Pain detonated through my back and tore out of my chest as the bullet ripped through me.
I moved anyway.
Instinct took over. I grabbed the gun and fired.
Stan dropped with a dull thud seconds before my knees gave out, the world tilting as I hit the hard, grimy concrete.
Lexi’s face came into view above me, her sky-blue eyes darkening with fear.
“Killian!” Her hands pressed against my chest, slick with blood as tears spilled down her cheeks. “We have to call an ambulance.”
“No.” I caught her wrist. “You can’t be tied to this. Get out of here.”
I jerked my chin toward Stan’s body, blood pooling beneath him, distorting what was left of his face.
Lexi shook her head, those silky auburn locks whipping around her like fire. “I’m not leaving you here to die.”
“I’m not dying,” I bit out. “Clean shot. In my back and out my chest.”
A lie.
I had no idea what damage the bullet had done, or if it was even out.
Footsteps echoed through the space, and seconds later, two shadows broke through the darkness.
I blinked hard, forcing my vision to clear just as Slate dropped to his knees beside me. A string of curses tore from him the second he saw the blood soaking my chest—and coating Lexi’s hands.
“Holy fuck, Kill! What happened?” Slate yanked his shirt over his head and pressed it to my wound. His gaze dipped to the blood puddling beneath me.
“I knew the day would come when this bastard pissed off the wrong person.” The dim light flooding in through gaps in the boarded-up windows shone on Declan’s copper hair as he nudged Stan’s dead body. “I didn’t think it would be his perfect stepson.”
I managed to weakly flip off the Arcane member. “Where the fuck have you been?”
He turned to show the blood running down his temple. “Someone—possibly a traitor in Arcane—tipped off your stepfather, and the asshole attacked me.”
“When you didn’t call us to report back, we knew something was wrong,” Slate said, keeping his shirt firmly against my chest. “I found Declan unconscious in an alley behind the warehouse.”
“If someone doesn’t call a fucking ambulance,Iwill,” Lexi gritted out. “In case you two haven’t noticed, Killian was shot, and he’s bleeding out. He needs medical attentionnow.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Red was so adorable when she got bossy. I could just eat her up like a big bad wolf.
“What are you smiling about, Kill!” Lexi’s nostrils flared, and she would have smacked me if I wasn’t dying. I was honestly surprised she didn’t anyway.
“We can help cover this up. For a price.” Declan’s faint Scottish accent made each word sweeter, a little more alluring. Women fell for his charm hand over fist, and that lyrical lilt even lulled men. That was why he was so good at making deals. “Give Arcane control of the video, and the Lords and the Ascended will never find out the truth. I’ll make sure your girl stays far away from this.”
The original arrangement was for Arcane to leak it to the public. Now, to clean up a murder, Declan wanted complete control of the video. They could release it, sit on it until the opportune moment, or even sell it to one of our rivals.
“No.” My jaw clenched against Lexi’s and Slate’s protests. I refused to put her fate in their hands.
Now that Stan was dead, there was no reason for anyone to ever see that video. I’d rather die.
Hands so warm they burned my cheeks—or maybe I was just that cold—angled my head to meet a smoldering gaze.
“Send him the video, Kill.Please.” Her bottom lip trembled. “I can’t lose you to death or prison. I’d pay any price.”
“She’s a smart girl, Killian.” Declan leaned against a concrete pillar, a devilish smile curling his lips. “Give me this secret, and I’ll have a team here within minutes to clean this up and rush you to the hospital.”
No way in fucking hell. “This could eventually put you in danger, Red. I can’t sell this secret.”
