“SomethingLeftToSave”—DeadsetSociety
She wasn’t wearing white like in my visions and my dreams, but her thick crimson blood oozed between my fingers as I tried to stop the flow. Blood everywhere. Coating her chest, in her mouth. It matched the bloodred of her dress that ordinarily would’ve been beautiful on her.
“Voodoo, I need to see her before it’s too late,” Angel murmured as he laid a hand on my wrist. Confused and disoriented, I looked at him without moving. He nodded, and I dropped my gaze to my woman.
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I reluctantly set her on the floor. The puddle of blood under her seeped into the golden blonde hair that had been tangled around her head. Holding her lifeless hand in mine, I refused to let go.
My breathing came in shallow pants as I fought the rage that began to take over my broken heart. I prayed to God that she would make it, but if she didn’t, I wouldn’t rest until I’d stripped Ivan’s flesh from his body, inch by inch.
“Shank?” I asked, but Angel shook his head desolately. There were limits to his ability.
“Voodoo, maybe you should go help Facet and Ghost. They are getting our guests secured, but we also need to load up Shank and clean up this mess.” Raptor held a hand over his mouth as he looked down to where I sat on my ass, dazed and covered in Kira’s blood.
“No. I’m not leaving her.”
He gave me a look that said he wanted to chew my ass for refusing him, but I couldn’t leave her like that, and he knew it. My gaze fell back on Angel where he was kneeling next to her still form. If anyone could save her, it was Angel. It gave me hope.
Raptor sighed. “Angel? You good?”
Angel looked up briefly and nodded, then returned his concentration to the broken love of my life in front of him. God, I sounded like a sappy fuck, but I loved her. So fucking much it hurt. Though I knew I’d move heaven and earth for her, I would also kill for her. And I intended to follow through on that when we were done in her father’s penthouse.
Her father, her brother, Ivan—they’d all pay and pay dearly before I sent them to hell. If she died, I’d call Rael and Grim. I’d beg them to continue their torment on the way there. See, there were things about some of the chapters of our club that not everyone knew.
Little whispers.
Rumors that held more truth than they realized.
Yet they had no idea the extent of the things some of our chapters consisted of. Not really.
The faint glow that filled the space between Angel’s hands and Kira’s body was mesmerizing. Slowly, I watched as the blood stopped seeping out of the gaping wound on her neck.
From the inside out, her tissue closed, achingly slowly. Finally, the surface of her skin slowly folded together, sealing itself as if it hadn’t been gaping open mere seconds ago. The blood was drying on her skin, but other than a faint scar, the cut was as if it had never happened.
Still, she lay lifeless. I stared and willed her to open her eyes. Scanning her from head to toe, I waited for a movement. With closed eyes, Angel moved his hands to her head, and they hovered over the swollen and bruised area that had hit the floor after Ivan slit her throat.
When he was done, he dropped his head in exhaustion. Silently, I watched him, knowing how what he’d done depleted him. Gratitude filled me at his sacrifice.
“Angel?” I asked, afraid to voice the rest of my thoughts. She still hadn’t moved, but an extremely faint pulse flickered beneath my fingertip that rested on her wrist.
“I’ve done all I can, Voodoo. She lost a lot of blood. Ideally, she should have a transfusion. If we were at home, I have contacts. But here? We’ll have to wait.” The bleakness in his gaze ripped my heart out. He didn’t have to say that he was skeptical; I could read it in his eyes.
Loath to let go of her but knowing he was on the verge of collapse, I reverently set her hand to the floor and lifted my brother to his feet. Shuffling with him, I helped him to the couch. He sat heavily and fell to his side. After lifting his feet, I rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Can I get you anything?”
He shook his head and closed his eyes. We’d grown up together, and he was more than my brother in the club. He was my friend, my confidant, my brother in my heart to the extent that I’d followed him into the army even thought I knew we’d both end up back in Ankeny as brothers in the Royal Bastards.
I’d needed to be there to protect him from his self-destructive nature at the time. He’d always been a contradiction. It amazed me that the man known as the Angel of Death for our chapter was blessed with the ability to save lives as well as take them.
“Rest, brother. We’ll need to leave soon.”
When I was certain he was resting comfortably, I returned to Kira. It might’ve been my imagination, but it seemed like her pulse was stronger, and the faint movement of her chest was noticeable.
Carefully, I lifted her from the floor and brought her to the first bedroom I came upon. Once I set her on the bed, I pulled the blanket up from the other side and covered her with it.
Crouching next to her, I gently pulled the hair loose from where it was stuck to her skin with dried blood. The thought of her not being in my life was something I didn’t want to contemplate.
“You need to pull through, baby. Sasha is waiting for you at home, and I don’t want to have to tell her I couldn’t bring you back. You hear me?” I sucked in a shaky inhale. “And I don’t want to imagine life without you. I finally got you; I’m not ready to let you go.”