“Come on, Eve,” one of them taunts me. “You’re not one to hide.”
The vest restricts my movements more than I’d like, but if I take a bullet to the chest, I’m dead within seconds. I can’t chance it.
A figure steps into my sight, and I don’t even think before I fire. One of the guys falls to the floor, a mask still covering his face, but the blood begins to pool underneath his lifeless body.
“Fucking get her,” someone barks. “There are more of us.”
I’ve got six bullets left. It’s now or never. I go to stand up, but something wraps around my throat from behind. I look up to see someone leaning over the altar, and the belt around my neck tightens to the point where it cuts off my air.
I have to stand in order to relieve the pressure, but I still can’t breathe as they drag me across the altar. I’m shoved into it, pinned against the front. The belt feels like it’s cutting my skin in half.
Reaching over my head, I fire, and then the belt is released. I fall to my knees, coughing and sputtering as drool drips from my lips.
Three down. Two to go.
A scream erupts from behind me, and I spin around to fire, but I’m knocked back with what can only be another bullet to my vest. The force of the bullet takes away what little breath I have. I lift my gun and fire off two more rounds aimlessly. I’m losing and running out of time.
I fall to my side and begin to crawl to the back of the altar, needing a second to regroup. I’m unable to catch my breath, and I don’t know if it’s from being choked or another bullet.
Unable to move a muscle, I lie on the cathedral floor, looking up at the high ceilings, and a calmness washes over me. Finally. After everything I’ve done wrong in my life. I was able to do something good for someone.
I hope Kashton understands why I did it. What he means to me. That I would have given the world for him to have what he deserves.
My vision begins to blur, and I choke on blood that fills my lungs. I’m dying, and it wasn’t for nothing.
I had a purpose, and I was able to save a life instead of taking one.
A blurry figure steps around the altar, and I lift my gun, my hand shaking as I pull the trigger, firing off another round.
My eyes fall closed as they laugh. I missed and don’t have the energy to try again. “Goodbye, Eve,” their distorted voice says before another round of shots fill the cathedral.
KASHTON
“Who the fuck texted you the address?” Saint demands.
“It’s unknown,” I answer, my knees bouncing. While we were at Barrington, I got a text that Eve is at the cathedral. We called Tyson and filled him in, but he’s farther out than we are. Adam called me and said she hadn’t been arrested. I’d rather my wife be in jail than at the cathedral.
“Your car is here,” Haidyn announces when he barrels into the parking lot.
I don’t even wait for him to bring the Cadillac to a stop before I’m jumping out and running up the steps and inside. Once I enter, I come to a stop, looking over the blood-covered floor. It’s smeared down the aisle and covers several of the pews.
It’s everywhere. Puddles of it. And in some places, it’s splattered. I count three dead bodies while I search for my wife.
“Eve?” I call out, and her name echoes in the silence. It makes my heart race to think that any of this blood might be hers. “Eve?”
“What do you need us to do?” Ryat and Sin enter with Haidyn and Saint. Hooke follows behind them. He was at Carnage when I got the call and tagged along to do whatever he can to help.
“Check the office,” I order, and they take the side door by the staircase.
I rush down the aisle, checking both sides to see if she’s hiding between the pews, but don’t find anything. Coming up to the altar, I see the blood on it and walk to the opposite side.
There’s a handprint. “Think I found something,” I call out, and Haidyn and Saint come running toward me.
Kneeling, I see the altar has a door that slides shut, and it’s cracked open. I yank it back and a hand falls out onto the floor. It’s covered in blood, but you can’t miss the emerald-cut diamond on the ring finger.
“Eve.” I grab her arm and yank her out of the confined space. Her body falls to the floor, and there’s so much blood, I can’t tell where it’s all coming from.
Haidyn presses his fingers to her neck. “She doesn’t have a pulse.”
