Page 54 of The Fortunate Ones
“Fucking hell, asshole.” My head swam from the blows, but I pushed it aside, landing on top of Tanner, his body hitting the hard surface with a gnarly sound.
He cried out, his hands immediately reaching out to my face, unclipped nails digging into my cheeks as he clawed at them. He was trying to distract me, but I still had my knife firmly in my grip, and without hesitating, I slammed it into his side. And then again.
“Ahhh!” He had more grit than I expected, attempting to headbutt me. He didn’t have the strength for it to make much of a difference. I was already seeing two of him. Tanner’s hands fell from my face. I elbowed him in his, and fucking finally he fell limp.
With my head swimming and my shoulder hurting like hell, I slowly climbed off Tanner’s still body. He wasn’t dead yet, but he’d probably bleed out without medical attention. I blinked at his body, trying to work out what to do. Should I stop thebleeding? We had questions, didn’t we? But that would require moving, and I didn’t think I could do that now.
“Brooks!” The sound came from two places at once.
“Whoa . . .” That was neat. I felt kinda high, even though I hadn’t taken a thing. “I have voices in my head.” There was a snort and a more concerned, “He might have a concussion.” That sounded right, but I didn’t know why my brain was telling me that in Wes’s voice. Fucking weird.
Someone else yelled my name, but that wasn’t in my head. It was coming from somewhere else. Thundering footsteps had me looking up toward the direction of the stairs.
Then, like magic, Maverick was in front of me, gently cupping my chin while he examined my injuries. I smiled loopily at him. “‘M’fine.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll be the judge of that, sweetheart.”
“He’s not dead yet,” I told Skye, who came skittering to a stop behind Maverick. He gave me a sharp nod before turning to the unconscious body on the floor. Pulling out a knife from his utility belt, Skye straddled Belding and gripped his hair, pulling his head up. He slapped him hard enough that blood shot out of his mouth. I looked away.
“C’mon, Brooks. Let’s get you out of here. We need to get you looked at.” I nodded, all but falling into Maverick.
“Shoulder’s fucked up,” I slurred. “Room’s spinning.”
“Rest, brat. You did the hard work. We’ll take care of the rest.”
That sounded good, but I didn’t get to say anything before my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I collapsed.
CHAPTER 21
MAVERICK
“Shoulder’s fucked up.Room’s spinning.”
My stomach dropped as Brooks’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. I caught his limp body in my arms easily, but fuck. I barely had him secure before he started coming to, but even if it was only a few seconds, it was terrifying. Brooks hadn’t gotten seriously injured since he’d joined our team, and I didn’t realize how viscerally I’d react. I never liked seeing any of my men hurt, but I’d admit, at least to myself, I was a little more protective of Brooks, even if he could handle himself. So seeing one side of his face marred with bruises and his eye nearly swollen shut had me feral. And that wasn’t counting the damage to his shoulder and possible concussion.
The job had started so smoothly, I should’ve known things would go to shit at some point. First, Skye had found those people who had overdosed in Tanner’s room: three barely legal women and a young man around the same age. Two had been in a cage built into the wall of the bedroom; they were gone before Skye could get to them. The two girls on the bed had lasted longer, and he’d thought he had a chance to save them. We’d tried CPR, but it had been too late. And around the timewe’d realized there was nothing we could do, Brooks had been attacked in the basement.
The sound of a fist hitting flesh got my brain working again. Skye was still straddling Tanner, one hand wrapped around his throat while the other worked him over. It was likely pointless. I could see the look in Tanner’s eyes. He knew it was finished. He wasn’t going to speak. I thought Skye knew that too, but he had to try.
He must’ve caught me watching because he looked over his shoulder with one of those devilish smiles that I probably shouldn’t find as attractive as I did.
“I’m good here. Take care of Brooks.”
I did a quick assessment of Skye’s frame of mind before tilting my head in agreement. “Be careful.”
Skye rolled his eyes, but he would take it seriously. Tanner might be close to death, but the fucker was sneaky, and I didn’t want him to take Skye off guard. I felt better knowing Diego would still be watching and act as a second pair of eyes.
“Maverick?” Brooks asked, sounding a little loopy.
I smiled down at him. “Right here, sweetheart. C’mon, let’s get you out of here.” I adjusted my hold on him and began climbing up the stairs.
The comms had been awfully quiet, but the sigh of relief from the crew back home was palpable when they heard Brooks’s voice. As scary as it was for us here, it had likely been worsefor the guys back home. They’d watched shaky footage from a screen with no way to help or protect him. I knew Luca had to be losing his ever-loving mind.
“He’s okay,” I told them softly, knowing they’d need the confirmation. “He’ll be okay, boss.”
“Thank fuck.” Luca sounded strained.
“We’re gonna need some assistance here.” My voice had a slight tremor to it. Shit. I swallowed and tried again. “Cleanup crew and a doc to check out Brooks. His shoulder looks fucked, and he might have a concussion,” I told them as I walked into the main room. The bodies were still upstairs. The guards were still tied up outside. But my focus was solely on Brooks. I gently placed him down on one of the sofas. He went with a groan, wincing from the slight jostle. His arm hung limply at his side.
