Tragic Beauty (Beauty & The Darkness #1)(79)
I shake my head, knowing Shayne has a gun—a gun that follows Gavin while he walks a few steps to the right, crouches down, and lays me on some grass. He strokes my cheek, looking at me for a moment, and by the softness in his eyes, I wonder if he’s saying goodbye.
Tears burst and I reach for him, but he pulls away. I roll onto my stomach and try to crawl after him but he starts walking backwards.
“Here’s the thing, Shayne,” he says, looking at me with a tender smile and sneaking his arm back. “If I’m going down…then you’re going with me.”
“I don’t think so.”
And then it all happens so fast.
Gavin throws himself away from me and flings his arm out, a gun in hand. Gunfire explodes, violent pops that ring inside my ears. They’re still ringing when Gavin jerks to the ground and across the way Shayne staggers. Something deep inside me rages and I scramble to my feet, the earth rocking beneath me as I start to run, knowing they both lift their guns to take that final shot.
“Ava, no!”
I stumble between them when something red flashes from the side, moving fast. Really fast. I turn to see a body launch at Shayne, and then a gun goes off. Something tugs at my shoulder and I fall to the ground as they fall to the ground. I lie there, feeling funny and hearing Gavin shout my name, while two bodies wrestle off to the side. I feel weak, so weak. So much weaker than before.
A quick pounding of footsteps and Gavin’s over me. “Shit! Shit! Hang on, baby! Hang on. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
His voice echoes in my head, followed by another voice. “Go on! Get her out of here. I got this! Go on!”
Red?
Gavin picks me up in his arms and staggers. I look through droopy lashes and see his face, set so tight, so grim when he looks at me.
“Stay with me, Ava. Stay with me.”
But I lose him when my head falls back and hangs off his arm. I think he’s running now, but I’m not sure, because I can’t feel anything. I blink slowly, so slowly, watching the world bounce from upside down. All around me flames lick at the darkness while the fire roars in the night. The warm wind blows, the sirens wail. Men still shout in the distance while the moon and stars drift above me, their light fading through the growing haze of smoke. But still, I see them. It’s been so long since I’ve seen them.
I close my eyes and begin to drift, when the crack of thunder sounds, pounding against the heavens. But it’s not thunder, it’s a voice.
Ava!!
Avaaa!!!!
And then I know. It’s the beast. He calls for me.
AVAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
He keeps calling, because he can’t stop.
His roars tear through the darkness. Tear through me.
But he begins to fade, because…now…I’m…fading.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Gavin
I sit in a chair at Ava’s bedside, watching her while she sleeps. She lies quietly, breathing slow and steady, still under sedation. I take her right hand in mine—careful of her bruised wrist—and press it to my lips and close my eyes, trying hard not to think about the chaos of the last few days.
After I’d gone screeching up to the Emergency Room, staggering in with her limp body in my arms, both of us covered in blood, word had leaked I was there. Then it wasn’t just police everywhere, but reporters and paparazzi, too.
It was a fucking frenzy.
I hadn’t needed much, just some staples where a bullet tore a gash in my side, but Ava…poor Ava was carted off in front of me, looking like she was slipping away right before my eyes. There was so much blood. So much blood.
I’d tried to stop the bleeding in the car, knowing the nearest hospital was an hour away in either direction, but she was bleeding from everywhere—from her shoulder, between her legs, from cuts on her body. I did what I could for her, then stuffed a rag in my side and made the drive to Santa Barbara in half the time, but it was still the longest half hour of my life. Then there were those few hours, until I heard from the doctor that she was going to be okay, that were a living hell like I’ve never known.
They kept her under heavy sedation to help her get through the worst of the pain, but once her vitals were stable and they were planning on letting her come around, I’d wanted to take her out of there. Not just so she could have some peace and quiet to recover and wake up to, but to keep her safe. I’d told the doctor’s as much, but they wouldn’t release her, even though I said I had private care ready for her. I wasn’t family, they said, and she wasn’t awake to give permission. That’s when I’d called Damian, and he made some calls, and at three in the morning, after I’d put on a disguise—a fucking disguise—and she was given a final dose of sedative, she was wheeled out a private entrance and into a van I drove myself, to Damian’s estate, making sure we weren’t followed.
When I passed the armed guards and the gates closed behind me, I knew we’d slipped away safely. Not just because of what I’d snuck away from, but because aside from those guards and some others patrolling the estate, Damian sent the rest of his staff on an open-ended vacation until things settle, ensuring no one leaks our whereabouts. Damian is away on business too, so the only other person here is Lucas, Damian’s right hand man. Beyond that, there are only two other people who know we’re here—Detective Miller, and Janet, the nurse I hired to help take care of my mom. And she’ll be here soon, to start caring for Ava.