I wouldn’t allow him to take anything else from Andrés. He’d taken his family, his innocence, his pride. He’d stripped him of everything and everyone he cared about, leaving him scarred and cold.
“Let me down,” I demanded with as much vindictive fervor as I could manage. I drew on my hatred of Cristian to channel righteous rage into my features. He had to believe I’d hurt Andrés for him. “Give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Savage,” Cristian remarked with approval. “Your little pet is going to cut you up for me,” he told Andrés. “You risked your life to set her free, and she came back here to kill you. But don’t worry. I won’t let her take things that far. You’ll survive this, and I’ll patch you up again after. I’ll always take care of my baby brother.”
Andrés had gone pale, and his body shook with something other than rage. He stared at me, his eyes wide with disbelief. Then his jaw firmed, and he nodded.
More tears flowed down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure if he thought he deserved for me to hurt him, or if he was trying to tell me it was okay to do what I had to in order to survive. Either way, his response was unacceptable. I wanted to scream at him that I loved him and I’d never hurt him.
But I had to get the knife first.
Cristian reached up and finally unbuckled the cuffs around my wrists. My body dropped, and I barely caught my hands on the concrete floor before my face smashed into it.
“Get up,” Cristian said coldly. “You have work to do.”
I pushed up onto my feet and turned to face him. He held out the knife, offering it to me hilt-first.
I drew a deep breath and then sprang into action. I grabbed the knife at the same time as I jammed my forefingers into his throat. He clutched at his neck, dropping to his knees. Gunshots rang out. Pain seared through my right hip, but adrenaline coursed through me, keeping my body going. I ducked behind Cristian for cover and pressed the knife to his carotid artery while my other hand fisted in his thick hair, yanking his head back to expose his throat.
I could have killed him in that moment. I would have killed him for everything he’d done to the man I loved, but the guards were still armed, and Andrés was still bound and at risk of being shot.
“Drop your weapons,” I ordered. “Do it, or I’ll kill your boss.”
The guards slowly lowered their guns to the ground, their eyes fixed on the knife I held to Cristian’s throat. He was still making horrible choking sounds as he struggled to draw in air.
“Untie Andrés,” I barked the command.
They hesitated, so I increased the pressure of the knife just enough to make a drop of blood bead on Cristian’s skin.
They hastened to comply, sealing their fates.
As soon as Andrés was free, he attacked. He was breathtaking in fluid, violent motion. My dark avenging angel. I watched with detached interest as he snapped their necks. The world was going hazy, surreal, but I kept my hold on Cristian as he continued choking beneath the knife.
Andrés turned to me as the second guard’s lifeless body hit the floor. He closed the distance between us and went down on one knee so he was eye level with me.
“Hand me the knife, cosita,” he ordered, his voice oddly smooth and calm.
My fingers were going numb around the hilt, anyway, so he easily plucked it from my hand.
His gaze left me to focus on his brother. A vicious snarl twisted his scar deep into his perfect face, and he lashed out. Cristian screamed as the blade sliced through his cheek, deep enough that I caught a flash of teeth and bone. Andrés closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the sound. Then his gaze found Cristian again, piercing him with a wickedly sharp black stare.
He drew the knife back and slammed it into the center of his brother’s chest. He growled as he twisted the blade. Cristian’s entire body shuddered, then sagged back against me where I was still crouched behind him.
His dead weight fell on me, and I couldn’t seem to get my hands up to push him away. The room was growing darker, the spare lightbulb dimming.
Andrés heaved his brother’s body off me, his expression twisted with some emotion I didn’t understand.
“Sirenita,” he said, strained. “Stay with me.”
“I came back for you. I’ll never leave you,” I promised, my voice strangely faint. I tried to reach up to touch his face, but my arms wouldn’t work. “I love you.”
He scooped me up against his chest, and agony lanced through my hip. A strangled cry ripped its way up my throat as he rushed me to the elevator. As it slowly ascended, Andrés started murmuring to me in Spanish in the soothing way I loved so much. I sighed and pressed my face into his chest, the pain receding as I slipped into warm darkness.
Chapter 26
One Month Later
“Seriously, Dex, I’m fine,” I told him for the thousandth time. My webcam specs and internet connection were flash enough that I could see the little furrows in his brow where his face filled my laptop screen. “Are we going to play a game, or what?”