Chapter 15
Ruby
“How could you? You’re a fucking asshole?” I scream at Luan while holding Boost’s body against mine. Both bullets blasted through his chest because we’d removed his vest to check the wound in his side.
Luan laughs as he moves over to some barrels and checks them.
“Promise me you’ll take care of Lio,” Boost whispers to me. “And my Lyra.”
“Please. You’ll be okay; don’t do this.”
“Baby girl, while he’s distracted, put on my vest and fight. You’re going to have to get out of here and save Torch. Save yourself.”
“No. I won’t leave you.”
“Just promise you’ll care for Lio. Other than Lyra and the boys, Lio is the only family I have left.”
“I swear.” I don’t know who Lio is, but I’ll protect them. “Where is Lio?” I ask, but Boost doesn’t answer; he’s gone already.
Luan still moves through the darkness, dumping barrels that Boost and I realized were napalm. I slip the vest on and slide out from under Boost’s body, melting into the darkness of the closest corner, waiting to see what Luan does next.
“I told your husband I was going to give you an eye just like mine.” He gestures to his fake eyeball again. “Where did you go, Ruby?” He walks back into the musty, lighted area. “I need to fuck you hard so your husband can hear your screams before I kill him.”
I bite my lip to keep from replying, while he steps near my hiding spot. None of the guards checked me over, assuming I’d have no weapons on me, but I do, and Luan will realize his mistake soon enough.
He’s directly in front of me now, so I wait, having to do this just right to get both him and the damn goon he brought with him. Luan turns his back on me, and I strike.
Leveraging my body upward, I grip one hand on his shoulder while the other grabs him at the midsection, stretching his arm out and opening a spot for me to come at him.
I bounce off my feet and propel myself between his chest and arm, flipping my legs up and bending my body in half to wrap my legs around his head.
I cross my ankles and continue the motion up over his body, yanking his other arm back as I land on the other side of him, with him bent over.
The guard rushes to his aid, but I use Luan’s body as a fulcrum, bouncing off the floor and throwing my feet at the guard’s chest, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him flying backward.
I land on the ground and flip Luan ass over teakettle, so both him and the guard are laid out, moaning and rolling on the floor.
Jumping forward, I slice my knife along the front of the guard’s throat, severing his artery so he bleeds out.
Luan rolls and pulls a gun, firing at me, but I kick him at that precise moment.
The shot goes wild, and I yank the gun from his hand, not even thinking about already having taken one person’s life because now I’m killing the demon that haunts my nightmares.
With a trigger pull, the bastard’s face explodes; blood, brain matter, and bone fly all around us.
The door bursts inward, and my name is hollered. I swing around, gun aimed, but don’t fire. Ben rushes into the room, with a meat hook jutting from his body, and all he sees is me and three dead bodies.
He stumbles toward me, and I go to grab the hook, but he says, “Leave it. I’ll start bleeding out as soon as it's removed. Are you okay?” His hands swipe blood from my face.
“I’m okay, but Luan killed Boost. This is all my fault.”
I shake my head as Ben tries to deny it. If I had told them Luan’s name sooner, they would’ve gone after him or kept a better eye on him when he returned.
Ben brushes my sticky hair back, saying, “No, princess, this is on me. Let’s get out of here. Give me the gun.”
“No, I’ll take it. Here.” I hand him my knife instead. He takes it, then glances at the barrels Luan had started dumping. Fluid seeps its way across the room toward us.
“I don’t know how many guards we’re going to come across.” He coughs and groans in pain; I send up a quick prayer that he survives this. Reaching down, I try to lift Boost’s body, but Ben pushes me aside, grumbling, “No, let me,” as he bends and throws Boost over his other shoulder.
We open the door and enter the hall. A guard is pouring the chemicals along the floor, so I shoot him when he turns toward us.
He falls, and I grab his gun, handing it to Ben.
At the main door, we both count off before I open it, and we step out to only two guards.
We each shoot one, and they fall to the ground.
Ben reaches into his pocket and pulls out his father’s lighter. He flicks up the flame and tosses it over his shoulder into the chemical cocktail that’ll light up the butcher shop like an inferno, and instantaneously, the heat is searing.
We stumble away from the building toward the tree line, but I realize Ben is not by my side anymore. I turn around just as he collapses. Rushing to his side, I help lift Boost off him, and he crumples against me, lying in my lap.
Torch
I can’t go on anymore. Pain overwhelms me, and I’ve already lost so much blood. Lying in her lap, I look up into Ruby’s beautiful face.
“You’ve been my wife for a week, and it’s been the best week of my life. I’m happy, happier than I’ve ever been before. I love you. Don’t forget me, but don’t live your life without finding someone else.”
I brush my hand against her blood-stained cheek, and she immediately shakes her head at me, trying to deny what we both know. They nicked my lung, and breathing has gradually gotten harder as the organ deflates.
“Please, no. I’ll never love anyone as much as I love you. Don’t leave me, Ben,” she cries, tears streaking through the dirt and blood on her face.
“I’m dying exactly where I want to…in your arms. Live for our baby. Tell him or her that I loved them.”
I rub her stomach and pull her down to taste her lips one last time before losing consciousness. Vehicles approach, and I pray they’re my brothers instead of more of Kurti’s men.