Reign of Wrath (Dirty Broken Savages #3)(98)

Natalie shrieks like a banshee, clearly not appreciating my joke. She dropped her gun when I tackled her, so we’re fighting over control of mine now, and she scratches me again, leaving bloody red marks on my skin.

“I’ll kill you,” she pants, her teeth bared. “I’ll kill all of you.”

Her voice is hoarse, and her pupils are so blown out that she looks like a goddamn shark. She’s lost just as much as Julian did before he died—more, even, since he’s gone too—and it’s clear she’s feeling it.

She’s vicious, fighting dirty as hell as she lashes out.

She goes for my crotch with her knee, and I shift to the side, trying to evade her strike.

I manage to block it for the most part, and her knee grazes the edge of my goods instead of hitting them square on. There’s still pain, but it’s definitely not as bad as it could have been if she’d gotten me right in the nuts.

“He gave her a baby,” she pants, pain making her voice raspy, “but he wouldn’t give me one.”

Fucking gross.

She wanted to kill Cody because he was a reminder that her brother had a kid with someone else. I don’t have anything to say to that, so I just nail her in the face with my elbow, splitting open her nose and sending blood cascading down over her mouth and chin. She grunts, baring her red-tinged teeth at me.

Natalie is fighting like someone who doesn’t have shit to lose, and it makes her wild and intense.

But it also makes her sloppy.

When she tries to grab the gun from me again, I pull back suddenly, opening up a little space between us as I fire.

“Ahh!” She screams as the bullet tags her in the side, her clawed fingers latching on to me as she goes down.

She pulls me off balance, and we hit the ground hard, slipping and sliding and skidding all the way down to the edge of the river, still trying to get the upper hand on each other.

Sharp stones and dirt grind into my skin, and then we hit the water, which is like a shock of cold all at once. The gun is knocked from my hand, and I curse, then have to close my mouth before I suck in a lungful of river water.

Natalie gasps, treading water wildly as she tries to find her footing in the deep, sludgy river, and I use that to my advantage. I grab ahold of her hair in a tight fist and shove her head under the surface.

She thrashes like crazy, splashing and sending up little waves of murky grayish water as she flails.

Bubbles rise to the surface, and I can feel her kicking at me, trying to get me to let her go. She twists around, trying to bite at my hand, her nails dragging over my skin again and again.

But I just hold on, keeping my grip on her hair and forcing her deeper under the water.

I told River once that she’s the strongest person I know, but I hate that she has to be strong. I hate that the world has forced her to go through so much bullshit just to survive.

So I’ll keep her from going through this too. I won’t make her carry this death with her, even though there’s no doubt in my mind that Natalie deserves it.

And I’ll be the one to give it to her.

More bubbles break the surface, and I can feel Natalie’s movements growing weaker beneath the water. Her limbs twitch a little, her entire body jerking as she fights for air. Then, finally, she goes still.

I keep her submerged for several more long moments, then release my hold on her, letting out a slow breath. I’m drenched, covered in dirt and blood, and the cuts on my arms sting like a bitch.

But it’s done.

As Natalie’s lifeless form floats in the water before me, her blonde hair twisting and swirling around her face, I glance over to see the others pulling a shivering Cody out of the car.

“Thank fuck,” I mumble to myself.





41





River





Cody clings to me, shaking and crying a little. He’s obviously scared, and I can’t blame him for that. If someone from my family stuffed me in a car and then tried to drown me, I’d be fucking scared too.

I have no idea how to be motherly or comforting or anything like that, but I hold on to him tightly as we wade out of the water.

Ash is there near the bank, pulling himself out of the river as well. He’s dripping wet, and he tugs his glasses off his face and frowns, trying to find a dry patch of clothes to wipe the water away from the lenses.

“Is it done?” I ask him.

He nods.

“Yeah. She’s in there,” he says, nodding toward the river. “Put up a hell of a fight though. These better not get infected with whatever’s in that river.”

He rolls his sleeve up. and I can see the lines from Natalie’s nails going down his arm.

“I think you’ll be okay,” I tell him. I lean up and kiss him, melting against him for just a second despite the fact that we both smell like muddy river water. “Thank you.”

He grins, then makes a face.

“I’ve never been into this kind of shit the way Knox is,” he admits. “Death. Torture. Vengeance. But even I can see this was a fitting end for that bitch.”

Out of all the Kings, Ash is the one who gets his hands dirty the least, that’s true. He pick-pockets and charms people who need to be charmed, and I’ve definitely seen him shoot people before when the situation calls for it. But that’s different from holding someone under water until they’re dead. He doesn’t get off on it the way Knox does, and that’s perfectly fine.