I nodded, stopping to reload and as soon as I lowered my head, I felt my hair catch the wind of a bullet that would have absolutely split my skull. It grazed the tip of my ear, and I grabbed it, growling in pain while a flurry of more bullets sounded around me. My eyes raised just in time to see a couple more bodies fall over the rail of the balcony above me, and I stepped outta the way while they splattered the floor.
“Go.” I glanced down at Simon, who was covering me, and he followed behind me up the single staircase that led up to the upper floor. I tried to keep my footing while I blindly reloaded and by the time we made it to the top of the stairs, we turned opposite ways and started dropping more bodies. I started forward, spotting a door that slammed shut, but a scream stopped me in my tracks, and I pivoted towards the opposite hall where Simon was aiming his gun.
Bridget…
There were several shadows on the wall before another door slammed, and my body moved toward it…wholly on its own. Sound hollowed out. Everything around me blurred. It’slike walking underwater. The haze of this rage is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and if I die tonight…I’ll die knowing this is what helped me end what they thought was gonna be a legacy anybody remembered. I blew the doorknob off to see Jonas pointing a gun right at my face, until Bridget—gagged, and being held by—
“Finn?”I choked.
Her tiny foot flew out, kicking the pistol out of Jonas’s hands and it flew across the floor by my boot. Finley’s arms wrapped around her, and she screamed through the gag, shaking her head furiously.
“You took longer than I expected, mate,” Jonas seethed, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Shoot me, and your bonny lass dies…along with her strange fucking family. Oh, she’s braugh, friend. Looks just like sweet Shavonn. You’ve got yourself a type.” His thumb hovered over the screen, and the fucker smiled at me. “You never learn, do you? You think killin’ more of us gets your girl back? How’d it work out for you last time, Malek?”
“Fuck you.”
“Suit ‘yerself.” He activated the screen, pressing a button and when the call wouldn’t connect, he started to panic. I taste fear again. Dangerous fucking thing. My turn to smile.
“Make your peace with whatever God you believe in, bitch.” I slowly moved towards him, lowering my gun and reaching for my knives. Jonas went stiff and…maybe it’s the wrong time, but my dick is a little hard.
“Mal…this isn’t your kill, brother.” I glanced at Finn while Bridget struggled in his hold. It wasn’t until then, I realized she didn’t even look excited to see Jonas about to bite it in front of her eyes. The eyes that looked just like my Ma’s and bled every emotion without having to speak. It’s always been one of the only things I could ever trust.
“Why haven’t you pulled that shit outta her mouth yet, Finley?”
“Because he put it there,” Jonas clipped, pointing a finger at the only brother I’ve ever known. “On my order. Word has it you offed Conor because you thought the little traitor was still workin’ for us. You marked the wrong one, as usual.”
Bridget went still, breathing hard and fuck if her expression didn’t confirm all my worst thoughts. “That’s horse shite, Malek. You know I’d never do anything to hurt this lass. I’ve loved her since—”
“Maybe it’s harder for you to tell what the greater evil is in a Byrne, Finn. You’re not one. Not by blood. Maybe that’s why Bridget would never choose you. We can smell a rat. Tell me her senses aren’t better than mine.”
“I’m not a rat, Mal.”
But Bridget’s eyes say different.
Before anybody could get another word in, Finley’s face exploded with a clip full of bullets and Bridget dove towards me. I turned as my brother’s body hit the floor—Simon lowered his gun as the door slowly creaked back open.
“Rat.Poison.”
My little sister has never held a knife that wasn’t cutting her steak. Never could stomach what I do, but lived to see the aftermath. When she pulled that gag down and swiped the blades from my hands, Jonas backed himself against the wall.
“Did you think I’d be like her, Jonas?” Bridget asked, fitting both her palms around the handles of my best knives. I took a step forward, staring the prick down and daring him to make a move. “Did you think you’d get my name on a piece of paper and use me up until I broke the way she did?”
Every word cut me like the edge of one of those blades, but I never understood it all more than when she started seeing red. Bridge isn’t like Shavonn. Neither is Sev, and this full-circle moment just taught me what real strength is. Who woulda thought I’d learn it from my baby sister?
“Gonna make your first kill, Bridget Byrne?” Jonas had balls enough to smile at her. I’m just looking forward to seeing something put a stain on that shirt that Tide can’t pull out. “Before you do, you should probly know…I meant every word. I’d never touch you. I’d neverfuckyou. And Finley paid a pretty price for whatever it was he wanted from you. With permission from your ownDaddy.”
“You’re a fucking liar,” she said through her teeth, lifting the knife in her right hand and stepping closer.
“Truth will out, Princess.”
“Sure will.” I turned my head over my shoulder to see Declan stroll through the doorway with a tablet in hand. “Havin’ a bit of trouble with your horn there, mate? Might should ring a tech guy.”
“Shoulda known.” Jonas rolled his eyes, resting the back of his head against the wall. “Doesn’t matter. You might think you’re winning. But you’re still just a couple half-breeds. Sandbox is for the big kids. The luck of the Irish is for theIrish. Not the rabble. You might put me down, but this is far from over.”
All that played through my mind was that tattoo on Seven’s waistline. The pot of gold underneath it. She’s the only luck I’ve ever needed. I grinned. “Think so? Let’s free the lines up, Dec.”
“Gladly.”
He poked around on the tablet, turning it for Jonas to see the screen while I rang up an old mate. “McKinley.”
