working arms, so tight to my chest, she’s all I see now. I quickly press my palm down on the bleeding wound, applying pressure to try and to stop the wound from bleeding out but there’s so much blood, it’s almost useless.
“Julian?” Mia croaks, her eyes open through slits.
“Hey, baby,” I whisper brokenly. “I’m here.”
“You came for me,” she whispers. “How did you find me?”
“Little Minx, I’d find you anywhere.”
She smiles sadly, looking up at me.
“This time, it might be a little too late.”
And just like that, she loses consciousness, her eyes closing shut spooking me like nothing else in this world.
“No, baby, stay with me, okay?” I whisper for her ears only.
I can feel the heat of the fire on my back, but I rock her in my arms back and forth, clinging to her with a desperation that clogs my throat. I can hardly breathe, can hardly speak.
“Why did you do it, Mia?” I demand angrily. “That bullet was mine…”
She groans in pain and I realize I have to get her the fuck out of here. I have to keep the vow I made to myself. With my head close to her chest, I wait to hear her heart, but I can’t hear anything over the roaring of the flames getting closer to us.
“You have to hang on,” I whisper incessantly, my eyes stinging with something foreign. “I fucking love you, Mia! You better fucking hang on, do you hear me?”
Her pulse is faint, her breathing shallow as pools of blood pour out until it covers us both. She’s wrapped in this blood coated sheet, limp in my arms.
“No, baby you fucking stay with me!” I whisper-snap at her, holding her with my one arm as tight to my body as I can. “Wake up, Mia! You have to fucking wake up.”
A chill sets into my bones. The fire is roaring behind us, spreading quickly. Cole doused the place with gasoline while I engaged the fucking bastards and lit it up, but the fucking bastard failed his one mission. To get Mia out of here and now…
“Mia, for fuck’s sake!”
In my panic, I hear sardonic laughter. My head snaps up. I still can’t see where he went but I know one thing.
“I’m going to kill you!”
“Well, I don’t think you’ll get a chance,” a voice starts. I snap my head up and see the snake drags himself quickly across the floor toward the other door until he’s right by the open rusty door, with a smirk on his face. “This is the end for you, Fitz. Best you embrace it and die with some dignity.”
I don’t say a word but the red tint that has fallen over my eyes, the volcanic fury in me is boiling up. I spot the knife that fell beside Mia from the corner of my eye as the imbecile goes on.
“How do you suppose this looks?” Shane taunts, his voice loud above the dying of his own brother. “I’ll tell you what he looks like. Double homicide, arson and well, you are fucked.”
I need to grab that knife, but I can’t relieve pressure from Mia’s gunshot wound.
Forcing my right arm to move, I grit my teeth at the excruciating pain, I grab the knife slowly and tuck Mia to my lap, her head on my chest.
I used to throw knives before. I was never as precise as Cole, but I know a few things but right now, I need a deadly shot and with a broken arm, well, I just have to make sure I end this fucker and make him fucking pay!
“You killed your own brother,” I grit but he just laughs.
“Yeah well, I’ve wanted to do that for years, man,” Shane says. “But I didn’t get the opportunity until today and fuck I took it, and it feels great!”
I clutch the knife, finding its balance, ignoring the pain in my hand.
“This was your plan all along. To kill your brother and frame it on me.”
“Well, to be fair, I wanted to pin it on your fucking brother, but I have no idea where he is,” he sighs dramatically. The fire is getting bigger and closer, but I don’t move, my mind laser focused on thing. “But no matter, after they lock you away for manslaughter, I will find your brother and do what I’ve always wanted to do.”
A growl rips out of my throat.
“Holy fuck, look at that fucking beast lurking in there,” Shane taunts. “I have to tell you, it