Had anyone hit him more than that wound on his shoulder? He obviously hadn’t been hurt enough to really slow him down.
Damn it. My teeth set on edge, but at the same time, I suspected I was lucky to simply be alive.
Claws men spilled into the backyard around me—half a dozen of them, Kervos among them. “I’m sorry, Mercy,” he said. “We’d have taken a shot sooner, but we were afraid he’d kill you if we missed.”
“It’s okay,” I said, pulling my spine straight even though my gut felt like jelly. “You got here in time. That’s what matters.”
“If we could have taken him down…”
I let out a shaky breath. “There would still have been the Storm to deal with. He’s the real problem. But we definitely need more guards—all around the property.”
“Of course.” He strode over to the other men and started giving hasty orders in a severe tone. A couple of the guys hung their heads as he must have chided them.
I peered at the ground, searching the grass until I caught the glint of silver I was looking for. Bending down, I picked up the bracelet I’d dropped. As I brushed bits of dirt off the chain, my insides tangled up all through my abdomen.
Xavier was insane. But his story explained a few things: why he’d targeted me at the start, why he’d wanted to torment me instead of just killing me. Why he was attacking my home so viciously in the first place. This was all some kind of psycho revenge for events I’d had no control over. I’d beensixwhen Mom had vanished from my life, for fuck’s sake.
Kervos rejoined me, studying my face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied. I was pretty shaken up, but I didn’t want to show him that. I needed to process everything Xavier had told me—decide how much was true and how much insane ramblings.
Did Xavier really know what had happened to Mom, that she was definitely dead, or was he simply guessing?