Page 112 of Pretty Lethal
With a flick of his wrist, his sharp blade slices clean across the front of his mother’s throat. She gasps as though surprised, the sound quickly turning into a gurgle as blood seeps from the deep wound, rushing over her skin and down her throat.
I watch as her skin turns ashen, her eyes glazing over before they turn cloudy in death. The entire time, I keep my hand pressed to Wilder’s back, leaning against him, offering him all my strength and support.
A hand rests on my shoulder, another looping around my waist, and glancing over my shoulder, I realize Hawk and Kai have also approached, providing their own strength and support to Wilder.
We stand in silence until the wet, rattled breaths stop, and Carrie’s head hangs forward, her limbs lax in death.
“Come on,” Wilder eventually says, sounding drained and utterly exhausted. “Let’s go home.”
Together, we head for the door and out into the cold, dark night.
We find Hadley and the guys leaning against their car, which they must have pulled up to the house at some point. Spotting us, they push off. “Finished?” Hadley asks, and I nod.
“Alright. West can drive you home. We’re going to torch the place to get rid of any evidence, and then we’ll be heading home.”
“We can help,” Hawk immediately offers, not wanting to leave his sister out here alone.
“We’re good, Hawk,” Hadley insists. “Anyone who was here is long gone by now, and I doubt they’ll be coming back any time soon.” She glances at me and Wilder before returning her gaze to him. “Go take care of your family. We got this.”
* * *
Eyes closed,I rest my head against the edge of the tub and let the hot water soak into my aching muscles. I can feel the wrinkles on my fingers and toes from having been in here for so long, but I can’t bring myself to get out yet. It’s just so peaceful. And quiet.
Kai practically had to drag Wilder away when we got home, insisting that I needed time alone to decompress. He was right, of course. I hadn’t even realized it then, but so much happened today between the car crash, being kidnapped and tied up, worrying for each of my guys and getting dragged away from them. Being confronted with my own seemingly imminent mortality and then watching Carrie die. Although, that last one I don’t feel bad about. Perhaps it’s the shock, but I feel almost at peace knowing she can’t hurt us anymore.
There’s still a question of whether we’re safe from the Elites, but West and Wilder seem to think so. West had done some digging into the organization, which is apparently far greater and more expansive than we’d realized. Seemingly, there are Elites everywhere—although not all of them are like Carrie or even Wilder’s grandfather.
Each chapter appears to be its own body, not necessarily caring what the others do. Even if they do care enough that one of their own was pretty much wiped out, no one seems to think they’ll come after us. If anything, their focus will be on rebuilding.
Not an idea I’m particularly fond of, yet I know there will always be people like the Elites out there—rich, egotistical assholes. So long as they leave me and mine alone, I’m not about to take on the world to try and change their mindset. It would be a losing battle, anyway.
Wilder is going to get a doctor to assess his grandfather and get him off whatever drugs Robbie had been giving him. Then he’s going to make it clear to his grandfather that he wants no part in the Elites. I’m not sure if he and his grandfather will ever have a relationship, but Wilder knows we will support him with whatever he decides.
Clearing my head of my swirling thoughts, I enjoy one final peaceful moment before hauling my pruned body out of the water. Drying off with a towel, I pull a robe over my shoulders before draining the tub and heading up to my bedroom—ourbedroom.
It still makes me smile, knowing that we’re all together.
We survived. Not only the external conflicts thrown our way but the internal ones too.
“What is that smile for, Blackbird?” Kai asks when I crest the top of the stairs. Wilder is lounging in the middle of the bed, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants. Hawk, who was staring out the window, turns to face me, arms crossed over his t-shirt-clad chest and a softness in his expression that he only gets around me and Hadley.
Kai is sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room with a book in his hand. All three have wet hair from their showers and are dressed casually, ready for bed.
“Just happy,” I say with a shrug, moving further into the room.
Hawk strides toward me, meeting me at the foot of the bed. His hand reaches up to gently hold my chin, his thumb brushing along my lower lip. “Good,” he says in a guttural voice. “You deserve to be happy.”
“After what we’ve been through, we all deserve happiness.”
“Hmm, you’ve got that right, Angel.” Wilder’s voice is like gravel, and when I look down at where he’s sitting at the end of the bed, his eyes are hooded as they rake over the bare skin of my legs.
Heat envelops my back as Kai steps up behind me. I shiver, but it has nothing to do with being cold and everything to do with the way each of them makes me feel. With the uncanny ability they have to make my body flare to life.
Lips meet the skin at the back of my neck as Kai trails a path across my shoulder blades. Hawk lavishes the other side of my throat with teasing touches while Wilder tugs at the sash on my robe until it falls open.
“So beautiful,” he says in a husky voice. His hand strokes over my hip and across my abdomen, lingering over my belly button. “Someday soon,” he promises.
Hawk licks a path down the front of my chest until his tongue swirls around a peaked nipple, sucking it into his mouth. Moaning, I arch into his touch, my ass pressing against Kai’s hard erection.
