat as a life without him flashed before my eyes, me shutting down again and losing myself. A gray, mundane, cold and lonely life. I shook my head, my hair hitting my face, pieces of it sticking to my cheeks because of his blood.
No! I fell to my knees in front of him, letting out a strangled cry. “No, please, Col! Stay with me!
Using whatever strength he had left, he leaned forward with a grunt and helped me onto his lap.
The fading warmth of his body served as a reminder that I would never get to make love to him again, never get to feel him over me again as he brought us to our peaks, nearly touching the heavens, never get to feel his arms wrap around me.
Never get to cook my mama’s recipes for him like I planned to.
Never get to kiss him when he came home.
Never get to see if my family would finally accept him.
“My sweet, sweet Karina. You were a blessing I never deserved,” he sighed, his body settling. The color was draining from his cheeks, and I pressed my hands against his wound, praying silently to God.
I know he is just a demon, but there is good in him. Let me show you. Give us a chance. Don’t take him from me.
I laid my head on his shoulder, counting the seconds between each precious breath he gave me. Each one was a gift I would treasure forever. His heart was beating against mine, weak but still fighting.
Minutes passed as he stroked my hair, and when his hand fell from my back, I sat up. Cupping his face, I shook him gently. His eyes were closed, his face turned slightly.
“Col? Collin! Don’t leave me.”
I heard a faint click, and I turned around to find the last person I wanted to see.
Dean Connors, with his nostrils flared, his hazel eyes dilated with rage, loading his pistol. “Move, Kay,” he instructed, his voice dripping with hatred.
I held my shaky palm out to him. “Dean, please,” I whimpered.
Dean came around me and pointed the barrel of his gun against Collin’s temple.
“Dean! Please! No, Dean!” I screamed, grabbing his wrist. He growled and turned his attention to me. In a flash, Dean gripped me and yanked me off Collin's lap. He held me back with one strong arm as I screamed and pleaded for mercy while pushing against him.
Then.
It happened.
Collin’s eyes opened, and a small smirk formed on his lips. “Connors,” he coughed, blood now oozing from his lips. “It’s good to see you.”
“You piece of shit,” Dean growled, pressing the gun harder against my blue-eyed demon’s temple. My lover chuckled softly, looking down for a moment then back up at me.
“Don’t do it in front of my angel, Connors. Be a decent man.”
“Dean, stop it!”
His hazel eyes found mine with snarl on his lips. “You have got to be fucking kidding me, Kay! He is the fucking enemy!”
I lost it. “The enemy is lying in a pool of his own blood upstairs!” I shouted at the baseball player.
His arm loosened, and I seized my moment. I dove onto Collin, pulling his head to my chest and wrapping my arms around him.
“Stay with me! Stay with me, please! I’ll never ask for anything else!
I’ll stay with you in your big dark house on the lake!
Please! I’ll cook for you. I’ll give you babies.
We can be a family. We will love you so much!
You would be such a good father. I’ll never leave unless it’s with you!
Please! Please! Please, Col! Fight for me!
Please, babe…” I pressed my cheek against the top of his head and swayed.
Collin chuckled weakly. “My angel always trying to…” he drifted off.
Sirens and the sound of footsteps coming down the tunnel flooded my ears. I looked up to Dean, who was studying me with a pained look on his face, the gun now pointed at both of us.
He was frozen.
“I love him, Dean,” I said through my tears.
“Connors!” James’ voice echoed from down the hall. They were closing in. I looked down at the swarm of people rushing to us before looking at my best friend’s fiancé.
“Dean—Dean, please! I beg you. I love him. Please!” I cried.
Dean’s chest rose and fell rapidly as his eyes bounced between my face and Collin. Seconds passed but it felt like an eternal hell. I glared up at him through my tears.
“You want kill to him, then you better kill me too, because I am not living in this world without him beside me!” I declared, my voice stronger than before.
“Fucking hell,” he mumbled as he dropped the gun to his side. He turned his back to me and held both hands up to the men charging for us.
“Garner, get the chopper ready. We have a GSW to the chest. Have Gwen meet us in the chopper,” he ordered looking back to me.
“Kay.”
It was a gentle boom, one that only could belong to my uncle.
“She hasn’t moved. She won’t drink anything.”
I didn’t know who that was, nor did I give a shit. A hand landed on my shoulder, heavy but gentle—warm, the complete opposite of the cold, sterile room I had been in for the last few hours. Or days. I didn’t know.