Jack cursed viciously, and when Chaos moved closer, he could see why. Her body was covered in bruises—her back, stomach, and ribs had taken the worst of it.
"Is she going to live?" Chaos choked out.
“She has several broken ribs and a punctured lung. There’s more going on in there, but I’ll need to open her up to figure it out.”
“Fucking tell me, is she going to live?”
Jack met his gaze, full of sympathy. "I don't know."
They forced Chaos to wait outside while they opened her up.
Hours passed and still nothing. He paced the halls, going out of his mind, barely holding on to his demon. It wanted to find her, was fighting to get to her, to break free and take her home. Chaos shouldn’t be here like this, around all the humans in this place, but there was no fucking way he was leaving. Here he could feel her, he could feel that she was still alive.
Kryos had called. As they’d suspected, Vince had been full of shit. He’d known exactly where Grace was being held. He’d been handing over demi to the enemy, betraying his own kind for the promise of power. Chaos was going to put the fucker down for what he did. He knew Grace cared for Vince, or at least she had before he'd tried to deliver her to a soul-sucking demon. But he couldn’t let him live, not after what he’d done.
He glanced up at the clock. The hands were still moving, but right then, it seemed like time was standing still.
Gunner strode down the hall toward him. "Thought you could use some company." He held up a bag. "And Eve packed some things she thought Grace might need while she’s here.”
"Thanks.” He hadn't talked for the last few hours and his voice sounded like shit.
Gunner leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “How you doing?"
Chaos met his brother’s gaze. “Don’t care about me. Just her. Only her.”
“She’s going to be okay. Any minute they'll wheel her through that door.”
Gunner was right.
A short time later, the door opened, and she was there on the gurney being wheeled out, Jack following behind. Fuck, Grace was pale, and still, her eyes closed, but she was breathing. She was alive.
Moving hurt.
Hell, blinking didn't feel that great, either.
The sound of a door opening, then closing, broke past the brain fog and she braced. In her current condition, all she could do was lie there and take whatever punishment those sadistic bastards dished out.
The footsteps neared. She refused to show weakness and braced, forcing a growl past her lips, unable to form actual words. Pain shot through her side, and she struggled to breathe, her lungs working to inflate, like a truck was parked on her chest.
Someone cursed, then hands were on her. But not causing pain, no, these hands, despite the roughness of their skin, were soothing, warm. On her next indrawn breath, she got a hit of a familiar scent, one that succeeded in washing away any remaining fear from her body. She relaxed as one of those hands held hers, the other stroking her face, gliding over her forehead, brushing back her hair.
"Sleep, angel. You're safe now."
Chaos's deep, rumbling voice moved over her, through her, and she did as he said. She let all her fears wash away and let sleep claim her once more. He was here. That’s all that mattered.
When Grace woke again, the first thing she felt was someone holding her hand. She didn't need to open her eyes to know who it was. She lifted her heavy lids and there he was. Massive, beautiful, fierce. The stark terror in his eyes made her chest ache.
God, how she loved him.
“You’re here,” she said, or more rasped past her dry throat.
Another emotion washed over his face, one that made her heart ache.
"I can’t be anywhere else." He tightened his hold on her fingers. “I don’t want to be anywhere else. I can't breathe when I'm apart from you, Grace."
She cupped his face. “I’m okay.”
His expression was open and exposed, raw. "I'm the fucking walking dead without you, angel. Knowing you were out there…not knowing where you were, what they were doing to you—” He made a tortured sound. “I thought I was losing my mind. I can’t lose you, Grace, I can’t. Don’t ever leave me, okay? You can’t ever leave me.”
“I won’t. I promise,” she whispered.
A tear slid down his cheek, his body held rigid, his dark gaze boring into her like he didn’t believe her but was willing her words to be true. He practically vibrated with emotion. “Without you, I am lost, broken. Without you, angel, I am nothing.”
She lifted a shaky hand and cupped his face, tears welling in her own eyes. “After I lost my family, I was so alone. I’ve been alone for so long. But with you, with my strong, beautiful, proud male at my side, I’m not alone anymore. I’m whole. I would never, could never, leave you, my love, because without you, I am lost, broken, nothing,” she said, repeating his words.
"Grace,” he choked, his big body shaking harder.
With the remaining strength she had left, she leaned in, pressed her lips to his, then tugged on his hand, asking without words for him to lie down beside her.
He gently wrapped her in his arms.
She sighed and kissed him again with all the emotion she felt swirling inside her, then rested her forehead against his. “Whatever the future holds, whatever this war brings, I will be at your side. And if anyone tries to tear us apart, I will always fight with everything I have to get back to you,” she whispered.
His eyes drifted closed and he pulled her back in close, burying his face against her throat. He heaved in several large breaths, and she knew he was trying to keep it together. “I’ll do the same, angel. Always.”
She knew he was scared for her, terrified, because she felt the same way, but Chaos also knew she was a fighter, and no matter how scared he was for her, he would never ask her to stop fighting—just like she would never ask that of him.
Finally, he lifted his head and cupped her face with his strong, calloused hands, hands that could wield a weapon with ease, could kill an enemy with fast, brutal efficiency, and could touch her with a gentleness that should be impossible.
“I’ll be by your side until the end of time.” Then he kissed her again.
And with tears rolling down her face, Grace kissed him back.
Epilogue
Gunner stood on the balcony off the control room and closed his eyes as laughter floated out to him from inside.
A moment of peace and happiness for his brothers and their mates among all the pain. Rocco was still refusing to return to the compound and the place didn’t feel right without him. But seeing his brothers so happy with their females, while Kyler was still in Hell—Gunner thought maybe that was for the best.
The female who helped Grace escape had kept to her word and called with a location. And Roc had been by their side when they’d raided the warehouse, freeing the captured demi who had been held. He was there when they’d needed him.
Unfortunately, the powerful demon behind it all had gone to ground, leaving no trail. But they would find him. Fucking hopefully before Kyler came into her powers and Diemos was freed.
The compound was now filled to capacity with the demi who needed a safe place to stay while they recovered. And with Willow strengthening the wards, no one was getting near them.
Someone walked out onto the balcony.
Silas.
The angel had moved into the compound as well, his wings clipped by his own brethren for helping them, for stopping Zenon from walking into that warehouse, for saving him. He was putting on a brave face, but Gunner could feel his pain.
“Settled in?” Gunner asked as the angel moved to stand beside him.
“Yeah.” Silas glanced back into the control room and made a rough sound. “Not sure everyone’s happy I’m here, though.”
Gunner followed his gaze. “Laz will calm down.” Gunner wasn’t sure he actually believed that, though. Silas had kept information from Lazarus when he’d
first found Eve, and his mate had been used as bait to draw out Tobias when their brother had been lost to the darkness of his demon. That wasn’t something Lazarus would just get over.
“No, he won’t,” Silas said. “I deserve it.” The angel turned to him. “And I’m not the only one in pain. You gonna tell your brothers?”
Gunner stilled. “Tell them what?”
“I may have had my wings taken from me, but I’m not totally blind, and this weight you’re carrying is not exactly subtle…or new.”
No, it wasn’t.
“I’m sorry, Gunner. I know that word means jack-shit to you right now. But fuck…I wish I could go back and change the way things went down.”
Knowing that Silas knew, shit, made it all the more real. He hadn’t imagined it, during that time when Lazarus brought Eve here. Her power had affected them all, but Gunner the most. He’d spiraled into darkness, while he fought his inner demon for control. Still, deep down, he knew he’d felt it…felt her, his female, he’d just hoped he was wrong.
“Why are you sorry?” he finally said, voice rough as fuck.
The pain in Silas’s eyes was stark. “If I’d told Laz what Eve was straight away, you wouldn’t have been locked up, you would have been able to—”
Go to her.
Silas flinched like he’d heard the words that echoed through Gunner’s mind.
Pain slammed into Gunner’s chest. “She’s gone, then, truly gone?” he choked out.
He’d never met her, had only felt her existence for a short time, but her loss was more than he knew how to live with.
“I don’t know. The heavens, they’re blocking you and your brothers from me. I think I knew…before they—” Silas stilled, the muscles in his inked arms flexing as he fought through the memory, the pain. The wounds where they’d mutilated him, where they’d sawn off his wings weren’t healing as they should. “Now I see nothing, just…darkness ahead, only darkness.”
Silas muttered another apology, looking lost.
Gunner had no idea how to help the male. Nothing he could say would make this okay for him.
“I’m just gonna…” Silas motioned inside, then the angel walked back in, striding past everyone and out to the hall, no doubt heading back to his apartment.
Gunner turned and looked out to the night sky as he listened to Meredith telling a joke, to the sounds of Mia, Eve, and Grace laughing. He didn’t need to look back to know his brothers were watching their mates, unable to look away from the females who had them, heart and soul.
The ache behind his ribs increased.
He didn’t have a right to play the grieving widower, not when Rocco was out there suffering even worse. Roc had actually met his mate, had held her, kissed her. He knew what his female looked like, had breathed in her scent, had heard the sound of her voice, her laughter.
No, Gunner deserved to suffer.
He’d failed his mate, had been so weak, so fucking pathetic that he hadn’t been able to control his own fucking demon when everything went to shit and his brothers had needed him most. Had been forced to lock himself up or risk his inner demon running loose on the city.
They’d been out fighting, while he’d sat rocking in a fucking corner, or tearing his cell apart.
No one had been there to free him when he felt her for the first and only time, when breaking down the door with his body hadn’t worked and he’d clawed at the fucking walls to get free until his fingers were torn and bleeding.
No one had been there to hear his roar of pain when he felt her being snatched from existence a short time later, like she’d never existed, like his fevered brain had imagined her.
Pulling off his shirt, he tucked it into the back of his jeans and extended his bronze wings, the gold flecks shimmering in the moonlight.
Yeah, he was a lost cause, but Rocco wasn’t, not yet, and Gunner wouldn’t rest until his brother was home with them and his mate was back and by his side.
About the Author
Sherilee Gray is a kiwi girl and lives in beautiful New Zealand with her husband and their two children. When she isn't writing sexy, edgy contemporary and paranormal romance, searching for her next alpha hero on Pinterest, or fueling her voracious book addiction, she can be found dreaming of far off places with a mug of tea in one hand and a bar of Cadburys Rocky Road chocolate in the other.
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Also by Sherilee Gray
Rocktown Ink:
Beg For You
Sin For You
Meant For you
Bad For You
Knights of Hell:
Knight’s Redemption
Knight’s Salvation
Demon’s Temptation
Knight’s Dominion
Lawless Kings:
Shattered King
Broken Rebel
Beautiful Killer
Ruthless Protector
Glorious Sinner
Merciless King
The Smith Brothers:
Mountain Man
Wild Man
Boosted Hearts:
Swerve
Spin
Slide
Spark
Axle Alley Vipers:
Crashed
Revved
Wrecked
Black Hills Pack:
Lone Wolf’s Captive
A Wolf’s Deception
Stand Alone Novels:
Breaking Him
Knight's Dominion (Knights of Hell Book 4) Page 31
