Lies(53)

Fox is engaged in hand-to-hand combat a few yards away, a huge guy slamming her head against the stovetop until she slides limp to the ground. Before this dude can shoot me or someone else, however, someone paints a bloody circle in the center of his forehead.

Thom ducks out from behind the remains of the wall between the kitchen and great room. Every time, he fires off some shots at Scorpion. Safe to say all of her attention is currently taken up by my man. Not far away, Helene has raised her pistol again and is firing back gleefully. But she’s right out in the open, just sitting there, and it’s only a moment before she’s struck, the impact of the bullet spinning her tiny frame as she slumps to the floor.

Her eyes meet mine as blood flowers from her chest, and the dead man’s switch tumbles from her hand.

Time freezes.

A couple of the bad guys throw themselves to the corners of the room, probably hoping to have a chance of surviving the building’s collapse.

But Helene just winks at me.

Nothing happens.

A bluff. The whole thing was a fucking bluff. Charlie, the dynamite, handing over her estate, all of it. All to buy them that one-second advantage.

Thom, Bear, and Crow don’t stop shooting. Two more of Archie’s men drop. Then a couple of flash bang grenades go off and a stunned silence follows. I’m not even sure which side threw them. Dust fills the air, gray noise piercingly loud in my ears. Now is my chance.

I crawl forward on my elbows and knees. Whatever injury I sustained to my back is howling in bloody anguish. Although, the one on my arm isn’t much better. Bullets continue to fly, though none in my direction. Everyone’s mostly busy at the other end of the room, where the kitchen opens onto the living area—where Thom, Bear, and Crow are still giving them hell.

Pain levels going berserk, I get far enough around the island to see the douchebag in the three-piece suit. I pant out every breath, the edges of my vision growing dark. But I can still see clearly enough to get the job done. Hopefully.

Archie holds a pistol, his hands shaking. You can tell the moment he sees me. Because he lets out a startled shriek and tries to point the weapon at me. Only he’s fumbling so badly he makes me look like an expert.

I squeeze the trigger, my first bullet slamming into his thigh. The man drops his gun, an expression of shock on his face.

Higher. I need to aim higher.

The second bullet hits his chest and he falls backward, leaving the way open for Scorpion to kill me.

Oh, fuck. She’s realized that someone has snuck around her guard. The direction of her gun moves off Thom and settles straight on yours truly.

She’s in the process of squeezing the trigger when Thom slides across the top of the island and tackles her. They roll around on the ground as Archie groans in pain—blood pouring out of him. Good.

Also, I think I’m about to pass out. My head is heavy, the darkness continuing to inch in around my field of vision. No. Hell no. I’m okay. Just need to hold it together a little longer. Thom needs me.

I wrench myself up to fully standing and try to aim my gun, but they’re a blur of moving parts, fighting it out. Some mix of martial arts, boxing, and sheer necessity fueling their movements. It’d be impressive to watch if lives weren’t at stake.

Scorpion suddenly has a knife in hand, slamming it into the meat of Thom’s shoulder just as he strikes her windpipe with an open hand. He grunts and flinches, rearing back. And this gives her the chance, the second necessary, to bolt for the door, one hand on her throat.

Thom rips the knife out and hurls it at her retreating figure. Blood—Thom’s blood—spirals through the air as the blade spins toward its target. There’s a crunch as it glances off the doorframe as Scorpion slips through. Maybe there’s a yelp from Scorpion, but she’s still moving, disappearing fast into the shadows of the surrounding woods. A wise choice, given her boss is bleeding out in front of me and most of her compatriots are dead.

Her desertion isn’t much of a surprise. She’s already proven how loyal she isn’t by joining with Archie.

For a moment, Thom and I just look at each other. With real live love. Stupid amounts of the stuff. While it’s kind of annoying, Archie’s moaning is easily enough ignored. Nothing can distract me from feeling all of these good things. To think I used to fall for Thom’s bland and boring bullshit. He’s nothing less than beautiful, and I love him. Not a single thing can take away from this. Not the debris, the few remaining shots being fired as the others ensure our enemies are indeed dead with a bullet to the head, or the general carnage surrounding us.

None of it matters. Just us.

Though apparently Thom doesn’t feel the same, because he puts a bullet in Archie’s brain. Then another for good measure. He does it without even looking. Just cavalierly dispatching the big bad to the great unknown. Fair enough.

Since Thom already knows I love him, I say the next thing to come into my head. “You’re bleeding.”

Thom’s gaze narrows. “What’d you say?”

Given I’m wheezing more than actually speaking and everyone’s got to be half deaf by now, this does not surprise me. “I um…you’re…oh shit…”

Everything falls silent. And I fall too, my consciousness just hanging on long enough to register me planting face-first into the ground. So that’s the end of that.