to his men, dropping a map pin where we were and telling them where to come help him before forwarding a photo of the wreck so they knew to hurry the fuck up.
But as I moved to drop the phone back into his lap, Luther stirred and caught my wrist, making me gasp as I tried to lurch back.
"Don't do this to them," Luther muttered. "Whatever the hell you think you're doing. Just don't."
I looked into his eyes, seeing all the pain of his past there and knowing that he feared me gifting it to his boys too. But he didn't understand. My leaving wasn't what was going to break them. It was me staying that would do that.
"I'm trying to save them," I breathed, but I was pretty sure he didn't even hear me as his eyes rolled back and his grip fell slack again.
I double checked his pulse to make sure he'd only passed out then turned and took off through the trees.
I scrambled back up to the road as the rain crashed over me and thunder broke across the heavens.
As soon as my feet hit the tarmac, I took off running, my destination so close now. The end of this almost on me.
But as I ran towards the looming gates, Luther's voice boomed out behind me, followed by a gunshot which carved a chunk out of the road a few feet to my left.
"Stop!" he bellowed and I skidded to a halt, turning to look back at him through the sheeting rain as he stood there in the road, one hand gripping his side while the other held the gun primed at me. "That's an order from your fucking boss."
I arched an eyebrow at his words, the Harlequin tattoo on the back of my thigh seeming to tighten like a leash around my soul. But I wasn't his puppet, and he wasn't going to be pulling my strings. I whipped my own gun from the back of my shorts and levelled it at him in return.
"You were right about me," I called to him over the storm. "You were right to get rid of me back then. I'm a curse just like you said. But now I'm going to fix it."
"I can't let you do that, wildcat," Luther warned, stumbling to one knee as I gripped the gun tighter.
"Don't make me pull the trigger," I said fiercely, my posture tightening. "Just let me go."
The gates behind me rattled open and though I didn't turn my head, I knew exactly who was closing in on me from behind. I could feel his presence like a cloak of darkness dropping over my shoulders.
"Well what do we have here?" Shawn called, his voice laced with excitement as he took in the scene and my fingers trembled slightly around the gun.
Luther's aim shifted to him and fear twisted through me as his upper lip peeled back in a warning.
"Back the fuck off, Shawn, or I'll be putting a bullet between your eyes," Luther warned.
"Well you’re the ones who have shown up at my door in the middle of the night, waking the children and causing a ruckus. So I think I'm well within my rights to know what you're doing here, don't you, sugarpie?" His fingers brushed down my spine as he closed right in on me and a shiver of fear darted through me.
This was insane. I knew it. But I'd made my choice and I was going to stick to it.
"I'm home," I said roughly, forcing my tongue to bend around the words that were just for him. "Just like you wanted. So that you'll stop hurting everyone around me."
"Step away from her," Luther snarled, his arm shaking as he tried to hold his gun steady against the pain of his injuries.
"Nah. I don't think I will." The blast of a gunshot sounded right beside my ear and I screamed in alarm as my brain fought to catch up to what had happened.
Luther fell back with a sickening thump, the flare of headlights illuminating him from behind as he collapsed on the road with a snarl of agony as he slapped a hand over the wound to his stomach and Shawn chuckled darkly.
"Well, this is a nice surprise," he purred, reaching out to grasp my chin and make me look around at him at last.
His blue eyes found mine, the hunger in him clear to see as a wild smile filled his face and he drank in the sight