“Balthazar,” her soft whisper word filled the cab of the SUV. Leaning over her, I gently stroked her face. “I’m here, baby. Don’t worry. We’re going to get you the best help around. You just hang on, okay.”
“You kept your promise.”
Smiling, I nodded. “Yes, I did. Though it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
“Not Gadget’s fault.”
“He was only supposed to case the joint. Not take you.”
“Was going to die.”
“What?”
“In the morning. Uncle ordered it.”
“Mother fucker,” Grimm cursed, slapping the steering wheel.
“I’m so tired, Balthazar.”
“I know, baby,” I said, leaning closer and kissing her forehead. Her skin was clammy. “Just stay awake for me, okay.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, right before she closed her eyes.
No! Not again.
“Ari!” I shouted, shaking her. “Aariaani!”
Massacre quickly checked for her pulse and sighed. “She just sleeping.”
And that was when I cried.
I hadn’t cried since I was a child, and my father told me I’d never had to go back to that church. I cried for my lost childhood. I cried for my dad, Reaper’s dad, my life, Mia’s life, the life my daughter would have without her mother, but mainly I cried because Aariaani was still breathing and alive.
None of my brothers said a damn word as I let go of years of anger and misery. I needed this more than I ever imagined. It felt cathartic in a way as if I were purifying my soul of the demons I harbored. Laying next to her, I gathered her close to me and closed my eyes. As the SUV ate up the miles needed to get her to safety, I prayed to God that he would protect us from what was to come for the first time in a long time.
I woke up sometime later, as bright lights blinded me. Sitting up, I groaned, trying to see where I was.
“You need to lay back down, Ghost,” a sweet female voice said, sitting next to me, her little feet propped up on my bed as she flipped through a tabloid magazine. As Remi recovered from her time in Louisiana, Max’s mom, Caroline, read to her from those tabloids every day. “Healer said you gave too much blood. You’re going to be dizzy and out of it for a while.”
“Remi?” I barely said and asked, “What’s new in Hollywood?”
“Oh, you know the same old stuff. Martin Michaels got caught fucking that starlet from the movie, Hanging with the Gods, and Robin Rhett came out as gay.”
“Good for him,” I grumbled.
“You had Max worried.”
“He’ll get over it,” I moaned. “Where’s Aariaani?”
“In the next room. Healer is checking on her now.”
“I need to see her,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
“You need to get your ass back on that bed before I have Chains chain you to it,” Reaper said, walking down the stairs. “You sure don’t do anything easy, do you? Gadget is out of commission for the next few months. You are useless for the next day or so and don’t even get me started on that young woman in there. She was rode hard- and put-up wet Ghost. Whoever beat her knew what the fuck they were doing. Healer is keeping her sedated so her body can heal. But that was after he found two, not one, two mother fucking tracking devices embedded in her skin. You can thank Phantom for that. She figured since you had one, that it was more than likely Ari would too.”
“The other brothers?”
“Due back any minute. They took the scenic road home if you catch my drift.”