“No, you aren’t.” Lawson’s voice was colder than I’d ever heard it. Devoid of anything at all. “Cedar Ridge police. Drop the scalpel and step back, hands in the air.”
Lawson.
He’d come. Just like I’d known he would.
Damien hauled me in front of him like a human shield, the blade still pressing into my throat. “No, no, no. This isn’t your place. You aren’t allowed here. It’s for me. For my brides and me. No one else. It’s our place.”
“Drop the weapon,” Nash ordered. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”
I could just make them out. Lawson, Nash, Holt, Roan, and a few more behind them. All held guns trained on us. On Damien.
“Leave!” Damien shouted. “She’s mine. She always has been.”
Lawson stepped forward, his face finally coming into the light. Those beautiful eyes that had kept me safe so many times, even in my dreams. “No, Miller. She’ll never be yours.”
Those blue orbs locked with my eyes, and I saw it then, the first signs of pain, fear, and fury.
“You can’t have her!” Damien screamed, the blade pricking my throat. “You tried to steal her. To confuse her. But she came back to me. She’ll always be mine.”
Pain flared at my neck. And I could only think to do one thing. “I love you, Blue. It’s always been you.”
“No!” Damien pulled the scalpel from my neck and jammed it hard into my belly, yanking the blade to the side.
Pain. So much of it, I was drowning.
Shouts sounded. I heard the deafening pops of bullets. And then I was falling.
51
LAWSON
The world slowed around me.Muffled shouts. Then one shot, a second, a third. My bullet among them. I lost count after that.
My eyes locked on Hallie. Her face was twisted in agony as she fell.
I was already moving, charging toward them, my brothers behind me. Some part of me was aware they were checking Miller for a pulse. But I didn’t care.
“Hallie.” Her name was part plea, part prayer, as blood soaked the flimsy fabric covering her.
“Blue,” she croaked. “Love you.”
My jaw set as I lifted that damned nightgown, trying to see the damage.
Roan let out a curse as he knelt next to me. “Got a kit.” He pulled out a trauma pad and pressed it to the wound.
Hallie cried out.
I took her hand, pressing my face to hers. “I’m sorry. So goddamned sorry. He’s trying to help.”
“Blue.” Her voice was more of a whisper now.
“Call for a medivac,” Roan shouted. “There’s space to land at the mouth of the cave.”
Footsteps pounded on the stone.
I squeezed Hallie’s hand hard. “Stay with me, Little Minx. Gotta stay with me.”
“So tired,” she mumbled.
