a dead run, knife held above her head. She looked like a modern gladiator, poised to strike with a mighty spear, not a small switchblade.
Two ear-splitting shots rang out.
Bang. Bang.
I watched in horror as Tabby’s thin frame took those shots to her chest, her form jarring with each hit, but it didn’t stop her trajectory as she came down on her target, arm in the perfect location.
She struck, the knife sinking right into the side of our attacker’s neck. It caught and she yanked as they both started to fall. Red liquid spurted out of his neck like a vulgar water sprinkler, painting the space in blood.
“Tabby!” I screamed.
“No!” Addison cried.
Both bodies went down, Tabitha right on top of the masked man as the door creaked from behind them and men in SWAT suits and black FBI bulletproof vests stormed in, massive guns at the ready.
Only they were a minute too late.
I ran toward Tabitha, but Ryan came out of nowhere and cut me off, body-slamming me and wrapping me up in his hold.
“No! Tabby!” I screeched.
“She’s getting help.” He turned my form to the side. A pair of paramedics rolled my sister off the man but even from here I knew what they’d find.
Her eyes were open and she stared lifelessly at nothing. One of the paramedics held his fingers to her neck.
I waited with my heart in my throat.
Time seemed to become sluggish as if everything was in slow motion around me. Blood pooled around her body, the mess growing larger with every second.
Then I watched as he shook his head and closed her eyes with his hand. Ryan tightened his hold. I bucked, my body losing control as the devastation tore through me like a two-hundred mile an hour bullet train moving between countries.
“Shhh, shhh, focus on my voice.” Ryan held me tight to his form and whispered into my ear. “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay. Eventually, honey, it will be okay.”
I shook my head knowing it would never be okay.
Tabby gave her life to save ours.
Remember, this was my choice.
She planned this. She’d planned to fall on the sword to save me and Addy.
I crumbled in Ryan’s arms.
My love will never die.
Her last words permeated my emotion-soaked mind on rapid repeat. I closed my eyes as I was passed into another pair of arms. Addison locked her body around mine and we held onto one another as time sped back up. FBI and other cops or medical personnel moved around us in a flurry of activity. Large sheets were put over both the attacker’s and my sister’s bodies.
We were led out of the basement by Ryan and another member of the team, caging us both in. We went up several flights of dark concrete stairs until we came upon a wide-open metal door that led to a bright rectangle of daylight.
The two men maneuvered us over the blacktop and through a patch of parking lot that was littered with black SUVs, SWAT vans, and cop cars. They brought us to an ambulance with another set of paramedics.
One started to mess with my eye wound, but I waved them off. “Take care of my sister.” I lifted my chin to Addison who was now barely standing. She was visibly dehydrated, her skin green and grimy. The wounds up and down her arms would need serious treatment. For now, the paramedic simply wrapped her from wrist to bicep.
“Miss, you’re bleeding from your head. You have a rather large gash above your eye that will not only need stitches but could get infected if we don’t treat you.”
“I don’t give a fuck about me!” I roared in her face. My body got hot and then icy cold as I started to shake.
Out of nowhere, a presence unlike any other came up behind me. A masculine arm looped around my waist and tugged me back against a very warm, familiar, and beloved body. I felt him surround me in a bubble of peace and serenity as his lips came to my ear.
“Baby, let her take care of you, yeah?”
Tears fell from my good eye and I slowly turned around at hearing his voice.
Jonah was there. His expression was ravaged with fear and concern but still was more handsome and welcoming than anything else could possibly be.
One of his hands came up and tunneled into the back of my hair curling around my nape. The other hovered over my face tracing the damage. Tears filled his