“After you’re dead,” Lex said, crawling up my body. “I’m gonna screw your body before it turns cold.”
I shot him.
The bullet slammed into his shoulder and he recoiled. I scrambled out from under him and stood.
“Honor!” Nathan screamed from downstairs, and my knees went weak with relief.
“I’m up here!” I yelled, my voice sounding more like a squeak.
Feet pounded on the stairs, and I moved to rush toward him. I wanted his arms around me. I wanted to see that he was okay.
A hand closed around my ankle and jerked me back.
I screamed.
Lex laughed.
Twisting quickly, without hesitation, I shot him in the head.
Nathan skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs, his wide eyes going between Lex and me. I could only imagine what he saw. Me covered in blood with a busted lip and a heaving chest, holding a gun, while standing over a man with a bullet in his head.
Reality crashed over me.
The gun fell from my hand and bounced off the carpet.
I shot someone.
I killed him.
My kidnapper was dead.
“Honor,” Nathan said breathlessly and rushed across the room to wrap me in his arms. My body shook violently, so hard that my teeth chattered and my skin felt icy.
“I killed him,” I said, shoving my face into his bare, blood-smeared chest.
“You protected yourself, baby,” he murmured. “You did real good.”
Police sirens drew closer and soon, the flashing blue-and-red lights filled the windows and the driveway.
I felt lightheaded and I knew I lost a lot of blood. I pulled back from Nathan and looked at his side where the bullet entered his body.
“It’s not so bad,” he murmured, tipping my chin up so I couldn’t look.
“He was crazy,” I said, my voice hollow.
“Hell yes, he was.” Nathan agreed, swiping the pad of his thumb across my chin. My lower lip was swollen again.
The cops burst in the front door with weapons drawn. I weaved a little on my feet. Standing up was growing harder and harder.
Nathan scooped me up in his arms and turned toward the cops. “I need a medic!” he roared.
Then he glanced down into my face. “Just hang on, Honor.” He got this pinched look in his eyes. “Don’t you die on me.”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of dying. I have way too much to live for.”
As my house filled with emergency workers and medical personnel, Nathan and I held each other’s gaze.
“Me too,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Me too.”