Page 61 of Phantom
I nodded. “In my bag.”
Tess rushed over to the car and threw herself into the back. My vision was waning. Though I wanted to open my mouth to say something else, the strength in my body was quickly falling away. I lifted a hand and peered at the sight of Tess through splayed fingers. I imagined Caid in Germany. He sounded so great. I would have given anything to see him in his new, healthy state.
Each time I blinked, my eyes threatened not to open again.
The last thing I saw was Tess turning around and running back toward me, with the blurry image of an approaching motorcycle wavering behind her as I blacked out.
“Colin!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tess
“Shit. No, no, no, no.”
My hands were shaking as I tried to work some of the bandages that I got from Colin’s bag around his side. He was heavy, so getting the wrap under his back was a trial on his own. The blood from his side soaked through the first few layers of the bandages, but by the time I was giving him a fourth wrap, not as much was getting through. I did my best to keep my breathing under control, knowing that he likely just passed out from the sudden blood shortage. If he could have a few minutes of rest, he’d be okay.
Then Lockjaw started to bark.
I looked over my back, and my heart dropped into my stomach like a lead weight. A bike I’d come to fear and dread was pulling off the road onto the shoulder, with Taylor sitting on top of it with his machete resting on his shoulder like some sort of desert devil. He left it on his shoulder as he climbed off his bike.
Lockjaw, who was still in the car, was standing up on the backseat, barking and snarling. If I let him out, he’d protect me, but he’d also probably get sliced in half by Taylor. Looking back at Taylor, I saw that he was taking slow steps toward me, and I knew that this vision of him would probably haunt my nightmares for years.
Next to me, a gun discharged and made me jump. A bullet went flying from just behind me toward Taylor. Looking back, Colin had come to, but he was still looking worse for wear. If he tried to fight now, he would probably die. If Taylor wanted a fight, he was going to have to take me on. I wasn’t going to let him control me anymore.
With a deep breath, I got to my feet. I pulled my brass knuckles out of my pocket and slid them on my hand. The dried blood of the Unchained Dogs I’d beaten was still caked and dried on the front, and though I promised that I would never use any weapons against my own family, Taylor wasn’t a man I knew anymore. It’d been a long time since he was.
He chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not gonna let you hurt my family, Taylor,” I said.
“Iamyour family.” He fanned his arms out, his machete extending his wingspan on the right side by a couple of feet. “This is your flesh and blood.”
“I don’t know you,” I growled back. “I never wanted to have to face you this way, but it’s clear that you don’t plan on changing any time soon.”
I had to free myself and those I loved from Taylor. I was willing to give up love when he killed my first boyfriend, but I’d only been a scared girl back then. Maybe no one else was willing to give me credit for it, but I’d been training just as much as anyone else. Never was I going to be someone’s poor helpless woman, but I let Taylor control me like I was. It was time to end that by ending Taylor.
My hands balled into fists. “I’m done with you.”
To my surprise, Taylor tossed his machete to the side. “Fine. I’ll drag you back to Hoppa unconscious. My family is just that—mine. You won’t be going anywhere with him. I’m gonna bury him in this desert. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he gets the dog.”
With my blood boiling, I advanced on Taylor. My mind went back to all of those days I spent demanding that my dad treat me with the same respect he gave Taylor. For years I had to chase acceptance, all until I rode into Rumble and stole Lockjaw. That was the first time my dad truly accepted that I had the strength to be part of the club, and I’d hoped that I’d have more moments like that with the members or even Taylor, but it wasn’t meant to be. Colin was the only one willing to see that I had strength. When he needed help, he came to me.
I wouldn’t let him die out in this desert for the risk that he took.
When I got to Taylor, I swung out my right fist, but he ducked out of the way. He tossed a left jab back, but I ducked it and shuffled forward with alternating punches, landing one across his jaw. He tried to throw a right jab after that, but I twisted out of the way and sent another round of successful punches right into his face. Even without the brass, the hits would be doing damage, but his face was quickly bruising underneath the force of the knuckles.
Confidence was flooding into me as I turned and landed a hard hit right into Taylor’s side. He doubled over, and I kicked out my right leg, but he grabbed it and lunged, sending me crashing to the ground. Lockjaw’s barks were getting louder and more aggressive from the car, and a quick glance over let me see that the window was cracking. I wanted to shout for him to stay, but Taylor stood over me, pulled his right fist high above his head, and sent it down toward my face. I was able to turn out of the way so that I didn’t take it straight in the face, but it still slammed against my cheek. It stung, and I could immediately taste metallic blood in my mouth, but now wasn’t the time to get squeamish.
I tucked my legs against my stomach and threw them out at the same time, making hard contact with Taylor’s stomach. He flew backward and crashed into the sand of the desert. We were evenly timed in getting to our feet, but I was faster getting to Taylor, and he was just stabilizing when I threw a haymaker that crashed into his face, then I uppercut with my left hand and sent him flying off of his feet and back to the ground.
Pulling the back of my hand across my mouth, I wiped away a bit of the blood that was pooling there and spit some of it out on the ground. I watched Taylor writhe around on the ground, and I was starting to feel confident that I’d win the fight when the sound of shattering glass erupted behind me. I looked over my shoulder, and Lockjaw had broken free of the car and was racing across the desert.
“Lockjaw! No!” He didn’t listen. He crashed into Taylor and locked down on Taylor’s leg, using all of his strength to quite literally drag Taylor around. Taylor was screaming, and I ran over and started to clap in Lockjaw’s face. “Let go! Let him go!”
But Lockjaw wasn’t listening. Taylor fumbled around, trying to get at his waistband, and the inevitable was quickly approaching. My gun was burning against my back, and tears filled my eyes as my hands instinctively went for it. Whereas I’d been hoping to just put Taylor out and call my dad to come and collect him, that option was no longer existent.
Taylor dragged his gun out just as I got mine out, and the second he pointed it at Lockjaw, I fired. The bullet flew forward and pierced Taylor’s arm, but he didn’t drop the gun. He started to lift his arm again, which should not have been possible, but that time, he was aiming just past me in Colin’s direction.
