Don’t give up hope.
She clung to James’s words as she clung to her life. Run. Her brain willed her body to move, but something else held her to the bed. Her limbs were heavy and unresponsive. Her breaths slow. And she was tired.
So tired.
No. She wouldn’t die like this. Not as a victim. Not without hope. She pulled in the last of her energy, drew in a breath and spat in Levi’s face.
“Do you never fucking give up?” he growled.
A thud on the door rattled the windows. Outside, a groan. A sob. Hushed words.
Levi’s eyes glazed over and he pressed the knife tight against her throat. “That’s the last time you ever humiliate me, Roxie. The. Very. Last. Time.”
A shudder ran through her. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could have seen James one last time.
The door exploded inward and her eyes flew open.
James. And Ryder. Kickstand behind them. Wishes did come true.
Levi leaped off the bed, knife flashing in the air. James flew across the room and knocked him to the floor. A frenzy of punches, thuds, kicks, flying lamps, breaking glass, splintered wood, breaking bones.
Groans and whimpers.
Ryder and Kickstand pulling an enraged James away.
She watched it all through a soft haze, as if in a dream. Although she tried to move, her mind and body hit a disconnect. Dazed, confused, she tried to focus, but the world swam in front of her.
And then James was beside her. But he didn’t smile.
“Jesus Christ. Look at her neck. Kickstand, get a towel. Ryder, call an ambulance.”
James pulled her into his arms, his face a mask of rage and pain and…fear? “It’s okay, Lana. You’ll be okay. Ambulance is coming…” He choked on his words and his arms tightened around her. “I’m sorry I took so long. I should never have let you go.”
“Trusted you,” she whispered. “Didn’t give up hope.”
“You did good, babe.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She closed her eyes as sleep beckoned. But there was something she wanted to tell him. The words flitted through her brain, slipping and sliding as she tried to catch them.
“James?”
“I’m here.” His voice was distant, soft. She forced her eyes open and gazed into a stormy sea.
“Forgot…to tell you something.”
Sirens. Banging. Gunshots. Crashing. Wheels squeaking. Shouting. Gasps.
“Tell me later.” His voice caught and Lana frowned.
“No. Now. I might not… Please, James. Just in case.”
“There is no ‘might not’,” he growled. “There is no ‘just in case’. There is only later.”
Her eyelids dropped and no force of will could hold them open. “I loved you from the day we met,” she whispered. “I always knew you were the one.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
James paced up and down the hallway outside the waiting area of the Vancouver General Hospital Emergency room. Jackie, Viking Dan and a bandaged Kickstand watched him from their seats in the corner. Ryder leaned against the wall nearby. Outside, a few members of the Rogue Riders patrolled the area, looking for escaped Wolverines.
Although Levi hadn’t severed any of Lana’s major arteries, he had come close. She had lost a lot of blood and needed stitches. Of more concern to the doctors were the injuries she had suffered from Levi’s beatings: broken ribs, severe bruising and possible internal injuries.
If Levi hadn’t been shot by the police as he tried to escape from the motel with two automatic weapons and a bag of cocaine, James would have gladly done the job.
“I can’t sit here anymore,” Jackie wailed. “I have a nurse’s disguise in my bag. I’m going to put it on and sneak in.”
Viking Dan put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Calm,” he said quietly. “The doctor said she’s going to be all right.”
Jackie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t do calm.”
He pulled her into his chest and locked her in place with a powerful arm. “You do now.”
Jackie looked up at him and then rested her head against his shoulder, muttering softly under her breath.
“He soothed the savage beast,” Ryder murmured to James. “Something even I couldn’t manage to do. Maybe because I’m not a fucking six-foot-five, blond Viking with fucking ice for eyes.”
A smile ghosted James’s lips for the first time that night. “Didn’t take you for the jealous type.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “I’m not jealous. I’m happy she’s found someone who can manage her wild side. I’m just wondering…where’s mine?”