Chapter 23 #2
Jude rushes forward, and I’m right behind him.
Unsurprisingly, we enter the sitting room to find Rohan pinning Lochlan to the wall, several chairs overturned and an end table broken.
Blood is soaked through Lochlan’s left shoulder, down his arm, and splashed across his neck.
Jude clearly did a quick patch job to slow the bleeding, and Rohan is avoiding applying pressure to the area as he drives his weight against Lochlan’s chest.
“Will you fucking stop?” Rohan grits out.
“Get off me.” Lochlan’s voice is low and dangerous, his accent so thick the words are almost indiscernible.
“I told you to sit down. Not destroy the chairs.”
“I told you to fuck off.”
“Lo!” I bark as I stride forward. His lip is curled up in a snarl, and his blue eyes are so dark they nearly look black. “Little early to be getting into trouble, yeah?”
His chest heaves, and even I can admit, he looks scary right now.
This is the side of Lochlan that rarely comes out.
The dark, twisted parts of him that were fucked up when we were kids, the demons that can take hold.
This version of him has ripped people apart with his bare hands, and I need him to calm down before we have to actually hurt him.
“Let him go, Ro.” Rohan shoots me a look, but I shake my head. “Let him go.”
With a flare of his nostrils, clearly not agreeing with the decision, Rohan steps back. Lochlan stumbles a little before righting himself and glaring at Rohan.
I hold out the bottle of whiskey. “Come have a drink while we get you cleaned up.”
“I don’t want to fucking sit here. I want to make the fucker who shot me bleed.”
“I know it.” I shift my body to subtly block him. “I’ll let you shred the bastard once we get him. But I can’t have you bleeding out in the meantime.”
“I’m not?—”
“Lochlan,” I snap, my voice growing agitated.
“I know you are pissed that someone got you. I know you’re even more angry that they caught you off guard.
I get you want to rip the city apart to find the prick.
Trust me, I do.” I cross to him, gripping his good shoulder and making him look at me.
“But I can’t have something happening to you.
You’re my brother, Lo. I need you to get fixed up before we do anything else.
” I dig my fingers into his uninjured skin. “Got it?”
It’s one of the only things that gets through to Lochlan, the reminder of the limited family we have. He has the darkest depths of us all, but he might have the best heart, too. It’s the only way to pull him back from the brink.
Chest still heaving, he snatches the whiskey bottle from me and takes a seat.
I don’t need to ask what happened to the others.
I’ve been around Lochlan enough times after he’s been in a fight or shot.
He turns violent when he feels backed into a corner, and he needs to let that out in some form.
If he wants to destroy my furniture, that’s fine.
Mika was the one who finally got Rohan and me to see that. She’s far too smart, too good at reading all of us. Even if I’ve never really said it to Lochlan, I get what’s going through his head in these moments. I much prefer spilling blood to handle my problems, too.
None of us speak as Rohan grabs another bottle and fills glasses. He kicks the broken pieces of my table out of the way, offering Jude and me a drink. And that’s how Nolan finds us, sipping whiskey in silence.
“Mr. Byrne,” Nolan addresses only Lochlan. He doesn’t flinch at the mess or the blood all over his body. “Are you ready?”
More than once, Rohan and I have had to hold Lochlan down for Nolan to work. But he always gives him the option to be cooperative first.
Lochlan jerks his head in a nod, lifting the bottle back to his lips. Nolan picks a chair up from the ground, placing it across from Lochlan, and sets his supplies on the table. Despite the agitation rolling off him, Lochlan doesn’t flinch as Nolan starts.
Seeing him be mildly cooperative gives me enough confidence to take a step back, coaxing Jude and Rohan to the other side of the room. Lochlan doesn’t even seem to notice as Nolan keeps working on him.
Keeping my voice low, I glance at Jude. “Tell me what happened.”
His jaw works. “I don’t have much information. We were walking to one of the shops Lochlan frequents when he was shot. He actually stopped abruptly right before it happened—I’m not sure if he thought something felt off—but I think it might have kept the bullet from hitting its mark.”
I nod, even as anger flares through me. “Just a single shot?”
“I pulled him behind a building so we could stop the bleeding. I heard another one or two, but I suspect it was a singular sniper.” He takes a sip, glancing toward Lochlan. “I kept him behind buildings to get back in the car, so we didn’t face open fire to find out.”
“And you didn’t see anything suspicious beforehand?” Rohan asks, brows furrowed.
“Nothing.” Jude’s jaw ticks. “Lochlan doesn't keep a schedule, though. He communicates directly with the shop owner when he wants something. He was the only one that would have known we were going to be there.”
Well, I might have someone that Lochlan can tear apart after all.
“Jude, take Till to the shop with you. Find out what the owner knows.” Till might be a rule follower, but he’s loyal and huge. He’ll have no problem helping Jude with this. “You can even dangle that incentive from Miles to get him to spill.”
“You think it was a rebel?” Rohan muses.
“Who else?” I have to fight to keep my voice low. “There’s been constant attacks all over the city, my wife is ambushed, and now Lochlan’s been shot? They’ve been making a big push to cut off any power we have. This must have been them.”
Which means these bastards need to be rounded up and killed. I’m sick of the infection in my city, and I need to put an end to it.
“I’ll get it out of him.” Jude hands me his empty glass, rolling his shoulders.
Tension lines his body, and despite acting calm, I know he’s pissed. We’re like family, and someone attacked one of us. Jude will get some information out of the shop owner—regardless of how many days and how much blood it takes. He slips out of the room with one last look over at Lochlan.
“It’s odd, isn’t it?” I glance over at Rohan, his dark eyes already on me. “All these years, we’ve had no problem keeping the rebels out of the city. Now, even with guards sweeping the buildings, they actually manage to target one of us?” He shakes his head. “Something isn’t right.”
“I agree.” I just don’t know what it is.
His jaw works as he thinks something over, but he drops the issue. Instead, he says, “I’m going to check his house. Make sure he has everything he needs.” With that, Rohan leaves, too.
Turning my attention back to Lochlan, I’m relieved to see him relaxed back in his chair. The bottle of whiskey sits on the floor now, and Nolan has cut Lochlan’s shirt out of the way. They’re nearly done, and his violent episode seems to have passed.
Crossing the room, I set aside the empty glasses, assuming Rohan will drop his in the kitchen on the way to Lochlan’s house. Leaning against the bar, I watch Nolan finish dressing Lochlan’s shoulder, now cleaned and packed.
Satisfied, Nolan packs away his medical items and says something to Lochlan I don’t hear. But Lochlan nods, and Nolan pats his right shoulder before he stands.
Moving to me, the medic says, “He’ll be fine. Try to keep his movements minimal. You know the standard protocol.”
I nod. “Rohan went to get everything. We’ll make sure it doesn’t get infected.”
“Call for me if you see any signs that it is.”
I wait for Nolan to leave before moving around the table and taking the seat that he just left.
Lochlan swallows hard. “Sorry about the mess.”
I shrug. “I needed a new table anyway.”
That makes his lips twitch. But he still won’t look at me. “I was pissed I didn’t see it coming.”
“Hey, Lo.” I lean forward, nudging his foot with mine so he’ll look over. “We’ll find who did this. But those fuckers still failed, yeah? You’ll make them pay.”
That has a bit of life brightening in his dark eyes. “It’ll take more than a bullet to stop me, Kier.”
I chuckle. “That’s right.” And because I’m really trying to not be such a cold-hearted bastard—though I highly doubt that’s a quality that I can actually change—I add, “I’m glad you’re alright, Lo.”
“Aw, Kier.” He sits up, looking far too smug now. The bastard is fine . “Are you getting soft on me?”
I roll my eyes and stand up. “I left my naked wife in bed for you.”
He presses a hand to his chest, leaning back in his chair with the dumbest fucking smile on his face. “I knew you loved me.”
“I should shoot you myself,” I mutter. “I wouldn’t miss.”
“You wouldn’t. You care too much about me.”
Now I kick his foot. “Get up and go home. I need to go find my girl.” Lochlan laughs, but he pushes up to his feet. His eyes flick behind me, his expression faltering, so I slide in front of him. “Don’t worry about that. Rohan’s already at your place, and Jude’s going to get your sugar fix.”
He turns his head, but not before I catch the actual emotion on his face. “I expect you to bring Eden and some food over later. Don’t leave me at Rohan’s mercy.”
I know how rough that can be. “You got it, Lo.”