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A beat of silence, and a heaving, gurgling breath.

Then anotherthump.

“Ace!”

I opened my eyes at the sound of Hawk’s voice.

Steph, still in his dragon form, had collapsed on the grass. I rushed to his side, trying not to look at the bloodied heap of Sean’s lifeless body, his empty eyes, and the gaping wound under the base of his skull. At the edge of the clearing, Tank and Striker were hogtying the two remaining stooges, while Rome had Sean’s gun in hand.

I knelt by Steph’s side and flattened my hands on his broad, warm chest. He was so big in his dragon form, but right now he looked vulnerable. The scales on his chest were much smaller than the ones on the rest of his body and thinner, not like the armored scales on his back. The bullet had cut through the smallest, thinnest scales near his armpit. Blood coated his chest and spilled freely from the wound.

“What’s happening?” I asked desperately as I pressed both hands to the wound. The blood was slick and warm under my palms, pulsing out with each heartbeat. “Why isn’t he healing?!”

“The bullet’s still inside of him,” Hawk said. “He can’t heal with it in there.”

“Steph,” I said. “Steph, look at me.”

He blinked his eyes open. His golden irises were shot through with the hazel of his human eyes. His snout was stained with blood, and he was panting through the pain. I kept both hands on the wound, pressing hard, even though I desperately wanted to reach out and touch his face. “You have to hang on, Steph,” I whispered. “For me. For our son. Okay?”

Steph made a low, soft sound, like his heart hurt more than his body. His eyes fluttered closed again.

“Stay with me, Steph,” I said. “You have to stay with me.”

I pressed harder onto his chest. Was his heartbeat getting weaker? Each pulse of blood seemed slower.

“Stay with me.” I was begging now. “You did it, Steph. You won. You saved us all. And now, you have to stay with me.”

Again, that terrible, soft sound.

A sob racked my body.

Just stay with me.

53

ACE

Pain.

It was scorching me. Burning through my entire body. Flames licked at my nerves, my muscles, all the way down to my bones. I heard nothing but the blood rushing in my ears. The coppery taste coated my tongue.

My body gave out. I hit the grass and found myself eye to eye with my brother.

No, the body that used to be my brother.

The corpse.

The coppery taste in my mouth washisblood, as was the sinew between my teeth. In our battle, the first bite had been a warning to get him to submit. Of course, he hadn’t. I was stupid. I should’ve known.

It took him trying to shoot Harley for me to finally do it.

I’d barely been in control. For a moment, I’d felt feral as I charged him. Dragged him to the ground. Grabbed the most vulnerable part of his spine, right beneath his skull, and ripped it out.

A quick death. A painless death. One he didn’t deserve.

I had won.

So why was I hurting so much?