Page 56 of Knight Watch

“But you’re bleeding.”

“It’s just a scratch, keep going.”

The alleyway he led her to was similar to the one where she had first met Kingsley. Shane grabbed her hand and shoved her into the back of the van before dragging a now heavily bleeding Mason in behind him and hitting the accelerator.

Shane twisted to look at them over his shoulder as he drove at break-neck speed. “Put pressure on the wound, or he’s going to bleed out.”

That had Sydney snapping out of the fog that had surrounded her brain. She looked down and saw that Mason was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to his stomach. Kneeling, she ripped off her shirt leaving her in just a bra and applied pressure to the injury.

Mason was pale and waxy but still managed to joke. “God, if this doesn’t kill me, Kingsley will when he finds out I’ve seen you half-naked.”

Sydney offered him a half-hearted smile as tears fell down her cheeks and Mason winced in pain as his eyes began to close. “Stay with me, Mason,” she demanded as she felt herself losing him.

“Gonna be okay,” he reassured her, patting her hand, which was covered in his blood.

“What happened to Kingsley?” she asked wanting to know and trying to distract him at the same time.

His voice was sad and full of regret. “Rutherford took him.”

Sydney felt the contents of her stomach fill her throat as she swallowed again and again.

Mason’s voice was weak when he spoke again. “Failed you.”

Her tone turned fierce. “Don’t you dare say that. Nobody failed anyone. You’ll be fine and we’ll get Kingsley back. So stop that shit.”

“Can see why he loves you, bossy American.” He chuckled and then coughed.

The van stopped, and the doors opened as doctors and nurses swarmed in. Sydney moved out of the way and watched as they took Mason in on a gurney with a nurse astride him giving him CPR and cried.