Saint was calling Tatum’s name and I could hear her screaming again inside. There were still some men blocking our way to her, but I wouldn’t have cared if there were a thousand of them. I wouldn’t have faltered for a moment. Because they couldn’t stop me from getting to her. They couldn’t stop any of us. We were her Night Keepers and we were bound to her even tighter than she was bound to us. And there was nothing in this world or the next that could keep us apart.
She’s a fighter. A warrior. There’s no fucking way that she’ll die in this hellish place.
The only thoughts which permeated the bloodlust which was drowning me were those of her. The girl with the blue eyes which saw straight through my mask and knew me without trying. The girl I’d sworn to protect. The one I was willing to die for. The only one this monster answered to.
And if I had to give everything to save her from this fate then I’d do it without thought. Because she was the only light to my darkness and she was worth a thousand of my deaths and more.
I’m coming for you, baby. Just hold on a little longer.
We barricaded ourselves in the bathroom, the door blocked by an overturned cabinet. There were too many of them, swarming into the house like ants and no matter how many we’d taken out, there always seemed to be more ready to replace them. So we’d had to retreat and now I feared how long we could hold out.
I tasted blood in my mouth and my throat was bruised from the imprint of a man’s hands. I’d fought for my life, and they’d fought for theirs. Somehow, I’d come out victorious again and again. I knew what it was like to be held at a man’s mercy, and I would not come so close to death ever again. Tonight, I was doing as Monroe had taught me and unleashing the wildest, most violent monster who lurked beneath my flesh upon my enemies. And they were going to wish they’d never stepped foot in this place.
I was kneeling behind the clawfoot bathtub between Monroe and Dad, all three of us now armed after we’d taken guns from the dead or injured. The door was being ripped to shit by our bullets and theirs. It wasn’t going to stay intact much longer and I was terrified of what was going to happen when they got in. Because they were going to get in. There was no doubt in my mind.
I shared a look with Monroe that broke my heart. I’d brought him here. It would be my fault if he died. And Dad…Mortez had tracked me here. If I hadn’t come, this would never have happened. But how could I have known?
Monroe grabbed my chin, his brows knitting tightly together. “This is not your last day on Earth,” he commanded like he was ordering it of fate itself.
I managed to nod, but it wasn’t me I was really worried about it. It was the two men either side of me who meant so much to me that I wouldn’t survive losing them. I couldn’t face it.
“Breathe, aim, shoot,” Dad told me, repeating the drill he’d spoken to me hundreds of time while practising. I took a breath, then aimed the pistol in my grip at the door.
The wood gave with a splintering crack as a foot slammed into it and the weight of two men forced the cabinet aside. I pulled the trigger and one of them launched backwards as the bullet slammed into his chest, knocking the other asshole down behind him as he went, blocking the door and stopping anyone else from getting in. But no one was even trying.
Is that it? Is it over?
It took me a long second to realise I’d just shot a man without a thought. Every bullet that had left my gun could have meant the end of someone’s life. But I wasn’t afraid of that, I didn’t feel anything but a steely coldness towards these people. There really was darkness in me after all. Would this all hit me when it was over? If I live that long.
Shouts rang out from somewhere outside and I looked to dad as he got to his feet.
“We have to go, now,” he hissed and I hurried to follow him as Monroe kept close on my left.
We forced the bodies aside and Monroe went ahead before I could stop him, my heart free falling in my chest as he shoved his way through the destroyed door.
He was still safe. For now.
Dad pulled me back, going next and I hurried after him. A dividing wall blocked the view into the central living space and my breathing quickened, a bead of sweat sliding down my spine. The three of us stood in the achingly quiet cabin, the sounds of gunshots sounding somewhere beyond the walls. But not in here. Where were they?
Monroe and Dad kept close to me as we crept into the front room.
We rounded into it and all three of us raised our guns at the same moment the four people standing there raised theirs. The guy in the middle drew my attention most; he had greased back black hair and dead eyes. I’d guess he was in his forties, his body athletic and his shoulders broad. He towered over six foot, dominating the room with his presence and making my skin prickle with unease.
“Now, let’s not do anything stupid,” he purred.
“Enough of this, Mortez,” Dad growled. “Let my daughter and her boyfriend go. They have nothing to do with this.”
Mortez sucked his teeth, considering Dad’s words as
