Helen takes his gun, incapacitates our brother, then releases the clip and the one in the chamber, before tossing the useless weapon aside. Archie is on his knees, holding his throat as his chest heaves.
Our nephew’s wife is a short but curvy woman. Our brother is six-three in height and a big lad at that. Helen has dropped the big Scot to her mercy in a single breath.
However, Archie does manage to get back to his feet. I tilt my head to the side and Helen stands there looking up at him through her lashes. She’s swaying as if there is music playing, but there is none.
“This was a mistake,” I breathe.
“Och, ye are wrong. Just watch,” Ewan mutters.
Archie goes to throw a punch, but Helen reaches up in the slightest motion and guides his hand from the path of her face. It happens so fast. His arm floats right by her head and his momentum brings him into her reach.
She then reaches for his face and tosses him on his back. Archie hits the floor, and Helen puts her heavy black boot in his chest. Then another kick to his face.
I think she’s going to go for the kill from there. However, she backs off and allows him to get back to his feet. This time, Archiemakes sure to stay out of her reach, keeping a greater distance between them.
“Fuck,” I growl when he lands a punch, and blood begins to pour from her nose.
I stand ready to head over there and end this myself. Archie has to die. Helen has been dormant for eighteen years; maybe this job isn’t for her.
“Och, brother. She’s toying with him. Take yer seat,” Ewan says with a hint of amusement in his voice.
I note the grin on Helen’s face and nod. Reclaiming my seat, I watch on. Helen runs her hand under her nose and shrugs her shoulders as if it’s no big deal. The move is small and unassuming to the casual onlooker.
However, I know better. This is one of Ian’s prizes. Archie begins to look more confident and closes some of the gap between them.
“Eejit,” I bite out.
He doesn’t see that she’s just baited him. He moves in with his new confidence and Helen strikes. Reaching behind her back, she pulls two blades.
This time, when he throws a punch, she does as she did before. She uses his weight and momentum to move him around. Using her closed palm around the hilt of her blade, she grabs the back of his neck and drives her elbow into his face, busting his face wide open with the impact.
With the same arm she used to elbow him, she brings one of her blades across his face, causing more blood to flow while Arch tries to stumble back away from her. However, Helen doesn’t allow his retreat this time.
She still has control of his head from behind. From the looks of it, she has him by the hair even though she’s holding her knife. Bringing up the same arm she struck and slashed him with, she grasps his face while still holding the knife.
She then steps behind his legs and forces his body back until he drops back toward the ground, slicing his throat on his way down. I close my eyes and take the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
My brother is gone. He has paid.
“That was for Da and Angus,” Ewan says, causing me to open my eyes.
“Aye. She showed him mercy.”
“Och, I dinnae ken that was for him. She showed mercy because we are watching.”
“Aye, I ken ye are right.”
CHAPTER 9
All Falls Down
Deja
I’m lying here staringup at the ceiling. Since Connie is all grown and lives in the States with her brothers, I always sleep in her old bed in Kate’s room when I spend the night.
I didn’t sleep much last night. I was bummed out after finding out Logan and Cole have returned to the States. No goodbye, no we’ll talk, nothing. Cole is just gone.
Now I don’t know when I will get a chance to speak to him. I spent the night tossing and turning while asking myself if I had dreamt it all. Maybe I had more to drink than I thought I did.
