A banging sound comes from down the hallway, like a body hitting a wall, just before Kat screams. Two more men come running up the stairs.
“Go!” Cillian shouts at me, and for a split second, I pause. “Fuckinggo!” he says again, and I trust him, have to trust him to be able to handle this on his own as I take off running down the hallway, burst into the room to see her in the corner, legs free but wrists zip-tied.
Shai and a man I assume is Jagger are fighting, hand to hand, rolling around, trading blow for blow. They’re both bloody, Shai’s eye black, Jagger bleeding from what looks like a knife wound to the shoulder. My heart slams against my chest, head throbbing, blood rushing through my ears as I try to get a clean shot but can’t. No way I can shoot Jagger without running the risk of hitting Shai.
My knife has never felt so good in my hand. Just as I’m about to lunge for Jagger, I realize what’s happening too late—there’s a gun on the ground, Jagger rolling off Shai, both of them clamoring for it, trying to fight each other off and get to it first. Jagger’s bloody hand reaches it, grabbing the handgun and raising it toward Shai.
Everything happens all at once. Jagger aims at Shai, and before I can get the shot off, Kat leaps onto him, throwing herself between Shai and Jagger. His gun goes off just before the knife she’s holding in both hands plunges into his chest. The bullet rips through her arm, but that doesn’t stop her from tugging the knife out and plunging it into him again, over and over, Jagger falling to his back, Kat straddling him, ripping at his body, tearing him apart with the blade. Blood pours out of him, gurgles in his throat, hers mixing with his as she gives in to the beast inside her, a beast I know well.
“Mom…Mom, stop. He’s dead. You’re bleeding. You’ve been shot.” Shai talks to her gently, trying to calm her down. He’s…fuck, he’s a mess, beaten and bruised himself. “Mom, it’s okay. He’s gone.”
He gently takes hold of her arm, getting her to stop stabbing him. I see the moment she’s shocked back into her body,when she realizes what’s happened. The knife falls free, her eyes wide. “Shai…I’m so sorry. Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Did he shoot you?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “He shot you.”
She looks down, sees the blood oozing from her right arm, her wrists still together.
“Oh my God,” she says, falling to the ground beside Jagger.
“Rory…help,” Shai begs. I rush over, use my knife to cut her wrists free, then pull off my shirt to wrap it around her wound. He’s holding her, sitting on the ground, her head in his lap.
“I was so scared,” Kat whispers. “I thought…I thought he would kill you. I can’t…I know I’m not a good mom, but I love you so much, Shai.”
“Shh. It’s okay. I know.”
I tie the shirt on her arm, trying to stop the bleeding. When I hear footsteps behind me, I whip around, gun aimed. “It’s just me,” Cil says, and my body relaxes.
More footsteps follow, Tiernan, Dean, Rian, and then Conan—who’s been shot in the shoulder.
“We need to get the fuck out of here now,” Rian tells us. “Finan is monitoring calls, and it doesn’t look like anyone heard or called 911.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Did you call people in?” Tiernan asks.
“Finan’s on it,” Rian replies. “Flynn’s coming out with a group.”
“Come on, Mom. Let’s go.” Shai looks at me. “Will you help me with her?”
I can’t help but lean forward and seal my mouth to his, tasting his blood and tears on his lips. “Always.”
I help him to his feet, then Kat. She puts her good armaround Shai’s shoulders as I help on her other side, everyone quiet as we make our way through the wreckage and back to the van.
“Twogunshot wounds?” Finan asks.
“Yeah, motherfucker got the drop on me. I cut his heart out,” Conan says, plopping into a seat.
“Get us the fuck out of here,” Rian orders. “I’ll clean them.”
I’m not surprised Finan heads toward Boston, nor when Cillian calls Ollie so he and Ash can meet us there, but I can’t pull my attention from Shai. He sticks to his mom like glue, helping Rian clean her wound, before giving her a pill that knocks her out. Shai holds her the whole time in the car, head turned, though, so he’s looking at me.
I twine our fingers together, needing to be connected to him. “I thought…”
“I’m fine,” he says. “I’m here. I thought I was going to lose you too.”
“Impossible.” I kiss his temple. “I’ll stalk you even in death.”
“If you go, I go with you,” he says, and is that healthy? Fuck no. Is it us? Yes.
