I took a step closer and raised my hands in surrender. “Take me instead.”
Ling stepped into the nook with bare feet and reached back blindly to unlock the window. Her mouth pursed. “Hmmm. Nope.” She looked me over. “Although, I stick by what I said, baby. Death is a good look on you.” When she pushed open the window, a crisp breeze blew in, and as she lifted her gun and aimed it at me, she muttered, “Let’s make it permanent.” Ling’s finger lightly pressed on the trigger and she grinned twistedly. “See you in hell, baby.”
Everything began to move in slow motion.
Ling’s grip on her gun tightened.
I readied to die.
Lexi moved to stand in front of me, her arms wide.
Everyone rushed forward.
And that was when it happened.
Suddenly, Ling was pushed back into the room with such force, she was hurled unceremoniously six feet away. A.J was thrown from her arms, and where he landed, he remained unmoving. He didn’t respond to the fall, and I knew something was very wrong. For a split second, we all watched him, wishing, hoping he would awaken. But he didn’t.
Lexi and Manda dashed over to him, looking him over. Molly joined them, carefully taking instructions from Manda as she checked his vitals.
But I had bigger fish to fry.
Ling, sprawled in the center of the room with her pistol still resting beside the window, looked out at Luna. Perched on the windowsill, legs apart and holding onto the safety rope like a fucking superhero, she flipped Ling the bird then blew her a kiss. “Sup, bitch?”
Ling’s eyes widened as she realized she was done for. Scrambling backward, she kept going, breathing harshly, until she hit the wall, and that was when Julius did something he’d wanted to do for a while now. He walked over to a petrified Ling, knelt in front of her, and said something I wasn’t expecting. “I forgive you.”
“What?” Her voice trembled and Ling blinked, puzzled-like. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He nodded before rearing back and punching her square in the mouth as hard as he could. As she panted rapidly, Julius got into her face and smiled. “You’re gonna die tonight. And I get to go home to my wife. So, I guess you could say—” His face darkened a notch. “—I win.”
That was my brother.
That was the Julius I knew. He was not one for unnecessary violence. And I was so tired of this life that I found I wasn’t either. Not anymore.
Luka and I walked over to the cowering queen while Tama trailed behind, a shadow. She was pathetic and I hated her.
Pav nudged my shoulder. “It’s your call.”
I looked down at her bloody mouth then back at my woman. I know she wanted in on this, but I couldn’t let her live with that. I couldn’t let her sully her pure soul. Mine was already dirty, and as we lived the rest of our lives together, she could do as a good wife did and pray for me.
As I peered down at this little woman, this little snake who lived to see others burn, my anger lit. She was nothing. She was insignificant. And after she was dead, nobody would mourn her.
So I did her a solid.
Reaching down, I wrapped my hand around her throat and picked her up. She fought me all the way to the window, slapping at my hands and kicking out at me, and the room seemed to still around me. I felt all eyes on me as I took step by concrete step toward Ling’s demise. And when I got her there, I spared her a short glance, giving Luna the chance to move inside, away from the window.
Wide-eyed and red-faced, Ling Nguyen knew what was coming.
She choked out, “Do it.”
Oh, I would.
But not before I said what I needed to say. “I’m sorry I ever met you.” Her breathing slowed. “I’m sorry I made you into this person.” She stilled in my arms. “I’m sorry I didn’t love you enough to let you go when you had the chance to move on.”
It would be one of my biggest regrets.
My grip on her throat tightened, and I uttered, “Say hi to Az for me,” a single moment before I pushed her back out of the window.
Leaning over the sill, I watched her fall.
I watched her arms flail as if she were a flightless bird. I watched her eyes bug out and her mouth round in a silent scream. I watched her fear life for once in her miserable life.
And I took immense pleasure in watching her hit the ground below.
Would you look at that?
She bounced.
My entire being lightened as the weight left my shoulders, but it didn’t last long. We needed to leave this place. We needed to leave fast. And as we did, I couldn’t help myself. As one car took off with my woman, son, and sister inside it, I hesitated.
I needed to get a closer look, to confirm her death.
The moment I approached Ling’s lifeless body, I felt a strong sadness leech into me. I knelt down by her still form and reached out to gently stroke her hair. She was bleeding from everywhere, the eyes, the nose, the ears. Her body was as broken as her soul. How fitting.
A lot of people had let this woman down in life. And I was one of them.
I stood, sparing a single glance for her before taking a deep breath and turning away from the dangerous woman I had created. In that moment, I felt sore in a place I shouldn’t have felt sore. Simultaneously, my chest ached as my stomach eased.
As I made my way back to my people, one odd thought went through my mind.
Just as she was born and as she had been her entire life, Ling Nguyen even died prettily.
It figured.
Chapter
FortyFour
Lexi As soon as the car slowed to a stop, I shot out of the back and into the emergency entrance with Manda on my heels and my son in my arms. “Help!” I panted as I ran. My voice croaked, “I need help!”
Two nurses rushed forward, and while the female pried open the little monster’s eyes, shining a light in them, the male asked, “What happened?”
What happened?
I had the insane urge to laugh out loud.
Jesus Christ. How much time did he have? Because, oh boy, did I have a story to tell.
Thankfully, Manda responded on my behalf. “He’s been given Phenergan and we don’t know how much.” She peered down at A.J. “Judging from his shallow breathing, I’m guessing a double dose at the very least.”
The female nurse put a stethoscope to my son’s chest and frowned before moving it around. When her frown deepened, the last few days of exhaustion caught up with me, and my arms began to shake as I struggled to hold my little boy in my arms.
My small stumble was noticed by all.
From my side, Manda uttered, “Let me take him, Lexi.”
But I took a step back.
No.
Nobody was taking him from me. I wouldn’t allow it.
When the male nurse held his arms out, my initial reaction was to open my mouth and spew out a long string of vicious obscenities. But my current state of exhaustion even made that too much. Instead, I simply shook my head as my eyes darted from nurse to nurse erratically.
The female nurse sighed loudly. “Listen.” Her tone told me she was done with my shit before it began. “I need to get that little boy onto a respirator. I also need to get an IV line into him, and I can’t do that with you pulling at him the way you are.”
I blinked down at my son, and for a solid moment, I was genuinely terrified of letting him go.
My shoulders shook as I lowered my face to A.J.’s cheek, pressing shaky kisses to it as I began to cry. Given the moment I had so desperately needed, I looked into her eyes and my breath hitched, as I croaked out, “Please don’t take him from me.”
Didn’t they understand?
I just got him back.
My biggest fear at the moment was A.J. waking up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar place without me.
He needed me.
No.
You need him.
At my candid fear, the woman’s face softened. “You came to us for help. Now let us help him, love.”
When gentle hands came down on my shoulders, my head snapped up, and his soft brown eyes held me in place. “Let go, baby.”
I shook my head as my lips trembled. “No.”