Chapter 20
LIAM
I slam against the floor, agony exploding through my shoulder, and it takes a second for me to process what just happened.
That I’m bleeding.
That I was shot.
Fuck!
I clamp my hand over the wound in my left shoulder and try to struggle to my feet, but Lorell is right in front of me, pointing his gun at me again. The goon who shot me stands behind him with a smug look on his face.
Maybe with reason.
The struggle to stay conscious, to fight and breathe through the pain is getting harder, but I refuse to give up.
They’ll have to kill me.
Lorell offers me a grin. “I do commend your spirit. You must really like her.” He squats in front of me. “I can understand that. She was a good fuck.”
This motherfucking son of a bitch!
I growl and try to push up, but he just chuckles as I collapse back against the dirty floorboards, all the energy zapped from my body as blood starts to pool under me.
That isn’t good.
None of this is.
It isn’t at all how it saw it happening—them coming here and infiltrating the mountain. I thought we’d have some warning, some hint that this was coming before they arrived.
I never thought I’d fail so miserably.
My eyelids grow heavy, the barn darkening even more, but the sound of a familiar growl makes my eyes fly back open.
A flash of white appears, and Gizmo flings himself toward Lorell, latching onto his arm with a vicious, snarling attack.
Giz!
If he’s here…
Lucky shifts into my line of vision, the revolver pointed at the man who destroyed her life and sent her running.
“No—”
Before I can stop her, tell her to run to Connor’s and seek his help, Lorell manages to send Gizmo flying across the barn with a yelp and turns toward her.
Lucky stands her ground, unwavering. “Thanks for the compliment. At least one of us had a good time.”
Good God.
Even terrified, staring down this man who abused her trust and tried to kill her, she’s fucking stunning. And seeing her here, so close to this kind of danger, helps clear some of the fog of pain from my head.
Enough to help me push it to the side and focus on what’s right in front of me—my axe leaning against the wall only a few feet away.
Almost within reach.
The head glints in the moonlight, and my hand itches to hold its familiar weight, to swing the blade straight into the man threatening everything I love.
Gizmo releases a whimper, and Lucky’s eyes dart to where he landed.
That split second is all it takes for the second armed man to sneak up behind her and pull the gun from her hand before she can get off a shot.
“No!”
She screams, kicking back, trying to get out of his hold, but he keeps her there, pressing his hand over her mouth as Lorell snarls at her and stalks toward them, his chest heaving.
“You fucked up everything!” His sinister gaze cuts to where Gizmo lies, barely moving. “You and that fucking dog!”
That fucking dog just saved my life—again.
Though, the reprieve is temporary.
Sticky blood seeps from my shoulder and head, the wooziness making any clear thinking more and more difficult.
I have to get to her—
Lorell advances toward them, one hand still clutching his weapon, the other fisted at his side. “I always knew it would come in handy to have Julian Snow on our payroll, and I was right. He led me right to you, you fucking bitch.”
Her eyes flare wide, as if she’s watching her own worst nightmare come for her, because she is.
That’s precisely what this night has become.
A worst nightmare for both of us.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The sound of gunshots echoes across the homestead, splintering the night air for the second time, and Lorell’s head whips in that direction. He grabs Lucky from the other man’s hold. “Go see what happened.”
Connor…
Killian…
Willow and the baby…
Terror seizes what little air is left in my lungs, but I can’t give in to it.
There are other men out on the homestead. Other men who could have snuck into Connor’s and Killian’s cabins. But I also know my brothers, and they won’t go down without a bloody battle.
I inch toward my axe slowly, dragging myself while Lorell still has his back turned and his focus on Lucky. She strains in his hold, refusing to stop fighting the man who has been the source of all her fears for so long.
Fuck, I love her…
So fucking much.
My fingers curl around the axe handle and I stagger to my feet. But the blood on my hand makes it slide from my grip, clanking loudly, the sound reverberating through the barn like thunder.
It takes half a second for Lorell to start to turn, but by then, I’m already lunging toward him, the only weapon I had now out of my reach. I slide my good arm around his neck and pull, using every bit of strength I have to wrench him backward.
Lucky bucks out of his hold, stumbling away, her eyes locking with mine over his shoulder.
“Get out of here, Lucky! Go back to the cabin.”
She could run for Connor’s or Killian’s, but if the other men out there see her, they won’t hesitate to shoot. My cabin is closer, and at the very least, she can lock herself inside and search for another weapon.
A knife from the kitchen, the fire poker, literally anything would be better than standing here, watching this, remaining in harm’s way.
“No.” She shakes her head, watching me as I struggle with him. “I won’t.”
I’m bigger and stronger than Lorell, but I’m also badly injured.
Something he seems intent on taking advantage of.
He reaches up with one hand to claw at my arm around his throat, then uses the other to dig his fingers into the gaping wound on my shoulder.
Searing hot pain makes me gag and almost black out, but I somehow hold on, wrangling him through sheer will alone, staggering across the barn.
He bucks wildly, refusing to give in even though my grip on his neck is tight enough that I’ve been cutting off his airway.
It doesn’t seem to be enough to stop him.
I don’t let go until my back slams into the wall of the barn.
The old wood creaks, threatening to give way with the force of our impact, but I shove him forward, onto the ground, digging in my chokehold even tighter. This position gives me better leverage, an advantage I will need if I have any chance of winning this fight.
He throws his head back, and I move a split second too late, the impact hitting my cheek and knocking my vision from me momentarily.
It’s enough time for him to turn under me, to reach up and land another blow to my temple.
Lights flash across my otherwise dark vision, my head whipping to the side as the taste of blood fills my mouth, but I’m still on top of him. Still have the upper hand if I can just manage to gain control of him somehow.
I slide my hands down around his throat, trying to restrict his breathing, trying to keep him from getting to his feet.
Visions of my nightmares flash before my eyes, his face morphing into my mother’s, mine becoming my father’s, but I force them away, even as he continues to try to swing at me.
Another gunshot sounds somewhere on the property, this one closer, and Lucky recoils, backing away and scanning the barn, searching for anything that might help me.
I struggle with the man under me, absorbing his blows and trying to maintain my grip as it slips with the blood rolling down my arm.
Until heavy footsteps pound on the ground outside.
Lucky snags something from the ground and whirls toward the noise, and the glint of one of the axes I keep in the workshop catches the corner of my eye just as Connor rounds the corner, shotgun in his hand.
For once, Giz doesn’t growl or bark at him, but runs toward us as if trying to lead him to where he’s needed.
“Liam!” Connor’s voice echoes through the small space and he races over toward us, but I’ve lost the upper hand now, all my strength draining from me quickly, and Lorell manages to get a hand between us and shove hard enough to push me away a few inches then throw me onto my back.
He pins me down and reaches for a knife from his boot, pulling it out and pressing it to my neck.
But before the blade can bite into the skin, the sound of something whooshing through the air fills my ears and his eyes widen as he collapses on top of me, my ax embedded into his upper back.
Connor stands there, his own chest heaving as he stares down at us.
He grabs Lorell and rolls him off of me, then squats and presses his hand over my shoulder.
“Shit, are you all right?”
I try to regain my breath. “Lucky?”
He glances up. “She’s okay.”
I crane my neck, trying to see her, and she drops onto the floor beside me, tears streaming down her face.
Gizmo barks.
“We heard gunshots.”
Connor nods. “I killed three other ones, but I don’t know how many more are out there.”
“Killian?”
He inclines his head. “In the cabin with Willow and Niall.”
I nod.
“Good.” The world starts to go even darker around the corners of my vision. “Good.”
“Liam, stay with me.” Lucky’s hand tilts my face toward her, and I hear the franticness of her words, feel the way she trembles, but I can’t lift my arm anymore to try to hold her or comfort her. “You promised me.”
I did.
So many promises I intended when I said them.
So many I won’t be able to keep.
“I’m so sorry.”
It’s the last thing I say before the whole world goes black.
* * *
LUCKY
In the months since the robbery, I've imagined a thousand different horrific scenarios, had nightmares about what would happen if Lorell ever found me, what he would do if he ever realized I had survived and came to hunt me down. But in all of them, it was always me in the crosshairs.
It was always me he was targeting.
Never innocent people.
Never people who just wanted to help.
Never someone I loved.
As Liam's eyes drift closed, my scream cuts through the barn. "Liam, no!" I take his face between my palms, the blood on them from his shoulder smearing across his face. "Stay awake, Liam."
But his eyelids don't flutter.
He doesn't respond at all.