She kicked and struggled and screamed. Someone had to hear. Someone would come.
She managed to wrest one arm free and land a blow to his face. He staggered and shook his head. When he fixed his gaze on her again his expression mirrored the same astonishment she felt. She had never struck another person in her life. Even with two older brothers, they had always been mindful never to be overly physical with her. As children, they never so much as shoved at her. She had never been forced to defend herself.
Shaking off his shock, he came at her with a roar. She braced herself for further pain, turning her face sideways and jamming her eyes tightly shut.
The pain never came.
Suddenly she was free. Released.
She fell back a step, falling against the door, her hand flying to her throat. Her eyes opened, searching wildly.
Grimes was gone. A shirtless North filled her vision. He moved like a panther, all fluid muscle. Speed and force and fury.
She hadn’t heard his approach. Not that she had seen much beyond the man attempting to steal the life from her.
Pressed against the expanse of her door, she could only watch. Stare and marvel at the fury of North Callaghan. She had never seen the like. The man was a firestorm, a hurricane of rage. Bone smacked bone as he hammered blow after blow.
In this moment, this man appeared capable of murder. His face was twisted into an expression of rage, so unlike the impassive expression he usually wore. She shuddered and brought her arms around herself, hugging tightly.
Grimes was under him now and North kept hitting him and hitting him, breathing hard, angry pants as he swung his fists over and over.
She heard her voice emerge. It sounded tinny and far away even to her ears. “North! Stop! You’ll kill him!”
Other voices arrived then, too. Down the street people surfaced, coming out of their houses to investigate the commotion.
“North! North!” Fear for him fueled her. She stepped forward to seize his arm, her voice urgent and desperate. “You need to stop.”
He did not even seem to hear her. He was a man possessed. He shook off her grip, so she added a second hand clutching him harder, shaking him harder, not to be deterred.
He straightened suddenly and turned on her, swinging around, a savage light in his eyes, as though he meant to strike her next. She lunged back a step with a gasp, her hand flying to her face as though to shield herself.
North stopped and shook himself. Blinking, he stared at her as though coming out of a daze. “Faith,” he whispered and his voice sounded broken. It took everything in her not to go to him then. Not to wrap her arms around him.
“What’s happening here?” a neighbor walking up her driveway called.
She held North’s stare. “North . . . are you okay?”
He looked down at his hands. She followed his gaze, noting his cracked knuckles. She made a small sound of distress at the apparent damage.
He looked back up at her, his eyes ravaged. He moved forward in a few jerking steps. She didn’t shrink away as he came at her with his wrecked hands.
He said her name again. “Faith?” He took her face in his hands, angling her chin higher so that the porch light hid nothing. His breath escaped him in a hiss at whatever he saw. His hands slid lower, his fingers grazing her tender neck and making her wince.
“He did this to you.” He made a growling sound and made a move toward Grimes as though he intended to finish his beating.
She snatched hold of him and tugged him back to her, her hands tight on his waist. “North, no. Leave it be.” She glanced around uneasily at the gathering of neighbors.
Grimes lay on the ground, moaning and writhing. He would not be getting up without assistance. She sighed. There was nothing to be done for it. They would have to call the police and an ambulance. She stifled a groan. The city police department worked closely with the sheriff’s office. Once her name was given, the SHPD would immediately notify her brother. She would have to file a report. Press charges.
Almost as though she’d summoned them, sirens started wailing in the distance. Apparently someone had already called the authorities.
North turned his head in the direction of the sound, too. “It’s about to get real now,” he muttered.
Dread pooled in her stomach and bottomed out when she recognized her brother’s Bronco swerving onto her street. Of course he would get here first, even before the SHPD.
He came to a stop with a hard push on the brakes. He was probably alerted once he heard her address on dispatch. Or maybe someone heard about it on the police scanner and notified him. Or maybe Doris called him. Whatever the case, he was here and things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.