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A gunshot rang out, deafening in the space. I gripped the hilt of the knife and searched the walls to see where the bullet had hit. But it hadn’t made a hole, not in the walls or the counter. Instead, Caleb tumbled backwards, blood blooming neon red at edge of his shoulder.
They’d shot him.
They’d shot Caleb!.
Something savage unleashed inside me. A feral, uncontrollable rage just…snapped.I lunged across the dining room and drove the knife through the air as Caleb stumbled, trying to stay upright. The gunman snapped his head toward me. But it was already too late as I plunged that wicked point right into him.
The blade carved deep, sinking steel into flesh until there was no more steel left.
Numb, I stared down at his middle, where the glint was swallowed by black, then lifted my gaze to his. There was a stunned widening of his stare as the grunts and howls of my brothers came behind me.
“Ryth!” Caleb grabbed my arm, tore me away, and pulled me behind him. “You fucking touch her…” he warned. “You fucking touch her and I’ll kill you.”
But the gunman just looked down and stared at the big knife embedded in his middle, then he gripped the hilt and pulled it out.Wait!The cry ripped through my head. But that’s where it stayed. The idiot jerked the knife free, carving upwards and all I could hear in my head was Tobias as he’d showed me just where to stab.Jerk it up, little mouse…do more damage that way.
And it did do more damage.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Thud!
Tobias lunged, driving himself between us and the man whose blood began to flow out from under his black shirt to enlarge the pool of his blood already on Ben’s beautiful floor. “Game over,” Tobias snarled, wrenched his fist backwards, and unleashed it right into the man’s face.
Nick joined us a second later as the gunman dropped to the floor. “We have to go.”
“Where?” I whispered, staring at all the blood. “We have nowhere to go.”
Nick’s phone vibrated on the kitchen counter where we’d left it. He crossed the space, grabbed it, and answered the call. “Yeah?”
There was a second of sickening silence, where the only sounds were the choked off crackle of escaping air and the slick sound of dripping blood. I don’t think I really heard that, or maybe it was my mind playing games. Still, I was riveted—like we wereallriveted to Nick as he turned pale and muttered, “What the fuck?”
“Speaker!” Caleb demanded as he lurched toward him.
Nick lowered his hand instantly and hit the speaker icon. “Say that again, Ben.”
“Something’s gone down at The Order. There’s been an explosion. Jack…Jack’s”dead, right? Dad’s dead.“Escaped and headed this way.”
I jerked my gaze upward. All three of my brothers stared at me as the mafia boss kept talking.
“Ryth, honey…there’s no easy way to say this, but your mom’s dead.”
Mom’s…dead?
“When my men turned up, so did three men from The Order. They killed her, right there in front of my men. They opened fire, but by the time they got there, it was too late.”
It was too late…too late.My knees trembled, but Tobias was there, wrapping his arm around my waist, holding onto me like I was about to become adrift.
“But her dad is alive,” Nick insisted, drawing me back to the only flicker of hope I had left.
“Yeah, and he’s on his way here.”
“How the fuck did they get him out?” Caleb stepped closer and braced his good hand against the counter.
“How the fuck do you think?” Tobias snarled next to me. “It’s King…King, who seems only too happy to help him, as long as he can get to Ryth.”
I flinched and jerked my gaze to his. Those dark brown eyes sparkled with malice. “He’s not getting anywhere near you, little mouse,” he promised. “No one is.”
