“From what we can tell, both of the women are still alive. We have two distinct movements in the south bedroom and another in the kitchen. However, our concern is it seems to be only one male. We’re trying to get eyes on the inside to see if it’s Marco or Noir.”
Dread pooled in my gut. “Son of a bitch,” I bit out. “If it’s Noir, you’re going to try to take him alive, aren’t you?”
“We need him, Light.”
“You have got to be shitting me. You’re gonna play this out and send in a fucking negotiator while he’s holding two innocent women?”
“I will repeat: We need him alive, Light. What the fuck are you even doing here? I told Leblanc not to show up here.”
I didn’t even humor him with an answer. I pushed to my feet and drew my weapon. “I’m going in.”
“The fuck you are!” he shouted back, catching my arm in an attempt to drag me back down.
“Get the fuck off me.” I snatched my arm away, and then we were suddenly interrupted.
A woman’s scream rang through the air.
My entire body went taut. “Let me go!” I roared.
“We’ve got activity inside!” an agent yelled. “It’s coming our way.”
“Don’t do this, Light. Do not fucking do this,” Tomlinson begged as chaos broke out around us.
At least a dozen agents took cover, locked and loaded, all aimed at the door.
Time stood still as that front door swung open.
I held my breath, shamefully hoping for Clare to appear.
A frantic, blood-covered woman ran out.
But she wasn’t mine.
“Elisabeth!” Roman yelled, taking off at a dead sprint after having shoved his way through the line of agents.
“Help her!” she cried, flying into his arms. “Please. Oh God. Help her.”
My feet were moving before my mind could even process the dangers on the other side. Clare was in there. Nothing could stop me.
Not Tomlinson. Not the DEA. And sure as fuck not Noir.
I battled the urge to call her name as I made it into the house but thought better of announcing my presence.
I held my breath as I cleared the den before making my way through the house, toward the south bedroom.
And, as I turned the corner, my gun drawn and extended out in front of me, nothing could have prepared me for the scene in front of me.
Blood.
Entire fucking oceans of it covering the floor.
Please. God.
My hands tensed around my gun, her words from weeks ago replaying in my mind. “You’re going to have to trust me.” And that trust was the only thing that kept my knees from buckling right then and there.
I stepped over Marco’s body as I cautiously crept inside. Motion from the other side of the bed had me swinging my gun.
“Oh fuck,” I choked.
I was vaguely aware of agents flooding in behind me. Mumbled curses filled the air as they took in the massacre around us.
However, I saw but one person.
She was kneeling beside Noir’s body. Covered head to toe in blood. A knife in her hand. Her feral eyes locked on me as she tracked my movement.
It was a sight straight out of a horror movie.
And still somehow the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
She was alive.
Still breathing.
Still mine.
Still…
“Clare,” I said gently, squatting several feet away and bringing us to eye level. “I’m here, babe. Tell me what you need.”
She blinked and then opened her hand, sending the knife clattering to the floor. “I couldn’t let him ruin our future.”
“I know, babe. Come here.”
She shook her head and flashed her wild eyes down at the blood covering her chest and her arms. “This isn’t who I am. I’m…I’m not him. I just…” She looked back up. “He was never going to stop.”
I kept my gun aimed at Noir’s motionless body. Despite the massive amounts of blood pooling around him, I didn’t trust that he was really gone.
“Clare, I know who you are,” I replied, curling two fingers in her direction. “Come here.”
“It’s just—”
“Clare,” I growled. “Listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. But I need you to come on over here and step away from him. Just in case.”
She drew in a shuddered breath and rose to her feet. Emotionlessly, she stepped over his legs as she walked toward me.
I stood to my full height and opened my arms in an offer she had never refused. This time was no different. Plastering herself to my front, she hugged me tighter than ever before.
She remained completely collected as she asked, “Tessa?”
“She’s fine.”
Her voice remained steady as she pleaded, “Tell me it’s over.”
“It’s over, Clare,” I vowed, tucking my gun away as agents got their hands on Noir.
The tears finally appeared on her red-streaked face as she struggled with trembling hands to undo the watch I’d given her for Christmas.
Holding my gaze, she dropped it onto the floor. “That’s what I wished for.”
My arms spasmed around her, and emotion lodged in my throat.
“I want to go home, Heath.”
Without words, I bent down, caught her at the backs of the legs, and lifted her into my arms. “Whatever you need,” I replied as I carried her away from Noir for the very last time.