She groaned loudly and rolled her eyes as she sent rounds into the men. I followed, firing above her head and successfully taking down one while she hit two more. I had to admit, I was impressed. Helena had proverbial balls of steel. She was ruthless and didn’t so much as bat an eye at the carnage around us. It was terrifying and fucking sexy all at once. But it also solidified my resolve to kill her once this was over because I knew that was still very much her plan for me. She swore a blood oath and was too disciplined, persistent, and calculated not to follow through. I’d been in her shoes more times than I could ever recall over the last sixteen years, so a part of me understood.
“Shit!” she cried, falling back, blood spraying on my shirt.
“Are you hit?”
Helena didn’t answer. She dropped her empty mag and reloaded, ignoring whatever pain emanated from the red rivulets running down her arm.
“Fuck this.”
I reached for her, intent on pulling her back, when she jumped to her feet and charged through the ruined doorway. Gunshots broke out in rapid succession as I tore after her. But she was the only one standing by the time I reached the main cabin.
A pair of lifeless blue eyes stared up at me from where the poor bastard had dropped by my feet, and a low chuckle left my lips as I looked at the mess we made.
“Nice jo—”
The handle of Helena’s gun cracked against the side of my face. And before I knew it, I was staring down the barrel of my own gun.
“Right down to business?”
“Shut up,” she spat. “You’re next.”
While I knew she was unhinged and itching for me to join the men sprawled across the cabin, I couldn’t help the suicidal grin pulling at the side of my mouth.
“I thought we had a moment, you and me. A little teamwork. C’mon, love—or should I say, Helena?”
She steadied her stance, gripping the weapon with both hands.
“You’re a bastard. You threw me out here, naked, and watched while he—” Her lips squeezed in a tight line as her eyes flickered to the man in question. She sent two rounds into his skull, then raised her gun back to my chest.
“You have one bullet left.”
“And it has your name on it.”
My eyes narrowed at her, smirk pulling wide. “Then you better make it count.”
“Go ahead. Put it down.”
We’d been so absorbed in our stare-down that neither of us had noticed the arsenal of men who had poured into the cabin from either side. All of them armed to the teeth. Guns trained on us. I had a half-empty mag, Helena had my one bullet, and we’d both be dead inside of five seconds. Fucked was what we were.
Completely and utterly fucked.
* * *
Darkness descended the small cabin where she and I sat, bound at the wrists like fucking prisoners. Cillian wouldn’t have had Helena taken this way. It went against everything. While he was a slimy fucker, I knew she was an asset to The Six. One whose death wouldn’t be taken lightly. This had to be the work of someone else. Who had she pissed off? Better yet, how were the two of us caught up in the same shitstorm?
I looked over at her still figure, again naked from the waist up. Perfectly rounded breasts were highlighted by the low glow of the moon, and strands of her caramel hair danced across her face as a cool wind blew inside from the shattered window. Goosebumps scattered over her golden skin, her brown nipples erect from the cold.
Gorgeous as she was crazy…and that was saying a lot.
“When I get free, I’m going to gouge out your eyes and feed them to you.”
Despite our dire situation, that earned a chuckle. And I knew she’d do it too. “It’s not the most ideal situation, but you can’t blame me either. If I’m about to die, at least I have a great view.”
She rolled her head in my direction. “I wouldn’t expect any less from you. You’re all the same.”
There would be no argument on my part. She was beautiful, even bruised, bloodied, and batshit. I had nothing else to live for, so if there ever were a dying wish, it would be to sink my cock into her or—at the very least, stuff it down her throat so she’d shut the fuck up.
Silence fell between us for countless, agonizing minutes, where I dedicated my thoughts to all the fucked-up possibilities that awaited us.
