Page 89 of The Villain

“Get down!”he shouted right before the weight of him crashed into me with a bang.

No.The bang wasn’t from him.It was from agun.

The thud of my body hitting the ground wasn’t as loud as the sound of gunshots firing above my head. Pain bloomed through me, his big body shielding all of mine.

I clung to his chest, wishing I could crawl between his ribs and hide there until this was all over.

“Stay down,” he ordered, and then lifted his weight with a grunt just as I heard the squeal of tires pierce the air and then fade.

I turned on the ground, air heaving into my lungs as he sprinted in the direction of the disappearing car.

Someone had just shot at me—tried to kill me.

Again.

I pushed myself upright with a gasp, half-afraid my vision was going to disappear again. But it didn’t. It wobbled and blurred and took a few seconds to focus. But then it did, and that was when I saw it.The red patch of blood on my shoulder.

Oh my god.First, I’d almost been blown up. Now, I was shot—Wait, where was the pain?I hurt, but not gunshot-wound hurt. I shoved the fabric aside, seeing unmarked skin underneath.

No.

My head snapped to Darius and the matching bloom of red on his bare shoulder and the distinct dark circle where the bullet had gone through him.

“Oh my god.” I scrambled to my feet as he came back, striding and scanning the surroundings as though he weren’t injured at all. “Darius?—”

“Get inside and get your things,” he snapped. “We’re leaving.”

“Your shoulder?—”

“It’s nothing.” He barely looked at it as he moved behind me, using his frame like a human shield to protect me.

“Who was that? Why?—”

“Athena, please.” His grimace of pain scolded me. “We have to go.”

I snapped my mouth shut and nodded, walking quickly into the house. While I changed and gathered my things that I hadn’t even unpacked from yesterday, Darius stood guard withhis weapon by the door. I heard his strained voice speaking low as I got closer, but as soon as he saw me, he ended the call and shoved his phone in his pocket.

“Ready?”

“Darius…” I dropped my bag and rushed to the kitchen for a clean towel. When I returned, he was looking at his shoulder wound, the blood oozing in a thick stream down the ridges of his torso.

I rushed over, wiping the smear of blood and then carefully pressing the towel over the bullet hole until Darius groaned.

“Sorry,” I murmured, catching how he locked his teeth as though this pain was the least he deserved from me.

He placed his hand over mine, and my head snapped up to meet his gaze. There was something about looking into his eyes after all this time…after everything. Something I hoped for my sake would go away the more I faced him, because otherwise, I’d have to face a truth I didn’t want to see.

“Can you grab that duct tape?”

I nodded, sliding my hand out from under his and fetching the roll of silver tape sitting on top of one of my moving boxes.

“I need you to tape the towel to my shoulder.”

Again, I nodded, my throat too thick to say anything.I gained my sight but lost my voice.For some reason, it was easier to speak when there wasn’t anything to see.Or anyone to see me.

Warmth rose in my cheeks as I tore strip after strip of the tape and carefully sealed the towel to his chest, making sure my fingers stayed on the smooth tape and didn’t stray onto his equally smooth skin.

“Here.” I handed him back his shirt I’d put on earlier. I wish I had a clean shirt for him, but this was it. He hadn’t planned on staying the night…or being shot.

---