Page 104 of The Fighter who Needed Me
The click of the pistol came too late and the boom of his gun sounded loud in the cathedral and Persephone jerked forward and cried out.
Brooks almost missed the second shot that came around the same time as the first and when Persephone cried out in pain, she dropped to her knees and Brooks was jerked to a halt.
He saw the blood blooming from the back of her white dress, and he fell to his knees beside her.
“No! Persephone! No!” He yelled in agony.
But the shot went straight through her shoulder, and not in the back of her heart like he knew Reginald would aim for.
He looked up and Grant had a smoking pistol in his hand, one that was aimed at Reginald and Brooks knew that Grant had saved Persephone from being even more injured with that shot.
Reginald had fallen back and had dropped his pistol because he was missing some fingers.
Grant looked down at him, “I told her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I was too late, but hopefully she can survive this.”
Brooks gave him a small nod and then he rolled her to her back and his hands came away bloody.
A scream of denial came from the side door of the cathedral, and the same woman screamed Persephone’s name.
She ran as fast as she could toward Brooks and he saw that she had the same color of hair as Persephone, but that she was gaunt, pale and sick looking more than Persephone ever had. Which was a stretch.
She had scars and marks on her wrists that looked like she had been tied down, but that they had been there for many years, as did her ankles.
She was wearing an old black dress that hung from her frame and was barefoot.
Her hair was stringy and ratted, as if she had never brushed it in a long time and she was smelly, like she had not bathed in years.
When she met his eyes, he had to fight a gasp when the honey color of her eyes met his.
They were the same color as Persephone’s eyes and the woman that stood before him had to be her mother.
The woman they all believed had died years and years ago was still alive.
She dropped to her knees in front of Persephone and Brooks let her see her daughter.
He finally looked down at Persephone and though it was only seconds it felt as if it was a lifetime.
He saw the blood bloom from the front of her dress and knew the shot went through and through.
But she was shaking, her eyes wild and full of tears.
He pulled her dress away from her shoulder and ripped his jacket off his body, then held it to her skin, wrapping it around her bloody shoulder.
He felt someone touch his back and he snarled up at them but stopped when he saw Burk and Lily there.
Lily immediately dropped to her knees beside Persephone’s mother and held the jacket in place over Persephone’s wound.
Brooks looked back at the man who shot his wife and when both Lily and Persephone’s mother nodded at him, he stood growling.
Bruce and Kitty held a look of anger at the woman that was kneeling at Persephone’s side and he heard Kitty hiss to Bruce, “How did she get free? I thought you said she was still tied up and asleep when we left?”
Brooks wanted to roar at them and when he got to Reginald their anger bled into fear and worry on their faces, but the man was smug even missing a few fingers, he had a smug look on his face.
He had dropped his gun, but Brooks knew he would have to reload it before he could use it again any way.
Brooks pulled his knife from his boot, and fear flashed through the man’s eyes, as he took a step in his direction.
“You shot my WIFE!” He snarled and started running at the man.
