No time.
I can’t lose another one.
Ruby had died in his house, his home, his sanctuary. And now Alexa was in trouble.
He found her in the study, motionless and bleeding with Marielle’s slender fingers wrapped around her throat. Still squeezing, focused on the task at hand even as Juno sank gleaming white teeth into a cashmere-clad shoulder and shook, trying to pull the enemy off, trying to save Nolan’s girl. He didn’t even think, just grabbed the paper knife from the desk organiser and lashed out, catching Marielle by surprise. She looked up, eyes wide.
Shocked by his appearance?
Or by the river of scarlet that gushed from her neck?
“Nolan…” she started, then clutched at the wound with both hands, trying and failing to stem the flow. Nolan stared in horror too, at the blood, at the knife clutched in his hand, but then Alexa groaned, and he snapped out of his stupor and fell to his knees beside her. She was bleeding too, from a gash on her face, from her arms, from her hands.
“Don’t you die on me.”
For a long moment, he feared she might be obstinate enough to disregard his plea, but then her eyes fluttered open.
“B-b-b?—”
“What, baby?”
“Bitch.”
She kicked out with surprising ferocity, and Marielle toppled sideways. A pair of scissors landed on the wooden floor with a clunk.
“Alexa? Fuck, I need to call someone. An ambulance. I need to call an ambulance. And the cops.”
He fumbled the phone out of his pocket, only to drop it as she grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? You’re bleeding. Marielle’s bleeding. And those bruises on your neck…”
“Give…give me the phone.” Juno began licking Alexa’s face, and she rolled her head to the side. “Hey, get off!”
“Juno!”
Marielle made a gurgling sound, one that left Nolan nauseous, but Alexa just gave her another kick.
“Oh, shut up, Rayna.”
“Rayna? What’s Rayna?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We need help.”
“Yeah, I know.” Alexa took another shaky breath. “I’ll call someone.”
“The sheriff. We need to call the sheriff. And an ambulance—the EMTs might be able to save her.”
How long would they take to arrive? The nearest emergency room was in Jackson, a twenty-five-minute drive under normal circumstances. Would an ambulance make it in fifteen? Twenty?
“I’m, like, ninety percent sure they won’t. You got an artery.” Alexa was gaining strength as Marielle’s hold on life weakened. “So congrats, she has four more minutes, tops.”
“An artery? Shit, we have to do something.”
“Want me to google the last rites?” The last rites? Damn, that was cold. Alexa had never been warm and fuzzy, but this clinical side of her was new, especially when blood was involved. “Do you have to be a priest to do those? Or can regular people just read them out?”
