Page 80 of Sacrifice the Knight (Checkmate 6)

Kane turns, more confused than angry. “What?” He turns back to Jess. “What happened?”

“It was me,” I repeat. “I was looking for you, but I hit her with the door.”

“You hit her with the door?” he snarls. “Motherfucker, you hit my babies with a door?!” He cups her stomach as waves roll in my head and send me into a long tunnel. Daylight turns to dark spots, their voices turning to buzzing. Kane speaks with Jess, but all I hear are bees in the tunnel until a rough hand slams to the back of my neck and shoves me down until I’m on my ass with my head between my knees.

Sophia’s eyes are just two inches in front of mine. Her hand is strong, but her gaze is soft. “Breathe through it.” Her murmur is almost silent, as though to preserve my privacy. “Find your lungs. Feel them. Where are they?”

Sophia appears at first glance to be a delicate ballerina. Five-six, maybe five-seven, too skinny, with elongated limbs. She’s exactly who we’d send into a situation where our enemies needed to see unthreatening. But she’s who we’d send because she’s the most threatening woman I’ve ever met.

She’s Jay’s equal in every way, including her lust for justice and the fact she won’t shy away from bloodshed to get it. She rests on her knees in front of me in holey jeans and an oversized sweater and counts. “One. Two. Three. Draw the oxygen into your lungs.”

My body works its way into a panic, despite the fact I know this won’t kill me. “Can’t,” I choke out. “Can’t. No lungs.”

“So start with your mouth. You know where your mouth is. You just used the damn thing. Bring the oxygen in.”

“Eric?” Jessie’s soft voice registers over Jay’s chatter and Kane’s worry. I feel her beside me, even if my peripherals are pitch black. “What’s wrong, Eric? You’re scaring me.”

“He’s fine,” Soph says with conviction. “You’re fine, Eric. Suck it in. Suck it up. Harden the fuck up.”

“Sophia! Don’t be a jerk.” Jess kneels beside me, replacing Soph’s hard hand with a much gentler touch. “Eric, honey? Why are you crying?”

“Jessie, no. Soph is doing it right.” Jay takes her hand and lets Soph back into my vision. “Eric, pull it in, motherfucker. This is war, and you don’t get time to breathe.”

“I’m okay.” I pull in a long line of dribble as I force the black from my vision. My body forces me to yawn, to pull in a long breath and fill my starved lungs as the buzzing in my ears intensifies. I was coming here full of rage, a mask for the horror I feel for what happened to my family, but instead I’m just as weak now as I was when I needed to be pulled from Derrick’s club.

“Cap?” Kane shuffles Soph aside and crouches in front of me. “What the fuck?”

“I hurt Jessie.” I blindly reach out and take her hand, if only to keep her close long enough to apologize. “I slammed the door open because I was angry. I hurt her.”

“Why were you bringing your anger to my fuckin’ door?” he demands. “What happened? It’s barely breakfast time!”

“I dreamed of Gem.” Finally, I meet his eyes. “I slept in Katrina’s home this weekend, and for the first time in a whole fucking decade, I dreamt of them.”

“Ah fuck, Cap…” His face transforms from anger to worry. “It’s not the same.”

“It might be!” I push his hands off and shove to my feet. Jess plops to her ass with a hiss and adds a whole new layer of guilt for me to overthink later. “It’s not safe.”

“Who is Gem?” Jess slowly climbs to her feet and wipes invisible dirt from her backside. “Who is that?”

“His wife,” Soph answers blandly. “Cap had a wife. Gemma Arianne Callaghan, married to Eric DeWhit the summer after high school graduation. They were both eighteen years old.”

Jess gasps at the information I have never given before. We’ve known each other for a year now; we shared a home for a short while; I’ve stood in front of her in protection and behind her when she needed strength. We’ve watched girly movies and eaten ice cream together, and that was all before the pregnancy announcement. And in all that time, I never mentioned my wife or child.

I never told Sophia, either, but she’s our hack, and she doesn’t work with anyone until she’s run their information right back to conception. Now she recites my data on rote without emotion. “Gemma DeWhit was murdered in her home on April third, almost eleven years ago.”

“Eric?” Jess’ voice carries the tears Soph’s doesn’t. “You had a wife?” Her voice cracks. “She died?”

“It’s my fault,” I choke out. Finally, I meet Kane’s eyes and find my anger. “It was my fucking fault! And if it happens again, it’syourfault!”

“What?” Jess’ watery eyes come to her man. “What’s he saying? What’s your fault?”

“Katrina should never have met me!” I roar. “She never should have met me.”

“Cap thinks he should have died with his family,” Kane explains quietly. “I was with him, and I wouldn’t accept his bullshit about wanting to die.”

“Eric…”

“But it’s not the same,” Kane continues in a bland tone. “They’re behind bars, Cap. They’re gone, and this is why we started Checkmate, remember? Because the law doesn’t do what we can. The law has no room for vigilante justice when a man’s family is murdered.Thisis why we’re doing this. For them. For your girls.”

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