Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,96
closer. Had he shot his buddy so he could have me all to himself? Was he an enemy of the man who sliced into me repeatedly with his weapon of choice? Would he finish me off after doing whatever it was he wanted?
One weighty footstep after another closed in on us, and I knew the end was coming. My gut told me we were going to be taken out of this room, never to return. I’d all but given up on making it out of here alive, but I had to continue to fight for Braylen and my baby brother or sister.
Mustering up the last ounce of battle I had left festering inside me, I kicked my legs frantically in the air the second a hand touched my arm. I punched, slapped, and scratched anything I came into contact with.
“Fuck!” The man hissed but tried to touch me again. “Zoe, stop. It’s me.” I continued to struggle against him until he finally stopped touching me. “Baby.” His voice was softer now, shaky. “You’re safe now.”
I reached out for Braylen, only to realize she wasn’t next to me anymore. “Don’t take her,” I begged, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears. “Take me, please. You said you’d only take me.” I broke down into hysterics, scouring the space on my hands and knees, continuing to search for my stepmom. “Please, take me instead.”
An anguished moan tore from the stranger’s throat and it wasn’t until I moved toward the open door, the light streaming in from the top of the stairwell, that I was able to see who stood in front of me. To see who shot the man who’d delighted in tormenting me.
“Am I dead?” My voice sounded shaky and disbelieving, my head moving from side to side faster as I feared the possible answer to my question. “No, no, no.”
“Zoe.” He reached toward me again, only this time I didn’t fight him. “Baby, come with me.” I shook my head again. “We have to go.” My hands disappeared behind me and I scooted back toward the wall. “We have to go,” he repeated, his voice dipping with a hint of urgency and anger. “Now!”
There was more of that popping sound upstairs and I couldn’t bear to hear it one second longer. Covering my ears, I mumbled incoherently, rocking in place, but my denial of the situation only lasted a couple seconds before I was hauled from my feet and tossed over his shoulder.
My screams got lost in my throat and all the fight left my body as he carried me up the stairs, the smell of leather mixed with a coppery scent invading my nose.
A smell I’d unfortunately become too familiar with.
Blood.
I was jostled about and had there been anything in my stomach I would’ve undoubtedly thrown it up by now. A strong arm was wrapped around the back of my legs, holding me in place as he rushed around the corner, freezing in place for a moment before tearing through the rest of the house. When the night air hit my skin, I shivered, my cries bubbling forth and tearing from my mouth before my brain could register the noise being created.
“It’s okay now, baby. I got you. No one will ever hurt you again.” His words were choppy, but I heard every one, his hold tightening as I continued to cry.
Then another pop sounded, and we were suddenly jolted forward.
Then there was only darkness.
43
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I barked, hauling Zoe back over my shoulder as I climbed back to my feet, only this time I had to limp because a bullet hit me in the back of my left thigh.
“Is she okay?” Ryder asked, running at us to check on the status of his daughter. He’d gone into the basement with me, looking back and forth between his wife and Zoe. I was the one who pushed him toward Braylen, making the decision for him. Even though he was her father, I didn’t want anyone touching her but me. I needed to see her, to feel her, to hear her voice.
“We need to get her to the hospital.” My words alone were enough to make me start to lose it all over again. I had no idea what they’d done to her, and it wasn’t until I carefully deposited her into the back of the vehicle, that I saw the true state of her. One of the guys must’ve moved it from where we originally parked,