Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
How many times Nolan had strangled her to the point of passing out, only to let go, Kara had no idea. But even when he paused, it didn’t feel as if she was getting any air. Her throat was swollen and the rope around her neck was so tight, breathing was nearly impossible.
Nolan was going to win.
“This sucks,” he declared with a shrug. “I thought you were stronger. Figured you’d be a lot more fun to kill. But you’re just like the others. The packaging is a lie. All women are just weak, stupid whores.”
And just like that, Kara knew the next time he tightened his hand, he wasn’t going to let go. This was it.
“Fuck you,” she mouthed as she glared at him, letting all the hatred in her heart show through her eyes. She was done trying to placate him. If he was going to kill her, he needed to know that even at the very end, she wasn’t submitting. Wasn’t rolling over and giving up.
Women weren’t weak. They were strong as hell. The shit they’d had to put up with throughout history had proven that time and time again.
His eyes narrowed—and he brought his other hand up to her throat, using both to strangle her this time.
“Die, bitch,” he snarled.
Kara tried to squirm, tried to fight, but it was no use. She was completely at this madman’s mercy. She felt extremely sad right then. Sad that she’d never get a chance to tell Arrow that she loved him again. That she’d never get to live her life with him by her side.
In the back of her mind, she heard a loud noise. But she was lost in her head, in thoughts of the man she loved, nothing else was registering.
When Nolan let go of her neck again, instant relief hit. Then anger. She’d thought he was finally done torturing her, but apparently not.
But even though his hands weren’t around her neck, not even a hint of air was getting through her abused and swollen throat.
There were loud shouts in the room now, and some part of her brain acknowledged that maybe help had arrived…but it was too late. She couldn’t breathe.
There were two extremely loud bangs, which would’ve made her flinch if she hadn’t been desperately trying to get even the tiniest bit of oxygen into her lungs.
Then a miracle happened.
Arrow appeared.
He was in front of her, staring into her eyes.
That was when Kara knew she was dying. Because the last person she’d been thinking of was him, and now he was there. She had to be hallucinating.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart. Don’t give up! Stay strong for another ten seconds. I’ve got this.”
That was his voice. He really was here…
Kara’s mouth opened and closed as she desperately tried to talk, to tell him how much she loved him, to apologize for not being stronger, but no words materialized.
There were a lot of people in the small cabin now, but Kara only had eyes for one man.
“Here, use this,” someone said.
Arrow’s gaze was locked on hers. Black was slowly creeping in at the edges of her vision, but she refused to let go.
“Hurry, Buck! Cut the rope!” Chaos shouted.
The pressure on her throat disappeared immediately and Kara opened her mouth to gasp, but again, no air flowed down her throat.
She felt herself being lowered to the ground, her hands still restrained at her waist, but that was the least of her worries right now.
“Breathe, Kara! The rope’s gone, you can do this. You have to do this. For me. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She wanted to. Desperately, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t suck in air.
The last thing she saw before her eyes closed and she gave in to the inevitable, was Arrow’s face above hers, his brows furrowed as he stared at her with love and concern, and not a little bit of panic.
* * *
Chaos didn’t spare a glance for Nolan Colins, who’d been shot by two of the SWAT officers after he’d pulled a knife from a holster at his back and spun back toward Kara, clearly to finish what he’d been doing when they’d all burst into the cabin—murdering the woman strapped to the wall like a piece of beef in a butcher’s shop.
All his focus was on Kara. He could see finger-shaped bruises around her throat, but it was the rope digging into her flesh that was the biggest concern to him. He could see her desperately trying to breathe, with no luck.
“Here, use this,” one of the officers said, holding a knife out to Chaos. But he couldn’t let go of Kara long enough to grab it.
“Hurry, Buck! Cut the rope!” he said desperately.
Within seconds, the cord around her neck loosened and Chaos lowered her to the ground with Buck’s help. He hovered over her, begging her to breathe. His heart stopped beating in his chest when her eyes closed and she went limp.
“She’s not breathing!” he told his friend, panicking.
“She’s got a heartbeat,” Buck told him. “Rescue breathing, Chaos. Now!”
Chaos’s training kicked in and he moved to kneel beside Kara’s head. He tilted her head back, pinched her nose with his fingers, and covered her mouth with his own, forcing life-giving oxygen into her starved lungs.
He did it again. And again. Watching her chest rise and fall with each of his exhalations. He continued his breaths every five seconds, praying each time that she’d start breathing for herself.
“Chaos, stop. I think she’s breathing on her own.”
He was afraid to stop, but he loosened his fingers on her nose and lifted his head, staring at her chest, desperate to see it move.
And it did. It wasn’t a lot, but she was breathing.
The tears started, and Chaos didn’t give even the smallest shit. This was both the scariest moment of his life, and the happiest.
“The son of a bitch is dead, right?” Casper asked from behind him.
Turning, Chaos saw his team leader standing there with his pistol trained on Nolan, who was lying nearby, motionless and bleeding.
“He’s dead,” one of the SWAT officers confirmed. “Took one in the head and one in the heart.”
“Good. We need to get Kara to the hospital. Buck and Obi-Wan, you stay here with the officers. Pyro and I will take Kara and Chaos to the nearest medical center.”
“Before we left the choppers, we notified our chief of what was happening. He said he’d contact local PD with our location. We’ll be fine here until they arrive. Go,” the same SWAT officer said.
Without waiting for help, Chaos stood, then leaned over and gathered Kara into his arms. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t conscious, but she was still breathing.
He kept his gaze glued to her chest to make sure of that.
Her throat was a mess, swollen and bruised.
She’d been through hell, and he refused to let her die now. Not when she’d made it this far.
He’d almost been too late. His sixth sense hadn’t been wrong. If they’d waited for backup, or if they hadn’t seen those images on the FLIR, she’d be dead right now. The thought was repugnant.
He’d seen Nolan strangling the life from her when they’d entered. She’d literally only had a few more seconds before he would’ve succeeded.
Tears continued to fall as he walked through the trees toward Casper’s helo.
He had no idea where Obi-Wan and Buck had landed their chopper, and at the moment, he didn’t care.
Pyro and Casper walked on either side of him, giving him the support and stability to carry Kara onto the rock and into the chopper.
He eased her down as if she were made of glass and pulled out the KA-BAR knife he always carried with him, but had momentarily forgotten about in his panic at seeing his woman struggling to breathe.
While Pyro shut the door, and Casper climbed into the pilot seat, Chaos cut the cord from around her waist and hands, freeing her completely from that monster’s bindings. He put a pair of headphones over her ears to protect her against the noise from the engine and rotor blades.
Then, as his friends flew like bats out of hell toward the hospital, he told Kara how proud he was of her.
How strong she was. How much he loved her.
All the while, keeping one hand on her chest to make sure she kept breathing, and the other tangled in the hair at the side of her head, as he leaned his forehead against hers.
* * *
Kara thought she was dreaming. But she was confused, because why was she in so much pain in her dream? That had never happened before.
Her eyes opened, and she saw a bunch of people she didn’t know hovering around her, causing her to panic. She flailed, realizing then that she was on a bed, and she would’ve thrown herself off it entirely but was prevented from doing so by a few of those same people, now holding her down.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. You’re okay.”
Arrow!
She’d recognize his voice anywhere.
Turning her head, and wincing at the pain it caused, Kara spotted the man she thought she’d never see again, standing beside her.
“You have a tube in your throat to help you breathe. Your throat was so swollen and bruised, the doctors were afraid you were going to stop breathing again. But I’m here, and you’re safe. He’s dead, honey. He can’t ever hurt you again.”
Kara tried to ask about Jen, but the damn tube in her throat was preventing her from saying anything. Not only that, but she suddenly felt as if she weighed two hundred pounds more than she did. So heavy. Her arms wouldn’t work right, and the room was beginning to fade.
“I’m not leaving your side. Let the drugs do their thing. When you wake up again, you’ll feel much better. I promise. I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for fighting so damn hard.”
His words of love were all she needed to hear to give in to the lure of the sedatives. Nolan was dead. She was safe. Arrow had found her and slayed the evil dragon.