Page 113 of Finding Lexie
“No, lay back down,” Midas ordered, easing her head back to the floor.
But it was too late. She’d seen Magnus lying near their feet. “Dead?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure. And I hope like hell he is,” Midas told her honestly. “I need to call for help,” he said. And for just a second, her fingers tightened around his biceps, but then she took another deep breath and gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
Fuck, this woman slayed him.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Theo?” she asked.
“He’s hurt,” Midas told her, not wanting to tell her the truth, that it would be a miracle if the man lived, but respecting her enough to not completely lie.
She pushed at him then, as if urging him to hurry up and call the police.
Midas wanted to smile, but he didn’t have it in him. Of course she’d be more worried about Theo than herself.
He found her cell phone lying on the counter next to a coffee machine and immediately dialed 9-1-1. He informed the dispatcher of what had happened and made sure she knew the urgency of the situation. Midas knew he was supposed to stay on the line, but he couldn’t. He clicked off the connection, put the phone back on the counter, nudged Magnus with his foot—satisfied when the man didn’t move—and knelt on the floor next to Lexie once again.
“They’re comin’,” he told her. He picked up one of her hands and held it tightly within his own. He wanted to lie down next to her. Wanted to make sure she truly was still breathing and her heart was still beating. But all he could do was hold on for dear life.
* * *
Three hours later, it was all Midas could do to keep Lexie in her hospital bed.
“I’m fine, Midas,” she insisted.
The huskiness of her voice belied her words. As did the marks on her throat. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that if he’d stayed in line to get her a coffee, he would’ve been too late. Magnus would’ve choked the life out of her.
“Humor me,” he pleaded.
“I want to see Theo,” she said with a pout.
“I know you do, but he just got out of surgery,” Midas told her.
“He was trying to crawl to the kitchen to help me,” she whispered.
Midas pressed his lips together and nodded. He had. He absolutely had. And in doing so, had fucked up Magnus’s plan. If he’d succeeded in killing Lexie, dragging her body back into the other room, it would’ve been hard for Magnus to explain the smear of blood across the floor. But luckily, the asshole hadn’t succeeded. He’d missed hitting Theo’s heart when he’d stabbed him, and Midas had arrived in time to stop him from strangling Lexie.
A commotion outside the door had Midas standing and spinning, ready to defend Lexie from whatever threat was coming. But it wasn’t a threat. It was Elodie. And Ashlyn. And Slate and Mustang. The rest of the guys were in the waiting room. They’d refused to leave as long as Midas was there.
“Lex!” Elodie exclaimed as she rushed toward the bed.
Midas tried to step out of the way, but Lexie refused to let go of his hand. So he moved to stand by her hip as she greeted her friends.
“I’m okay,” she croaked.
Ashlyn sniffed behind Elodie.
“Don’t cry,” Lexie ordered. “If you do, you’ll get me started.”
“S-sorry,” Ashlyn said—then she burst into tears.
The next thing Midas knew, he was surrounded by three sobbing women. But he didn’t say a word, nor did Mustang or Slate. The best thing they could do was release their fears and stress. He ran his thumb over the back of Lexie’s hand as she attempted to get herself under control.
Finally, Ashlyn turned to him and said, “He’s dead. Right?”
Midas nodded. He wasn’t sorry in the least that Magnus was dead, he was just sorry he hadn’t been the one to end his life. If the jerk to the neck hadn’t stopped his attack, Midas had every intention of bashing his head into the floor, but the knife he’d fallen on had punctured his aorta, making him bleed out in seconds, doing the job for him.
