Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
NOVA
A shrill scream fills my head and echoes in the night, the sound broken like the cries of a dying animal in its last moments. It’s when my lungs deflate and my throat squeezes that I realize it was me who was screaming.
“Aiden,” I sob, and roll him onto his back.
He blinks rapidly, his eyes glassy and unfocused. He clenches his bloody teeth and grimaces as he draws in a ragged breath that sounds more like a pained groan.
I kneel beside him, and our eyes meet as he clutches his chest, blood seeping through his shirt and between his fingers.
“Someone help!” I scream. I cover his hand with mine to apply pressure to the wound.
Aiden’s chest rocks beneath me as he struggles to breathe. Tears run down his cheeks, and he moves his lips to form words, trying to say something to me, but nothing comes out except for loud rattles.
“Please, pretty boy. Don’t leave me.” I sob and push harder on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Screams from inside the cabin swell above the music’s deep bass. I suck in sharp breaths, feeling myself hurtling into a panic attack as everything around me closes in.
Boots thump on the ground, heading straight toward us. I raise my head right as a man in black fists my hair and drags me away from Aiden.
“Sorry, princess,” he says, though his helmet muffles his words. “This wasn’t personal.”
My stomach drops, and my body goes limp from shock. “Brandon?”
“I know you said we could play later.” He yanks my hair harder and shoves my head against the ground. “But I’m an impatient man, Nova.”
Digging my elbows into the pines and dead leaves, I push myself up, only for Brandon’s boot to smash into my shoulder. Blinding, hot pain shoots through my body and closes my throat. My back bows, and my mouth opens with a silent scream.
“You’ve been quite the busy girl, haven’t you?” Brandon’s boot digs into my shoulder, and he makes a noise in the back of his throat like he’s disappointed. “I didn’t mean to shoot you too, but I couldn’t pass up the perfect opportunity to take your brother out.”
I claw at the ankles of his boot and glare at him through my tears.
He tilts his head, dark eyes piercing my face as he watches me squirm.
“There was a moment I liked you, you know. When you told me you were in love with your brother and how sorry you were for hurting my feelings. I’ve never had that before, where someone felt sorry for causing me pain.
” His head turns in Aiden’s direction, and then he returns his focus to me.
“Then I watched your brother fuck you against that tree.”
“You’re sick,” I say through clenched teeth.
Brandon chuckles and pushes his boot harder into my shoulder. “You shouldn’t throw stones while living in a glass house. After watching the show you two put on, I understand why there’s a hit on your brother and his friends. Just a bunch of sick freaks that need to be taken out.”
He lifts his foot and points the barrel of his gun at my head. “If you move, I will paint the ground with your brains. Do you understand?”
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to silence my pathetic whimper.
Brandon kneels beside me, holding the gun toward my head, and hooks his finger under the hem of my dress.
“Why are you doing this?” I sob.
He tilts his head as he considers my question. “What if there isn’t a good reason?”
“But there has to be.”
“Oh, there is. But if I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” His gaze trails down my body and settles where Aiden’s cum is cooling on the inside of my thigh.
“Aren’t you planning to kill me anyway? That’s why you have the gun.”
His gaze snaps to my face, and he lets out a dark laugh. “Maybe.”
I dig my nails into the ground when all I want to do is swing at him. Precious seconds to save Aiden’s life are being wasted because this pervert can’t stop himself from looking at my pussy—or at least trying to.
Where the hell is everyone?
Why isn’t anyone rushing out here to help?
Movement behind Brandon catches my attention. I look past his shoulder and up at the ghost mask the man is wearing. He drags a large blade out of his pocket and lifts a gloved finger to the mask’s screaming mouth, silently telling me to keep quiet.
Another man dressed in black combat gear and a skull mask moves quietly to Aiden’s side and kneels beside him. He glances in our direction before turning his focus to my brother.
Hawk moves out of the shadows, a black face mask over his nose and mouth, but his white-blond hair stands out in the dark. He watches the man in combat gear for a split second before seething rage flares in his eyes.
Brandon sucks his teeth and points the barrel of the gun at my head. “Mickey was right about—”
Hawk snatches the knife from the man in the ghost mask, hooks his arm around Brandon’s throat, and brings the blade in front of him. He thrusts the knife into Brandon’s chest, stabbing him repeatedly and holding him in a headlock to keep him from escaping as he flails.
The man in the ghost mask points to Aiden and says to me, “Go to him. He needs you.”
I scramble onto my hands and knees before pushing onto my feet.
“Aiden!” I sprint to him.
The man kneeling beside him doesn’t spare me a glance when I drop to my knees beside him. He finishes covering Aiden’s bullet wound with duct tape on his skin. He stuffs the roll of tape into his cargo pocket and gathers Aiden into his arms.
“He barely has a pulse,” he says to me, then stands while holding Aiden’s lifeless body.
I tilt back my head as the man holding my brother towers over me.
He’s a literal giant made of solid muscle and tattoos creeping out of the neckline of his black shirt.
He cradles Aiden as if he weighs nothing.
My brother’s head lolls against the crook of the man’s elbow, his arms and legs lifeless.
He glances at Hawk and Ryder, who joined to drag Brandon toward the cabin. “Where’s Haze? We need to get him to the hospital.”
A woman with long black hair runs toward us. “Get him to the car, Felix.”
Felix tightens his hold on Aiden before jogging toward the side of the cabin. I follow him and can barely keep up with his long strides.
“Go with them. I got it from here,” Ryder yells as Hawk looks conflicted.
It’s chaos in the front. People run to their cars to leave, while others stay behind and fight Brandon’s friends. I spot Jaxon beating a man in a motorcycle helmet.
Felix stops at a black classic Mustang with Haze behind the wheel. I duck past Felix and open the back door for him.
“You first,” he says.
I crawl onto the white leather seat and turn so my back is against the door.
Felix guides Aiden into the back seat and props him against me with his head resting against my chest. Hawk slips past him and rests Aiden’s legs over his lap, and I couldn’t be any more grateful that he’s coming with us.
Felix shuts the door and rushes toward the cabin.
Haze glances over his shoulder at us in the back seat, his mask gone and blood smeared over his hands. The woman from earlier joins him in the front seat.
“Ready to break some fucking laws?” Haze smirks at us before turning forward and sticking the key into the ignition.
I bury my face in Aiden’s hair and squeeze my eyes shut, fighting back the tears. “Please don’t leave me, pretty boy,” I whisper.
He’s barely making any noise now, not even the bone-chilling rattles from trying to breathe. I don’t know if it’s because of the duct tape over his chest to prevent the air from escaping his lungs or what, but he’s too quiet, and I can’t unhear what Felix said about him barely having a pulse.
The Mustang’s engine purrs to life and growls as Haze steps on the gas. The car spins, and I’m slammed into the seat. I tighten my hold on Aiden and use my injured shoulder to bear the brunt of the impact. My teeth grit together from the blinding pain.
A shrill ring fills my ears, drowning out the Mustang and my racing heart. Sweat beads on my temples, and I swallow repeatedly, fighting the tickle in the back of my throat from wanting to retch.
Haze says something, but it’s warbled and doesn’t make sense.
I focus on Aiden. My body fights my mind, dragging me nearer to unconsciousness, but my will is stronger. I cling to Aiden and watch his chest, needing to see that he’s breathing.
Black dots crawl into the corners of my vision, creeping closer to the middle. I sway, and I’m not sure if it’s me or Haze’s driving. All I know is that I can’t hold still, so I find five things I can see.
Aiden’s silver hair.
Stay awake, Nova.
The black duct tape on Aiden’s bloody chest.
He needs you.
The white leather seat beneath me that’s now stained crimson.
Tell him you love him. If he knows, then he won’t die.
My lips move, but I can’t hear myself. Or anything else, for that matter. Everything closes in.
Then nothing.