Page 83 of Always Watching
Olly’s face turns red as he tries to pry North’s arm away. He kicks at him, trying to catch North’s legs.
It takes a few seconds, but Olly finally stops fighting and his eyes roll into the back of his head. When his body slumps, North lets him drop roughly to the floor. He kicks Olly in the face before he steps over him to get to me.
Dropping to his knees in front of me, North tips my head up. “Fuck, Ranen. I’m so sorry, baby. So fucking sorry.” He pulls a knife from somewhere and cuts the ropes from my wrists and ankles.
I get to my feet and wobble, the circulation in my legs gone. North steadies me with an arm around my waist. “Are you okay?”
I shake my head no and incline it toward Olly. “Is he dead?”
North scoffs. “After what he did to you, he doesn’t get off that easily. He’s just passed out.” North tips my head up. “I’m so sorry, Ranen.”
When I open my mouth to tell him it’s okay, movement catches my eye. I turn in time to see Olly getting to his feet. “Look out!” I shout to North, and push him out of the way.
Olly barrels into me, knocking me to the ground. I fall heavily to the floor, knocking my head on the hard, unfinished concrete floor. I cry out, my vision blackening at the edges.
With a roar, North snatches Olly off me, tossing him to the ground and straddling his waist. Olly pushes him off, and they roll around on the floor throwing punches.
Well, North is throwing punches; Olly is trying to block, but to no avail. I slide myself away to lean against one of the tables, trying not to pass out.
North clocks him in the face so hard his head knocks against the floor and he’s stunned. He takes that moment to get to his feet and grab the heavy wrench Olly had tried to swing at him.
“You’re breathingborrowedair, asshole,” North says in a voice that’s pure gravel. “You hurt him. You tried totakehimfrom me. You were dead the second you looked at him—it’s time to pay the fucking piper.”
Raising the wrench high in the air, North brings it down on Olly’s face, splitting his forehead open and making Olly cry out. He brings it down again and again, a depression forming in his skull until it cracks, blood and brain matter spraying everywhere. Olly’s body jerks with each hit, but I don’t think he’s alive anymore to feel it.
North hits Olly over and over until his face is unrecognizable. Breathing heavily, he drops the wrench on the pile of mush that used to be Olly’s face, then kicks the body in the chest. “You fucked up when you tried to take Ranen from me, you piece of shit.”
I try to get to my feet, but I can barely move with how terribly my head hurts. A whimper leaves my throat as I struggle to sit up. North hears and whirls around, blood covering his front. “Fuck, Ranen.”
He rushes over and kneels in front of me. He reaches up to touch my face, then sees his blood-covered hands and lowers them. “I’m okay,” I whisper, though I can barely keep my eyes open.
“Fuck,” North snarls and pulls out his phone. “Wylder. Come down now. I need you.” He hangs up and shoves his phone into his pocket. “Ranen, look at me, baby.”
I drag my eyes open, not even realizing they’d closed. A wobbly smile crosses my face. “You came for me.”
Deciding that his bloody hands won’t stop him, North cups my face—being careful of touching my eyes, mouth or head wound—and kisses me gently. “Of course I did. I should have never left you alone with him. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I murmur for what feels like the fiftieth time. “I don’t… I don’t feel good.” I turn to the side and vomit, my throat burning from the bile rushing out of me.
“Fuck, you might have a concussion. Wylder!” North yells, his loud voice rocking my eardrums.
“Right here, North.” He hurries down the stairs and looks at me. “Shit, kitty. You don’t look so hot.”
North snarls. “Of fucking course he doesn’t. He’s hurt. Can you take him to the emergency room? He needs help.”
“Yeah. Move. Let me take him.” Wylder moves over to us, but doesn’t reach for me until North moves out of the way. “I’ll take care of him, I promise.” Wylder sounds more sincere than I’ve heard him since we met, though that could be because my head is all fucked up.
Wylder scoops me into his arms, getting a firm grip on me. Before he takes off, North grips my face again and kisses me hard. “I’ll come for you as soon as I take care of this body.”
I nod, but that hurts my head more than it should. “Thank you for coming for me.”
“Love you so much, baby.”
“I love you too. Hurry back to me. I need you.”
“You have me.” He kisses me once more and steps away, though he looks like he wants to do anything but. “Call Dad to watch over him and come back and help me here.”
“You got it,” Wylder says, then hurries up the stairs.
