I’m already moving.
“Liev wait—” Finn hisses.
I don’t.
I kick the door open so hard it ricochets off the wall.
Aaron spins, yanking a pistol from his waistband.
I keep coming.
He fires. Once. Twice. Three times.
I barely register the impacts. My entire focus is on the horror that is Sera, using her legs to wrap around Aaron’s waist and swinging, making it impossible for him to aim. With a snarl, his other hand holding the knife strikes at her abdomen twice before she screams and her legs drop away.
I slam into him like a freight train.
We crash into the table of tools, metal scattering across the floor. His gun clatters away.
I drive my fist into his ruined face, over and over, feeling the bones crunch beneath.
He claws at me, snarling. “No matter what, she’ll always carry my mark. She’ll never forget me. She’ll always be hideous!”
My fingers sink into his throat.
“That’s where you’re wrong, asshole.” My voice is raw. “Her battle scars are fucking hot.”
Aaron’s eye bulges. He gurgles as his face turns purple.
I want to make it slow. Want him to feel every second of the agony he’s given her.
But Sera makes a broken sound behind me, and getting to her is more important. I twist his neck hard, drop his lifeless body, and stagger toward her.
Finn is already there. He’s cut her down and is gingerly lowering her to the ground. Blood immediately begins pooling under her. Too much blood.
Finn slices open her shirt as I drop to the ground next to her. He pulls a trauma pack, from his vest and dumps clotting powder over her wounds. He presses hard. “Shirt. Now.”
Alex tears his off without hesitation.
I want to help. But my vision tunnels. Black edges creep in. My lungs won’t expand right.
“Little Warrior,” I rasp.
Sera’s head lolls toward me, eyes half-lidded. Pain etches every line of her face, but she still finds me.
“Hey, Gangster,” she whispers with a shadow of a smile.
She manages to lift her hand, middle finger extended.
I try to answer. My arm feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. My finger barely twitches.
Love you,I want to say.
Darkness rushes in.
I love you.
43
