He drew his leg back and kicked her in the ribs.Pain shot through her, and she curled up to protect her vulnerable side while covering her head with her arms.Then there was a scraping sound and Mohawk gave a pained grunt.When she dared to open her eyes, she saw a man reach down and rip his head clean off.Mohawk’s decapitated body fell with a thud.Quick as lightning, her rescuer rounded on the second henchman and ripped out his neck.
A vampire, she thought.
At this point, Adalyn couldn’t care less if she was next.Death had to be preferable to this misery.Her knight turned and she stared at Lord Gareth Huntley’s blood-stained face.Surprise was an understatement.
“You?”she asked through frozen lips.“W-what are you doing here?”
He kneeled down next to her.“What did he do to you, little bird?”
“He killed my friend,” she whispered.When she tried to stand up, her bruised ribs sent a lightning bolt of agony through her.He slid an arm around her back and helped her.Adalyn glanced at the craft store.“She protected me.I went to The Crimson Den to save her, and he s-shot her.”
Blinking against the darkness threatening to pull her under, she spotted the headless body where copious amount of blood spilled across the concrete sidewalk.The head had rolled into the gutter, and in her opinion, there wasn’t a more fitting place where it belonged.The neck of the other goon was completely gone.Both bodies should’ve made her recoil and gag, but she couldn’t summon the energy to give a shit they were dead.The bag of money caught her eye so she bent to scoop it up, thrusting it into his hands.It belonged to Lord Huntley anyway.
“This is yours,” she said in a broken whisper, blinking up at him.“Are you going to kill me too?”
Gareth placed a finger under her chin, lifting until her gaze met his.“Of course not.”
“It’s okay if you do.”
He frowned.“Shh.Enough of that.I’m going to take you away from here.”
Fog rolled through her mind, and she tried shaking her head to clear the tunnel vision.“No, I have to take care of Marilisa.Call someone.Like an ambulance or something.”
“It’s okay, lass,” his beautiful voice rumbled, soothing across her nerves.“I already have people enroute to take of everything.Marilisa will be handled with grace.”
Comprehension was difficult.All she wanted to do was lay down and never wake up.As long as her friend wouldn’t be left all alone inside the store, Adalyn didn’t care about anything else.The edges of her vision grew even darker with each passing second, until the only thing she could do was cave to gravity.
Chapter Five
Awareness came slowly.Adalyn’s eyes fluttered open, wincing against the light streaming through the window.She didn’t recognize the bedroom she found herself in, and wondered where she was.Her head felt like someone had taken a hammer and bashed her brain.When she moved, pain struck hard and fast, robbing her of breath.Her side throbbed, her head stung, and that’s when the night before played out like a horrible movie.
Marilisa.Her best friend.Gone.
The memory crashed over her.An ocean of grief that rolled over her in waves.The shard in her soul ripped her heart out, turning the world lifeless and grey.She curled on her non-bruised side and let her defenses down to allow her grief out, crying until the pillow had soaked up all her tears.Once the storm passed, she carefully rolled onto her back and stared up at the vaulted ceiling, reaching up to touch the bandage on her head.Life was damn hard.She’d had nothing until Marilisa took her in, and now she had nothing once again.She wished she could trade places with her friend because everything that happened was Adalyn’s fault.She was the one who brought Lori to Marilisa’s door.
Why should her sister continue to live when Marilisa’s life had ended?
