Page 169 of Monsters Wear Crowns
I strode toward him, stepping over the bodies I had cut down, the rain washing the blood from my skin. He looked up at me, desperation and fear in his expression.
He opened his mouth. But I put a bullet through his skull before he could speak.
***
ADELA
The world blurred as pain tore through me, white-hot and searing. I staggered, the wind howling in my ears, rain turning slick beneath my hands as I hit the rooftop. Someone was screaming my name–Rafe?Or was that just the storm?
Blood soaked through my fingers, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. My vision swam, but through the haze, I saw Rafe snap.
He ripped free of the last man holding him, his muscles taut with rage. I barely had the strength to lift my head, but I saw the terror in Moreau’s face as he scrambled back. The smug arrogance was gone. Now, there was only a man staring into the eyes of his own executioner.
Rafe didn’t hesitate. He didn’t speak. He just startedkilling.
Moreau’s men fell one by one, their screams swallowed by the thunder and the wet, sickening sound of flesh meeting steel. Rafe moved like a predator unleashed, brutal and merciless, drenched in blood and rain. By the time the last man crumpled, Moreau was crawling backward, clutching his side where my bullet had hit him.
Moreau’s fingers fumbled for his gun. A desperate, pathetic attempt.
Rafe only laughed. It waswrong. The sound of it sent shivers down my spine, chilling me worse than the rain. It was nothing like the man I knew–it was somethingelse, something that had always been caged inside him, nowloose.
And when he raised his weapon, his muscled arm dripping with rain and blood, I froze. He was a nightmare. A ruthless animal. And I wassoamazed by the lethal beauty of Rafe that I didn’t even flinch when I heard the shot.
***
RAFE
Silence. Just the sound of the rain. The scent of blood, thick in the air. And then–
“Rafe–”
I turned, my chest heaving, and saw her. Adela lay on the cold, wet concrete, her hand pressed to her wound, her breathing too shallow. The sight of her there made something in my soulbreak. Iranto her, dropping to my knees at her side. My hands trembled as I touched her, my fingers hovering over her cheek, down to where the blood seeped through her clothes.
“No, no, no, no–”My voice was raw, barely audible. “Stay with me, baby.”
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused, glassy.
I pressed my forehead to hers, my breath unsteady. “I need you to hold on.” My hands tightened around her. “You hear me, Adela? Don’t you fucking dare leave me.”
She made a soft, pained sound. Then her body went slack in my arms. And for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be truly fuckingafraid.
Chapter 32
I carried Adela through the storm, my arms locked around her as I rushed down the stairwell. She wastoo still. Her weight in my arms felt all wrong–too heavy, too limp.
“Stay with me,” I muttered, my voice raw. “Please, baby.” The warmth of her blood seeped through my shirt, sticky and thick, running between my fingers as I pressed against her wound. But it wouldn’t stop. It just keptcoming.
Another heartbreaking sound left her lips. Weak. Barely there. Her head lolled against my chest. Panic knifed through me.
Iwouldn’tlet her die.
By the time I reached the bottom of the building, headlights cut through the rain. The black SUV skidded to a stop, tires screeching against wet pavement. Kieran threw the door open, his face going pale the second he saw us.
“Fuck–” He yanked off his jacket, pressing it against her wound as I climbed in, cradling her against me.
“Drive,” I snapped. “To the safe house. Call Mendez.Now.”
Kieran didn’t ask questions. The vehicle tore away from the curb, weaving recklessly through the city.
