Nick stalked toward Norman, fists clenched.
“Woah, hold on! She fucking asked—I only did it because—Connor said it was what she wanted!”
Nick struck him with knuckles that had been aching to connect since the moment he saw Norman in his office. “Quit talking.”
“Nick, we should get Phoenix checked out. His leg looks bad,” Kate said. Phoenix’s brows were furrowed at the scene before him.
“Kate, did he hurt you?” Phoenix asked. Her expression steeled and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Help!” Norman shouted, and Nick clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Kate?” Phoenix asked again. “Is he the reason you had those bad nightmares?”
“One of them…”
Phoenix limped over to a crate sitting on the ground and scooted until he sat on top of it. “Yeah, I can wait a bit. Do what you gotta do.”
Norman’s eyes were wild, and he struggled against Nick’s grip, though he was no match for Nick’s altered strength. Nick pulled his hunting knife from the loop of his pants and held it out to Kate. She stared at it, thoughts racing through her mind. This was the moment she had longed for.
Vengeance-fueled reveries took over—slicing him into tiny pieces, cutting off bits of flesh. Allowing the rage to course through her limbs until he was a bloody pile of desecrated body parts thrilled a dark shadow within her heart.
Yet, looking at Nick, she already had the resources for putting the past to rest. Destroying Norman would not seal the cracks in her soul or heal the tormented parts inside of her.Nick’s affection and patience had been the main ingredient for restoring her peace.
Kate could choose to taint her hands with his blood, to relive each memory of him punctuated with a wrathful demise. Or she could let Nick do what he does best.
Allowing Norman to dwell in this space was not an option. He had made it clear that Kate was his target. The conversation she overheard between Yara and him revealed he was hurting others. Norman had to go. Yet, maybe it did not need to serve as the basis for Kate’s reclamation of herself.
“Just… make it quick and clean. I’ll take Phoenix to the infirmary.” Kate pushed the blade back toward Nick, delegating the deed to him.
“You sure?” Nick asked, Norman writhing beneath his grasp. Tears streamed from his face and dripped over the hand covering his mouth.
Kate nodded. “As long you’re okay with—”
“I’d be delighted.” Nick turned back to Norman whose face had turned a dark red from struggling.
Kate draped Phoenix’s arm around her shoulder and helped him to his feet. The pair walked with slow, steady steps until they exited the warehouse.
Chapter 22
Kate sat on a bench in the waiting area of the infirmary after Phoenix was taken back to be treated. The medical facility was alive and bustling with nurses speeding from one patient to another. The cries of those injured from the grenade rang out, transporting Kate back to those dreadful moments at the airbase.
Kate thought about men like Nick who had spent months at a time enduring complete chaos at any given moment. She imagined the fear and panic that would threaten to shut them down, and yet they persist—for themselves, for those around them, for those they love. Kate was certain she would not have what it takes to react that way in a situation.
The confrontation back at the storage facility nagged at the back of her mind. Guilt for leaving the act of murder to Nick hung over her like a raincloud. He had killed to save their lives. To her knowledge, he had never disposed of someone willingly.
Nick’s response to her sprang to mind:I’d be delighted.
The shame only crushed her because her sense of worth was depleted. Nick knew her value, and he was more than willing tocomplete this task for her; he was eager. Norman’s death was not about rectifying past offenses. It meant securing a safe future here at Fort Vanguard for Kate and other women.
With the aid of a nurse, Phoenix hobbled into the waiting area. A few hours must have passed before Kate realized it. Phoenix’s injury had been wrapped in gauze and bandages.
“See? They didn’t amputate like you said they were going to!” Phoenix jested.
“No, I said they were going to take your tongue after spending twenty minutes with you,” Kate responded, and the nurse gave a knowing smile.
“Damn, you and Nick both with the low blows!”
Kate wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she took over providing stability. “We do it because we care. Let’s get you home.”
