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KATE

“We have to go in there!” I shouted, feeling myself unravel by the second. I spun on Hunter and got in his face. “Why aren’t you with him?”

“Because he wouldn’t allow me to go,” he answered calmly. “Kate, you know what he wanted.”

He wanted Hunter to protect me. That’s the way it always was, but who was protecting him? Why did he never think about himself?

I wrung my hands together as fear swirled in my stomach. I couldn’t stand the thought of him in there all alone. If it weren’t for the call from Lock, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d have no idea that Knight was on the verge of…

I couldn’t think about it. If he died?—

“Breathe, Kate,” Hunter urged, rubbing a hand up and down my back as I bent over and gagged. My whole body shook with fear, but the nausea swirling was because of all he would leave behind if something happened to him. He never did understand how much he meant to everyone.

“You have to get someone over here,” I said quickly, straightening myself as I resolved to pull my shit together for Knight. “He wouldn’t leave you alone.”

Tears slipped from my eyes as I stared into my friend’s. I knew Hunter would go to any length to save Knight, but we both knew he was outnumbered. The sheer amount of men who filtered into the building made it impossible to even think of a rescue mission without more numbers.

“Kate—” he choked out. “You know I would do anything for you.” His eyes shone bright as he stared at me.

That was all I needed to see to know he was at a loss. There was nothing he could do. Not if he wanted to get us out alive.

“I can’t lose him,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I can’t?—”

“I know.” He swallowed hard, looking back to the building. I saw the determination in his eyes as he turned back to me. “You stay here. You swear it or I won’t go in there. He would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

I knew it was a lost cause. Going in alone would be impossible to survive, but I had to let him try. Maybe that was selfish of me. Hunter had his own family he had to think about, yet he was here with me, thinking of doing something insane.

“I swear it,” I said, decision made.

With a curt nod, he studied the building for another minute. I could see the wheels turning in his mind, coming up with a plan. Nerves skittered through me as he took off through the wooded area, then across the brush-filled field. We were in the middle of nowhere, which should leave me feeling vulnerable, but I was too focused on Hunter getting to Knight to worry about anything else.

And that’s why I was completely surprised when a hand slid over my mouth and I was yanked back against a muscular chest. I gasped, but it was cut off by a low voice hissing in my ear.

“Don’t scream.”

My breaths sawed in and out of me as he spread his fingers slightly, allowing me more room to breathe.

“I’m going to remove my hand.”

I nodded, then waited as he slowly eased back, allowing me to turn and face him. Except, it wasn’t just one man. Three men stood in front of me, all of them looking just as murderous as Knight.

“Who are you?” I whispered.

“Jason. Lock sent us. Where’s Knight?”

My lip quivered as I realized reinforcements had shown up. I wasn’t alone. Hunter might actually have a chance. “Inside,” I croaked out. “He was dragged in there?—”

My fingers flew to my lips as I forced myself not to break down. I took a moment and calmed myself. They wouldn’t be able to help if I freaked out. “Hunter went in after him?—”

“By himself?” Jason hissed.

I nodded, my guilt overwhelming me as I really thought about what I had asked of him.

“Stay here,” Jason hissed, rushing past me.

I grabbed him by the arm, refusing to stay behind now that we had backup. “I’m going, too. If he needs help?—”

“Fine, but stay behind me.”

I nodded and waited for the other two men to pass before I followed quickly. My bag swung against my leg and I gripped it tighter, keeping it from rattling as I ran. My chest grew tight with every step I took, but I forced the panic down. I had to think about what I might be facing, and that meant preparing for anything medically necessary.

I startled at the sound of a gunshot, my feet refusing to move as a whimper rose in my throat. If it weren’t for the man beside me, I wouldn’t have made it a step further.

“Kate,” he whispered. “Keep moving.”

With glassy eyes, I turned to the man beside me, finally recognizing his features. “Jack.”

He nodded, holding my arm for support. “You can do this. You don’t know what’s happening in there. Don’t let your mind jump to conclusions.”

This man had suffered more than anyone I knew, and he was still fighting. Knight was like that, too. He could withstand almost anything. Hell, he’d survived a knife to the chest. It would be fine. He had to be.

I pulled on every reserve of energy I had in my body and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Jason butted up against the side of the building, motioning everyone else over. Suddenly, I was yanked against Jack as voices carried out into the night. I stiffened, holding my breath as I prayed no one would catch us. I couldn’t be certain how many men were there, but I already knew it was too many for the three of them.

“I’ll check it out,” Johnny whispered, disappearing into the dark.

Minutes passed until we finally moved again. I couldn’t stop myself from gripping the back of Jack’s shirt as we moved forward. If he was annoyed by it, he said nothing. In the distance, I could hear men talking angrily. With every step we took, my body tightened with anxiety. I wanted to run forward, but fear kept me rooted behind Jack. As long as I didn’t know what was happening, I could pretend that my husband was fine.

“What the fuck?” Jason hissed, stepping out suddenly into a large, dank room.

Curiosity got the better of me and I peeked out from behind Jack’s body, only to suck in a gasp at what I saw. I started to run forward, but was jerked back at the sound of gunfire. Screaming, I ducked just as a bullet whizzed past my head, narrowly avoiding my skull. Jack pulled me to the ground, covering me as he returned fire, but all I could see was my husband on the ground, bleeding out as he struggled to stay conscious.

I wanted to run to him, to put my skills to use, but the look in his eyes told me not to move. Even on the brink of death, he was protecting me. “I have to go,” I cried.

I started to move again, but Jack pulled me back, forcing me to stay behind him. “You can’t help him if you’re dead!” he shouted, firing again.

With every second that slipped by, I knew I risked losing my husband. Suddenly, all I saw was the relief and guilt in his eyes when he realized I was still alive and hadn’t been killed. I remembered how lonely and depressed he’d become after he left me, assuming he was doing it to keep me safe.

And if anything happened to him, I knew I would end up right where he was all those months ago.

“No,” I whispered before sucking in a breath and rushing out into the gunfire. I heard Jack yelling for me to get down, but the only thing I could focus on was my husband. I slid on my knees beside him, ignoring the growl he sent my way as I cupped his cheek and forced him to look at me.

“You…shouldn’t…be…here.”

I ignored the anger in his voice and forced myself to focus on what I could do for him. I gently rolled him, sucking back the horror when I saw the blood oozing from his chest. He wouldn’t survive long if I didn’t get him out of here. He needed surgery and this was not the environment for that.

“Kate…leave.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, digging into my bag for my supplies. I didn’t bother with gloves as I tore his shirt open, revealing the worst of the wound. It was bad. Terrible, actually. I grabbed gauze from my bag and pressed it down hard on his chest, refusing to cry when he gasped in pain or when his eyes rolled back in his head. This was necessary. I needed to stem the flow of blood until I could get him out of here.

“I need an ambulance!” I shouted over my shoulder.

Gunfire still rang out around me, but I ignored it, focusing only on him. He was all that mattered. I quickly got to work, doing what I could for him and ignoring the angry looks he shot me when he opened his eyes again.

“Kate…”

“Stop talking,” I snapped.

“Kate…I need you…to know…”

I finally tore my gaze from his wound and stared him dead in the eyes. “If you even think about telling me goodbye, I swear to God, I will make sure your life is a living hell.”

His lips quirked in a smile before he grimaced again. Then Hunter was beside me, his phone in hand as he shouted out orders.

“Just fucking like you, Knight,” Hunter muttered. “I swear to God, how many fucking times am I going to have to cover your ass?”

Hunter did everything I asked, watching my back the whole time as I worked quickly. When I tipped Knight on his side to check for an exit wound, I tuned out the sound of pain emanating from him. I knew it fucking hurt, but it would be worse if he was dead.

When I rolled him back, Hunter started doing his own assessment, checking for anything I might have missed. We worked in tandem like we always had on a job. Except this time, more was at stake. This was Garrick, and if I lost him…

I shook away those thoughts and continued patching him as best I could. I was so busy working that I didn’t even notice the way his brows scrunched in confusion until he gripped my hand. “What? What is it?”

“Singing…”

“What? You want me to sing?”

He sucked in a ragged breath, his bloody teeth on display as he bit back the pain. “Fox.”

I was still confused, but then I heard it. My eyes scanned the room for the sound, and that’s when I saw him. An avenging angel—or maybe demon—stalking across the floor as he snapped his fingers and eyed the man he was about to kill.

He’d come for Knight.