Page 58 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
“Keira!”
“Lachlan?”
He reaches inside and his hand wraps around mine. “Don’t you fucking die on me, hellion. Not now. Not ever.”
I blink, and his panicked gaze spears me through the heart as mine seems to give out. Black spots obscure his face, and I croak out one final request.
“Mags. Save Mags too.”
Mount
Fear. It’s not a feeling I’ve had in years, but it grips me like a demon from hell as Keira’s eyes roll back in her head and I haul her out of a pile of dead bodies in Hope’s mausoleum.
I can’t process what I’m seeing right now. It’s not fucking possible. J couldn’t have done this. Or could she?
I rip off my jacket, using it to staunch the flow of Keira’s blood.
Mags. Keira said her name as she passed out, and I yell at Z.
“See if the madam is in there. I’m calling nine-one-one.”
In thirty years, I’ve never gone to a hospital or called the police for help. But for Keira, I would do anything.
The operator’s voice sounds tinny in my ear, but maybe it’s the blood rushing through it that makes things sound strange as I put pressure on the hole in Keira’s shoulder.
Needing to stay calm, I compartmentalize. One part of me loses my goddamned mind at the thought of my wife bleeding out in front of me, while the other recites our location down to the fucking GPS coordinates, issuing threats if they don’t get here fast enough. When the dispatcher tells me to hang on the line, I hang up and call the cavalry.
V’s phone picks up the call, but he doesn’t speak.
“I have her, and I’m not going to lose her.” I give him the same directions I did the 911 operator.
As I disconnect the call, Z walks out of the tomb holding the madam’s limp body in his arms.
“She dead?”
Z lowers her to the ground beside Keira and feels for a pulse. “Almost. But not yet.”
“Fuck!”
For the first time in my life, I pray for sirens to be louder, come faster, because my entire world is crumbling. Keira’s blood looks almost black in the moonlight as it stains the grass, regardless of the pressure I keep on the wound.
“This is not fucking happening! You will live, goddammit! Don’t you fucking leave me! I love you!”
Mount
I thought hell was the foster care system or living on the streets. I was wrong. Hell is a hospital waiting room, not knowing if the only woman you’ve ever loved will live or die.
I offer everything I have—including my own fucking life—to God, the devil, and any higher power who will listen if they’ll just let her live.
Why wouldn’t you take me? I’m the piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to touch someone as good as her.
Maybe there are some souls that are too black for even hell to want.
I hit my knees, and for the first time in over thirty years, wetness slides down my cheeks as I pray.
Keira
“Wake up, honey. Just open your eyes for me. Please, Keira.” The voice invades my consciousness.
