13
Present
Igrab my gun from the holster at my back and then snatch the other from where I’ve attached it under the desk, my legs pounding against the floor as I dart out of the office, towards the front of the house.
Oh, we had company alright.
There was a small fucking army in the compound grounds. The gates at the front of the house didn’t fucking stand a chance against the convoy of SUVs barrelling down my driveway.
Fuck.
Heart was here and he was making his presence known.
“Hold your fire!” Someone booms from outside, a body stepping from the closest vehicle with their hands raised.
“It’s a trap,” Ryker hisses.
“Hold your fire,” I growl out the order.
“Where is Silver!?” The English accent has my eyes narrowing though it isn’t Heart shouting towards us but one of his men.
One of my guys raises his pistol, “Hold it for fucks sake,” I hiss, unfolding my body until I’m standing. Ryker rises with me, I can see it in his face that he thinks this is a bad idea and I don’t know why, call it intuition, but something is pulling me towards the door.
I open it, my gun still in hand and raised, ready to fire but I don’t pull the trigger.
When the guy spots me he lowers his weapon and steps to the side, nodding his head once.
Heart steps from the vehicle but it isn’t him I’m interested in.
Oh no.
It’s the broken body he has cradled in his arms that has me moving.
My little bird.
The threat, the dangerous, very real possibility of having a bullet between the eyes in the next three seconds is lost on me as I cross the space, the gravel crunching under my feet until I’m directly in front of Kingston Heart. Blood coats his hands, his forearms, the front of his t-shirt but he doesn’t matter as he simply hands the girl to me. Her body is too cold, too thin, toostill. There’s too much blood. Too many cuts and bruises. Her chest barely moves with the shallow breaths that she inhales through slightly parted pale lips. Dying. She was dying.
“A doctor!” I boom, “Now!” Crippling fear takes a vice like grip around my heart.
There’s a flurry of movement behind me.
“If a doctor isn’t here in ten minutes, I’ll kill you all,” I stare at every face I can see, the promise of my words penetrating deep inside their brains. I would do it. For her, I’d kill them all.
To my surprise, Heart lets me leave but he, his sister and a few of his men follow. I wasn’t going to stop him.
I owed him.
He did this for a something in return, there’s no way a man like him, so much like myself did this out of the kindness of his heart.
There is no compassion in his soul. Strategy. Ruthlessness. Intelligence. All of them but never compassion.
He’s king where he comes from like I’m king here.
Having Wren back in my arms feels like I’ve come home. It’s a sense that burrows deep into my soul, swelling my chest until I feel as if my lungs and heart will burst right out. It’s not a feeling I’m used to.
It fucking terrifies me.
Upstairs, in the master bedroom, I gently lay her onto the bed, placing her head on the pillow so her hair fans out around her head like a halo of fire. It’s not glossy or wild like it usually is, just limp, weak.