“Shit.”
Before I can reach her, she’s fallen to her knees, her hands on her cousin’s chest, desperate pleas falling from her lips.
I take it all in within seconds, assessing, planning and trying not to lose my shit.
It takes me a moment to see the woman behind Colton isn't moving. It's Marisol, the one who works in the church. She has a bullet hole in her neck, and her eyes are wide, staring upwards.
"Fuck."
The church doors crash open and Patrick runs out, having heard the gunfire. He stops abruptly at the top of the steps when he sees the bodies.
I might be a heartless fucker but there is nothing I can do for her. All I care about right now is Kinsley. I grab her shoulders, and she fights even harder. Tears stream down her cheeks, her hands are covered in blood. It’s hard to tell in the dark, and with his black clothes, but there are enough shiny, sticky patches on his shirt to see he’s been hit multiple times.
“Colton, don’t do this, don’t you fucking die on me.”
“Baby, let me see,” I say gently, surprising myself with the term of endearment.
“No!” she screams shrugging me off.
“Kinsley.” This time my voice is loud enough that she jolts and recoils away from me. I’ll deal with that problem later. “Let me check him over.”
“He needs an ambulance,” She cries. Then she punches me in the chest, hard enough I fall back a step. She's in shock, it's understandable.
Two of my brothers arrive and one drops to his knees. One of them is Genesis, a trained medic, and he presses his fingers to Colton’s neck to check for a pulse.
“He’s alive,” he looks from Kinsley to me. “I need to get at him.”
Not wanting to, but knowing I have to, I grab Kinsley beneath her arms and lift her up, holding her tight against my chest. Stryker takes her place, and he and Genesis get Colton’s shirt open. Kinsley screams again, seeing all the blood. She fights like an alley cat to get away from me.
“They’re helping him. Stop fighting me. They’re helping.”
It takes a few more tries, but eventually she quits fighting, sagging against me.
“Marisssssol….”
“Colton!” Her fighting resumes at hearing him trying to speak.
I tighten my grip. His eyes are open and he’s trying to look around. Fuck. I turn Kinsley away from the church before she can see Marisol. Patrick is crouching over her, holding her hand. He has closed her eyes.
Kinsley is losing it enough over her cousin, she doesn’t need to see Marisol is dead.
Nero stops beside me, and we stare at each other, holding a silent conversation. His face is blank, whereas mine is full of rage. It’s not that he doesn’t care. He’s gone into his dark place, but he has to be the president, he has to make the hard choices.
Fury and Razer are riding away, and Nashville is coordinating the other brothers.
“An ambulance is on its way,” Nero finally speaks. He watches Kinsley a moment, then his eyes harden, some of the blankness slipping, he’s seen Marisol.
“I can’t lose him,” Kinsley whispers. “I can’t.”
“Genesis is a medic, he’s in the best hands, the ambulance will be here soon.” Even as I say it, sirens fill the air.
There will be cops too, Nero has a lot to deal with, but he isn’t moving, his concern for the civilians taking over. When he looks my way again, I nod, I’ve got this.
After a brief pause, he heads back over to where Nashville is watching us, his hands on his hips and his expression full of worry and anger.
They’ll need to deal with the cops, there is no getting around that. Nero has to figure out a way to get to the shooters before them.
Kinsley is sagging even more. If I let go, she might fall.
