The last thing I wanted was to accidentally kill the wrong person.
Luckily, though, the fight was already over.
I spotted Cass across the parking lot, standing over the bearded Reaper who'd punched me. He seemed to say something to the man, then shot him straight in the face.
That left just one enemy alive, and he was on his knees with his brother's gun to his head.
"You're a fucking traitor," Zane spat at Cass, who sauntered over to stand beside Archer with his gun held ever so casually in his hand. "You think you can just take my place? My family created the Reapers. They'll never follow a snake like you."
Cass just arched a scarred brow and shrugged. "Well, that's not really your problem, is it? You signed away your life the second you made a move against Archer, and you knew it."
Zane snarled. "Fuck you, Cass. Fuck you."
"You're boring me," Archer commented, his voice dry and devoid of any human emotions. "And you broke the rules."
Bang.
Just like that, the Shadow Grove Reapers saw a change of leadership.
37
There was no question about it, I was in rough shape. James had arrived with the guys and firmly insisted on patching me up before I was allowed to do anything else.
The tally of my injuries was enough to make me cringe from just listening to James mutter under his breath. So far, he’d decided two of my ribs were most probably broken for which he gave me a dose of a decent analgesia to dull the pain. I also had a sprained wrist, and an absolute shitload of bruising. My entire torso from bra to jeans was already darkening with blackish purple, and every movement ached.
Then there was the bullet graze. Steele's shot had been flawless, and the cut it'd opened from the edge of my hairline really wasn't that bad. James cursed about needing to stitch it, but a second opinion from Cass confirmed what I was saying, that it wasn’t that bad. So a bit of surgical glue was as good as it was going to get.
"Archer!" I shouted out as I spotted him swing a punch at Steele.
Snatching the wet cloth from James—he'd been trying to wipe some of the blood off my face—I rushed over to break up their fight.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I demanded, putting myself physically between them. Kody just stood back, watching with his arms folded across his chest. Unhelpful shithead.
"He shot you!" Archer roared back, his face a mask of fury.
"He saved me," I corrected him in a hard voice. "It's a fucking graze, Arch. You know better than anyone how minor a bullet graze is, and I for one was happy there was no fucking around with Kruger in that situation."
Archer's jaw clenched, his temple throbbing as he glared down at me. "If he'd missed—"
"He didn't. So quit throwing your big dick energy around and focus on this cleanup. I don’t know about you, but I want to go the fuck home and not worry that cops will be arresting us all for multiple murders." I held his gaze steady, even though one of my eyes was throbbing painfully. "Now, Archer."
He scowled back at me another moment, then shot Steele a narrow-eyed glare before storming away to help Sampson's guys clean up the bodies.
"You too, Kodiak," I snapped, pinning him with my gaze. "Quit stirring shit up."
His jaw dropped in protest. "I wasn't—"
"Bullshit." I cut him off before he could deny it. "Go help Arch; I need a moment with Max."
Kody grumbled, but closed the space between us and gently kissed my cheek. "You scared us, babe," he whispered in my ear. "Don't do that again, okay?"
I gave a small nod but a grim smile. "No promises."
Kody winced, then sighed. "Fair enough." He dropped a soft kiss to my lips, then headed over to help the cleanup.
Steele wouldn’t look at me. He was quite deliberately looking at his shoes, even as he rubbed his face where Archer's punch had landed. He hadn't even tried to dodge it either, which told me everything I needed to know.
"Max Steele," I scolded, moving close enough to tip his chin up with my finger. "Don't you dare."
His eyes, when they met mine, were flooded with guilt and regret, and I shook my head before he could even try to apologize.
"You did exactly what needed to be done, Max; don't start beating yourself up over it now." I held his gaze, not letting him sink into