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The Russian’s voice sounded distant, muffled. Even Kellen felt far away, like I was perceiving him through the glass of a fishbowl.
Forcing my eyes open, I tried to focus on staying conscious, to focus on Kellen, stay with him, keep him safe.
“Vhat is English vord?” Alexi asked one of his henchmen as the sculpted ridges and valleys of Kellen’s perfect, panicked face began to blur together.
“Artillery? Artery? Artery.”
Alexi walked over to the workbench, pulled a stool out from underneath, and had a seat. I watched him over Kellen’s shoulder as he leaned back and rested his elbows on the wooden table. The pistol in his right hand dangled casually from his thick, pale fingers as he glanced at the watch on his opposite wrist.
“She bleed out in … mmm … five minutes.” He chuckled. “Seven if pregnant. Zhey have more blood, you know.”
Kellen’s wide, watery eyes fell to my stomach before colliding with mine for confirmation. A fraction of a nod and a hint of a smile were all I could muster, but the way his chest rose and fell in response, the way his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared, made me wish that I hadn’t.
“It’s … okay,” I whispered. The pain was beginning to fade, along with my vision around the edges and my sense of fear.
It would be okay. I knew it. I just needed Kellen to know it too.
Tearing his gaze away from mine, Kellen unbuckled his belt one-handed and wrapped it around my upper thigh. I could see from the tension on his face that he was pulling it tight, but I couldn’t feel the pressure. I couldn’t feel anything other than the agony of watching Kellen’s heart break before my very eyes.
Raising my hand, I felt as though I were trying to control someone else’s arm as I ran my fingers over his freshly buzzed scalp. It was soft to the touch. I could feel that, but barely.
“You cannot stop zhis, Devil. You just make more time, more pain.” He laughed again. “You do torture now.”
Kellen’s rough cheek dragged across mine as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. Everything below my waist was numb, but I could feel the moisture of Kellen’s tears on my skin, feel the shudder of his weeping body wrapped around mine.
There was so much I wanted to say to him. That I was going to be okay. That I believed in him. That I’d seen him take out three armed men before. That he could do it again.
But the only word I managed to rasp was, “Fight.”
“I know, angel,” he whispered with a nod. “I know yer fightin’.”
Kellen clutched me tighter, rocking me back and forth in a way that made staying conscious almost impossible. I was trying so hard to hold on. To resist the pull of the darkness that was dragging me away from him.
“But he’s right. This is torture.”
I heard the clank and swish of a belt being unfastened and felt a sudden rush to the head.
“Shh … it’s okay. You don’t have to fight anymore, darlin’. Neither of us does.” He kissed my forehead, my eyelids, my nose, my lips. “ ’Cause “I’m comin’ with ya, angel. Ya understand? I’m not lettin’ you go. I’ll never fuckin’ let go.”
His voice broke as he lifted my left hand to his lips and pressed a shaky kiss to the freckles on my ring finger. The ones that he bore as well.
“No.” I shook my dizzy, throbbing head. It wasn’t over. It couldn’t be. Not when we were so close to having everything we’d ever wanted.
Kellen could save us. All three of us. I knew he could.
Bored, Alexi’s men walked past us to the workbench and began speaking and laughing with their boss in Russian.
I clung to Kellen’s body as if it were the only thing tethering me to my own and turned my mouth toward his ear. “Knife,” I whispered, clutching his shirt in my fists.
Kellen kept a blade in his boot. Never walked out the door without it. He was still armed. We still had a chance.
Kellen nodded in understanding, and my entire body sagged in relief.
It would be okay.
It had to be.
With his hand clutching my jaw, Kellen pressed his tear-soaked lips to mine, and the world darkened around me until he was the only thing I could sense. His woodsy scent, his silent strength, his unbreakable, unwavering devotion—I sank into it like a warm bed.
