Chapter 26 Summer
Chapter Twenty-Six
SUMMER
My hands are shaking, the blood spreading across the ground, the pool getting closer and closer to my shoes.
I try to take a step back, but I'm not sure if I do. I feel like I'm frozen in place.
Robert's body falls to the side, his eyes wide and the color gone from his skin. He hits the ground with a thud I think is going to haunt my nightmares.
This isn't the first time I've shot a person. Far from it. Not even the first time I saw a dead body.
Still, I can't stop the feelings rushing through me, the knowledge that my future is over.
I don't have what it takes to get out of this.
Even if Aiden is still lingering around in the corners somewhere, which is exactly like him, there is no way this is getting cleaned up before the police get here.
Which means I need to get out of here now...not that it's going to do much good.
My fingerprints are already in the system.
I'm never going to be able to become a lawyer. I'm going to spend the rest of my life rotting in a cell. And I deserve it. I killed a person.
Noah looks up at me, mouth falling open. "Summer, put the gun down, okay?"
I drop the gun like the metal is burning me. "That's the first time in years I've killed someone."
He winces and shakes his head. "No, the people you shot one of the times you escaped died."
A foul taste fills the back of my mouth, my stomach turning.
I lunge for one of the stacks of crates to the side, doubling over and emptying the contents of my stomach. I keep gagging until there's nothing left to bring up.
I thought I only hurt those men before. I didn't think they'd die.
This is going to fuck up my entire future. Everything I've worked for is going to go down the drain. Even if they clean this up the best they can, there's always going to be a moment in my life when this could come back and bite me in the ass.
I turn back to Noah, but it's then that I see the multiple bullet wounds. "You've been shot. What the fuck."
His eyelids are drooping, and he leans back against his forearms, his head tilting back and his eyes on the sky. "Yeah. Head doesn't feel so good. It's going to be fine, though."
"You've been grazed by at least two bullets, and God knows if your stupid ass got shot with another one at some point." I crouch down beside him, pulling away his shirt and trying to look at his arm before crawling down to his calf and examining the wound there.
Both of them are deep enough to bleed heavily, not to mention the blood he's drenched in after fighting Robert. There's not much I can do for any of it here, and I doubt he'd let me bandage him if I even had the supplies to do so.
And then the gunshots echo through the pier again.
Men and women I know go running by, not a single one of them paying any attention. Their footsteps pound away from us while Noah struggles to sit up a little taller.
Looks like Aiden wasn't listening to me fully when I told him to get out of here.
Or Robert's people don't know he's dead.
If they knew he was dead, would they keep going with this war?
Or are Noah's men meeting my brother's? Is this going to be the fight that ends it all? Am I going to have to say goodbye to the people I love?
I suck a sharp breath, moving to look down at Noah again. When I reach for his shoulders, trying to keep him in the position he's in so he doesn't lose more blood, he rolls away from me.
I follow him, trying to get another look at the graze from a bullet on his arm and the way his nose tips just slightly to the side. "Don't be difficult. This isn't looking good for you at all. You need to go see a doctor."
Noah shoves away my hands, pushing them as he gets to his feet. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine." I try to grab him and force him to slow down, but he dodges me, picking up the gun. "Noah!"
"Enough!" He whips around to look at me, swaying on his feet a little, a wet sheen to his skin. "Summer, this has to end now."
He's lost more blood than I thought he had if he's swaying like that. There has to be more damage that I can't see.
What if there's internal bleeding?
Aiden dashes by, shooting me a sharp look. "Leave him and get the fuck out of here. I'll deal with him."
And by deal with him, I'm sure Aiden means that he's going to kill Noah if he has half a chance.
Aiden disappears around the corner, Royce close behind him, the gunshots now coming in rapid succession, pained screams ripping through the last of the fog hovering over the water.
Noah's weight shifts to the side, his thumb slipping along the safety to make sure it's off, a hard look in his eyes as his gaze meets mine. "I really don't want to do this."
For a moment, I think he's going to raise the gun at me. His hand tightens around the gun, holding it until his knuckles turn white. It looks like it's taking everything he has to stay upright.
Somehow, I need to convince him to get in the car. I need him to come with me so I can get him help before he dies.
I don't know what I'll do if he dies.
He wasn't supposed to mean this much to me.
Noah and Aiden have put me in a difficult position—one that I have no clue how to navigate.
I suck a sharp breath, letting it out and running my hand through my hair.
People flood past us out onto the pier, nobody paying any mind to what we're doing.
"Noah, please. You have to stop this."
"That's what I'm going to do." He jerks his head in the direction of the pier.
"Your brothers are down there, and this is where it ends.
After this, there's not going to be any more of this shit.
It's finally going to be over. My father is finally going to be at peace. I'm finally going to be at peace."
"This isn't going to bring you peace." I step forward, tone pleading, hoping he's just willing to listen.
Just a little. I don't need him to think I'm right. I don't even need him to change his mind right now. I just need Noah to get his ass in the car.
"You don't know what this is like. You don't—"
"Fuck that." I flinch as the gunshots get louder, sounding like the fight is getting closer to us. "Sean killed my father. Do you know what it was like for everyone to learn to deal with him when Ellie decided she loved the bastard?"
Noah's face softens for a second, but it's a fleeting look, one that disappears within the blink of an eye. "You don't understand."
"Please." I step forward, hands dropping to my side. My stomach is tossing and turning, rolling over and over itself.
Am I going to be sick again?
No. I have to keep it together. I have to get him out of here.
He reaches up, wiping some of the sweat and dried blood from his face, the gun angling toward me just a little. "Go, Summer. I'm not going to keep arguing with you."
Noah takes a couple of steps back, putting some distance between us.
I keep following him, not letting him get away from me, following him like I'm a lioness stalking her prey.
Hell, if I have to knock him out and wrestle him into the car, I will.
But what if he fights me?
There's enough sway to his stance that I should be able to get the best of him.
He can't run; otherwise, he would've done it already. If I force this, though, it's going to ruin us. I know that.
Whatever it takes to keep him alive.
That cold gaze focuses on me again, like he's just waiting for the moment I lunge for him.
If he's ready for me, I'm not going to get the upper hand.
"Come back home with me, please." I keep my tone gentle and soft, staying put when he takes another step back.
"We can take some time to figure this out, and then I promise you we can find a way to end this, okay?
I'm sure Aiden would be willing to sit down and negotiate with you. He used to be willing to."
Noah barks out a sharp laugh. "He's not going to be willing to do that again. Not after all that's happened. There's too much water under that bridge. I'm not going anywhere other than to end this."
I reach for his arm, trying to tug him to the car. "No. You have to get out of here and go get to the doctor. Please, just get in the car. Please."
I hate the way my voice breaks as I see the slight shake of his head while I'm talking.
Noah shakes off my hand, but I grab him again, tugging as hard as I can, trying to force him to come with me.
I haven't spent years training to be weak, but even with all his blood loss, he's still not moving.
Noah stumbles away from me, turning and heading toward the pier. "Not happening. You need to get out of here. Now."
"I'm not going to leave without you." I grab his hand, holding it tight and trying to haul him with me.
He plants his feet and looks down at me, still swaying a little where he stands. "Go home, Summer. Go home, and I'll meet you there when this is over."
"For fuck's sake! Get your fucking ass in the car now!" I wrench his arm hard as a couple of men break off from the pack and turn toward us.
Sirens start screeching in the distance, but they're getting louder.
Fuck.
If I get caught here, everything I've worked for is over.
If I leave him here alone, he's going to die. He's either going to do something stupid, or the blood loss is going to take him out.
This is a shitshow. Not at all what I wanted to be dealing with, and it's going to send me over the edge.
I grab him, tugging him to the side, but he spins the gun in my face.
My heart stops in my chest, breath catching in my throat.
He's going to kill me.
This is it. He's finally going to kill me. I'm not going home today. I've finally pushed him too far. We're past the point of no return.
There's an anger in his eyes like I've never seen before.
He squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Summer, you're making this more difficult than it needs to be. I don't want to fight with you about this. Just please."
"You can barely fucking stand, and you're going to go charging in there and do what exactly?" I take the chance while his eyes are shut, pulling out the thin knife built into the clip holding my hair back, slicing it across his wrist.
He yelps from the pain, dropping the gun to the ground.
I crouch down, swiping the gun and aiming it at him.
I really don't want to shoot him again. He's already lost too much blood.
But if it's the only way to get him in the damn car and out of here, I'll do it.
Noah looks at me, eyeing the gun in my hand. "Don't you see? Aiden is over there, and this is the chance I need. This could be the night when everything ends. We won't have to keep fighting with them anymore."
"You want to go kill my brothers? My family? The people I grew up with? I have friends over there."
His face hardens, sweat now pouring down. "Summer, you knew what this was. You knew what it was always going to be."
My tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip, my heart thrumming in my chest.
Blood rushes in my ears as my finger wraps around the trigger.
I thought when this moment came, I would know what to do. I knew what I'd have to do for my family.
And then Noah came along and showed me another side of him. He became someone I think it's hard to picture my life without. Someone I want to see again after this, but I don't know how that's possible when he's always going to hold this grudge against my family.
This isn't going to work.
If I thought it could once, I was foolish. Blinded by the desire to finally feel seen by somebody.
Noah's gaze locks on mine, his body swaying harder than it was before, his clothing soaked in blood.
I don't know what's his and what's not.
"You knew what this was. You knew it was always going to end this way. Get out of here."
"I'm not going to let you kill them." My voice breaks as I take aim at his good leg. "And I'm not going to let you run into that shit and get yourself killed either."
He takes a couple of steps back. "What're you going to do about it, then?
" He scoffs and shakes his head. "You're not going to do anything, are you?
No. You like being told what to do. You thrive off other people having control because then you don't have to worry about making the wrong choice.
You have none of the power, and you might say you hate it, but I can see it in your eyes. You love it."
"I'm not going to let you do this."
Hate floods his eyes. "You never gave a shit about me, did you? This was nothing but a game of pretend to you. You wanted to see how close you could get to me, and then you were going to betray me like everyone else."
"Noah, I—"
He presses his hand to his bloody wrist, squeezing tight. "You're just as bad as the rest of them. You've never given a shit about me."
His words are a knife to the chest.
A lump forms in my throat, tears burning in the corners of my eyes.
I know I could plead with him, tell him that I do care about him—far more than I ever thought I would—but he's not going to hear it right now.
Hell, I don't know if he's going to hear it when this is done either. Not after I do what I know I have to.
Maybe one day, he'll see that I'm only trying to protect him.
Noah smirks and shakes his head. "Go ahead. You have me right where you want me. Pull the fucking trigger and end this for your family. It's not worth the fight anymore. You won."
"I'm doing th-this because I need you alive." My voice breaks again even as I try to stuff down the sob that's threatening to break free as the first tears slip down my cheeks.
"Fuck you."
I pull the trigger.
What else can I do?
Tears burn hot tracks down my cheeks as he goes to the ground, blood dripping from his thigh.
Across the parking lot, Aiden watches us.
Fuck me.
As Aiden starts to jog toward us, I look down at Noah, biting the inside of my cheek and trying to hold it together.
"He's not going to kill you while you're this injured. He wants you alive and well so he can beat the hell out of you."
It's not going to buy us much time, but it should buy me enough to figure out how to save Noah.
If he's even going to want me after this.
I start to walk backward toward the car as he holds his thigh, trying to get the bleeding to stop. "I'm sorry, but I can't watch you do this to them, so if this is what you want, you're welcome to it, but if you want to come with me now, I can save you."
He's not going to listen to me. I can see it in his eyes. Getting revenge is always going to be more important than I am.
It breaks my heart.
"You made your choice," he hisses through clenched teeth, fury in his eyes. "Leave."
And for what might be the first time, I listen to him, getting in the car, my heart ripping its way out of my chest.
All I can do is hope I'm right about what my brother wants; otherwise, I've just made the worst decision of my life.