Page 146 of Reaper and Ruin

Eventually, a round-faced cop, perhaps in his mid-twenties, peered over the top of the pit. He did a double take at Francine’s body and then focused on us. “You two okay?”

We nodded.

“You armed?”

I pointed at the gun Nyah had laid down on the dirt. “Francine fell in here with it. We have touched it, but I don’t know if it’s loaded.”

“Anything else?”

“A mostly empty bottle of bleach and a few scrubbers,” Nyah called up.

He gave us a small smile. “I’ll report that.” He disappeared for a second to speak to someone else. A moment later he was back, this time with a ladder. “Ready to get out?”

A sob burst from Nyah’s mouth as we both got slowly to our knees. I guided her to the ladder first and let her climb up ahead of me, sticking close behind her in case in her weakened state, she fell.

I tried not to notice the dried blood on her legs.

But a new wave of anger flushed through me, all of it directed at Francine. I wanted to jump back down there and pummel her with fists and feet for what she’d done to Nyah. To me. To everyone I loved and cared about.

But I didn’t look back. I only wanted to look forward from now on.

At the top of the hole, the officer escorted us from the house and out the front door.

Nyah blinked in the harsh, afternoon sunlight, and I caught her arm, steadying her while she got her bearings.

“Nyah!”

My heart splintered into a million pieces at Dax sprinting across the yard, his voice hoarse, tears shamelessly streaming down his face.

Nyah took one step forward, and they collided, Dax cradling her head to his chest to stop her from taking the impact, her arms wrapping around him, and sobs falling from her lips freely. Her fingers twisted in his T-shirt, her face in his neck, and withinseconds, he had her up in his arms, carrying her across the lawn to where paramedics waited beside an ambulance.

They moved toward me, but Levi pushed past them.

The fear and worry and love in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He hugged me tight and then drew back, cupping my face with both hands and tilting it up to stare down at me.

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine, and for a second, we just breathed together. He didn’t need to say anything. It was all there, in the trembling of his fingers, in the connection between us. I knew him. I knew his heart, his words, his love.

“I’m okay,” I whispered to him.

“And the baby?”

I smiled a little. “I thought Whip could keep a secret better than that.”

He shook his head, his forehead rubbing against mine. “I think he was home five minutes before he blabbed. You probably would have had better luck keeping it a secret if you’d told X.”

“I don’t want any secrets,” I whispered. “I just needed a minute to believe it was real.”

He kissed my mouth, and I felt the tension slipping away, my heart beating with his, both of them slowing down, calmed by us being in each other’s arms.

“Is Whip okay?” I asked.

Levi had already told me he was injured but it wasn’t severe.

I caught sight of him sitting on the grass, surrounded by paramedics, and my mouth dropped open. I brushed past Levi and ran to Whip’s side, my fingers hovering uselessly over his bleeding leg that the paramedics were trying to inspect.

I winced at the spray of gashes up his leg. “You guys told me it wasn’t serious!”

Whip put his hand to the back of my neck. “Hey. I’m fine.”