Page 169 of Revenge Saints
Ryker’s already up, rifle raised, striding toward the tree line without hesitation. His shoulders are tight, ready to break bones if needed.
A sharp whistle cuts through the silence.
He doesn’t lower his gun.
Not until Dante and Max appear from the trees. They are bloody, bruised, but breathing. Their chests heaving, guns still in their hands.
A sob claws out of me, and I don’t think; I run.
I throw myself into both of them, my arms wrapping around them so tightly it hurts. “His heart stopped.” The words shatter in my mouth. “But Sean got him back. He’s breathing. He’s breathing!”
Dante freezes for a second. So does Max.
Then they pull me in, their arms around me like anchors in a storm. Dante’s grip is bruising. Max’s is shaking.
Ryker steps behind me, his body pressing to my back, and Dante reaches out, dragging him in until all of us are wrapped in this desperate, trembling knot of relief.
For one breathless moment, we are all still here.
I close my eyes. I feel their heartbeats. Hear their breaths. Smell the blood, sweat, and dirt on their skin, but when I look back, my chest tightens.
Knox still lies in the dirt, his body surrounded by a dark puddle of his own blood, pale and barely moving but alive.
Bryn’s body lies just beyond him, near the riverbank, twisted and still. Her blood already soaking into the earth.
“Roman?” Ryker faces them. “Is he finally dead?”
Dante shakes his head. “It’s Reaper’s kill,” he says. “We keep him alive. Long enough for Knox to finish it.”
No one argues.
They just nod.
Sean rises, already checking his blood-soaked gloves, his eyes scanning Knox’s limp form. “We need to move him. Somewhere cleaner. I need to flush the wound and give him more blood.”
“Does anyone know his blood type?” he asks, already digging through his bag.
“A+,” Dante answers immediately. “We all know each other’s blood types. It was protocol… back when things made sense.”
My heart lurches. “Wait,” I blink through fresh tears, turning to Knox’s face. “We have the same blood type.”
Sean’s head jerks up. “You’re A+ too?”
I nod fast.
“Good.” Sean’s already working. “He’ll need more than I could ever give him. You’ll help keep him alive.”
“Yes,” I whisper, and then louder. “Yes. Anything.”
I kneel beside Knox again and pick up his discarded gun. The torn, bloody remains of his shirt. My hands are steady now. My heart is not.
I won’t let him die.
Not now.
Not after everything.
“What about her?”I spit, the words low and bitter.“What do we do with her?”
