Page 108 of My Darling Mayhem

His scream echoed around us as blood burst from his leg. He dropped Kane, and I didn’t hesitate. My knives flew, landing directly in the jugular of his neck.

I wanted to run over, pull them out and sink them into his heart. Then do it again and dig them into his gut. But Kane was running toward me and right as my knees hit the mud below me, Archer burst from the tree line, ambling toward us with a heaving chest, trying to catch his breath. Archer’s gaze darted down then slid over to us right as Kane’s little body slammed into mine.

“I knew you’d come.” His little voice echoed in my ear, and it made my heart lurch.

Not Archer. He knew I’d come for him.

Tears trailed down my face as I sat back and pulled him into my chest. “I’m sorry it took me so long. I’m so sorry he took you, and you thought you were going to have to go with him.”

His arms were iron around my neck as he clung to me.

“I didn’t cry because I saw how you looked at me when he took me.”

Pulling him away so I could check his face, my smile wobbled. “How did I look at you?”

His white hair was muddied as I ran my hands through it, checking him to be sure he was okay.

“You looked at me the same way you look at Cruz. I know I’m yours now. Yours and Archer’s. You’re going to be my mom. I’ve never had one before that I remember. I’m glad it’s you.”

I tried to laugh as a sob came out, and I pulled him close. Presley was behind me, placing her hand on my shoulder. Then one of the twins burst through the tree line just as frantic as Archer had.

Gio.

His eyes were wild as he searched the area, and then frenzied as they landed on Presley. He stumbled over, dropping his gun.

“Gio,” Presley started. She put her hands out, almost as if to hold him off. His hands were on her face seconds later, pushing into her hair as he pulled her closer.

Her fists clung to his waist, holding onto his hoodie. Then more people came through the trees. Kingston found Gio and Presley, and his jaw worked back and forth like he was processing a rather big emotion. Presley looked up, and as soon as she saw Kingston, she pushed Gio away. Pain radiated on her face, as if she’d just been reminded of something she lost.

I moved my gaze away from them, so I didn’t keep watching something that looked so intimate and personal.

Juan and Taylor held hands as they came closer and then Archer finally stopped examining Saul and Brian’s bodies. His hands bloody as he pulled my daggers free and wiped them on Saul’s chest.

Kane remained in my lap as they all closed in, and it hit me then.

My brother led a life of danger, but he’d made it so nothing could hurt his family. He’d raised soldiers because he was always at war.

Archer knelt down in front of us. His eyes were red, like he’d been fighting emotions too.

“Brian?”

I shook my head, still in shock that my colleague was lying dead just a yard away. Archer moved closer. I stared at how the red blended in with his dark tattoos for a moment before I reached for him. He seemed to hesitate, but I wasn’t having that. I pulled his hand into mine, unphased by the blood.

“Help me get him home.”

He took Kane from me and held him to his chest and then pulled me up. My nose found his neck and I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. Home. Archer was home, Kane and Cruz…they were the home I’d been searching for all this time and while I had my brother back, nothing felt as right as this.

Kane knew I would come for him.

Courage filled a hole in my chest, one large and vast that had been a canyon in my chest since I was sixteen. It replaced a broken piece of my heart and reforged it out of steel.

My brother watched me carefully as we turned back toward the tunnels, and I knew what he was seeing.

For the first time in nearly twenty years, he was seeing his little sister again. The one who used to ride the edge of a knife, flirting with danger every chance she got. The one who loved this life and craved its edges and all the serrated pieces around it. The one who used to smile and laugh and create joy. She was still inside me, and now I knew I could let her be a part of my life instead of shutting her out like I’d done since I left.

I could be the wife of the president of Mayhem Riot, and I could lead next to him with strength and courage.

I could be brave, and my world wouldn’t end.

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