“Raven—” Aidan reached out a hand—a hand coated with Roland’s blood.
She stepped away from him, her gaze glued on his bloody hands. “No. I can’t. I can’t do this.” She shook her head as though to convince herself.
“Raven, I love you. I love Fox. Please—”
“Stay away from Fox.” He felt the slap of her resolve in her hard voice. She’d retreated from him farther in more than just distance. “How could I be with the man who was responsible for killing my father? What was I thinking?”
“Please, Raven. You have to listen to me. I didn’t kill your father. I love you. You promised to give us time,” he pleaded, his heart tearing along the newly mended seams. “Don’t do this.”
“Our time was never meant to be. Whether you actually caused Dad’s death doesn’t matter, you put into motion the things that did.” She glanced at Roland’s body and then at Aidan, her eyes sad, yet full of resolve. “Stay away from us.” She turned and walked out of the cabin. The silence was like a death peal, killing any hope of a future he might have had with her and Fox.
“Well.” Roland groaned. “That was fun.” He slurred the words out the opposite side of his spilt lip. “Guess there are worse things than death, aren’t there, boy?” He slowly got to his feet, wincing at the action.
Numb, Aidan turned to look at him. Roland’s right eye was already swollen shut, but there was a twinkle of wicked glee in his left. “How long have you been conscious?” Aidan asked.
“Like you had the chops to knock me out. After that little scene, you’d probably welcome death if I offered it, wouldn’t ya? Think I prefer you living with this outcome. At least for now.”
Roland reached for the rifle leaning against the wood stove and tipped the barrel of the gun Aidan’s direction before pulling it back to rest on his shoulder. “See ya around, sucker. Oh, and I’ll be back for the gold. I figure it’ll be safe. Not like you have a need for it since your reason for living just dropped you like the pile of shit you are.” He cackled and then spat blood from his mouth onto the floor at Aidan’s feet. “Pathetic bastard.”
As Roland left, Aidan sank onto the cold, hard floor littered with blood splatters and snowy white feathers from his slashed coat. The emotional turmoil twisting loose inside him far outweighed any of his physical aches.
He wished Roland had put a bullet in him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“There he is!”
Aidan heard voices come at him as though from the end of a long mine shaft. He sat huddled on the floor. Tired. So tired. Someone was pulling at him, checking his pulse.
How could he have a pulse when his heart had been ripped out of his chest?
“He’s conscious. But not responding.”
What the hell was Lynx doing out here?
“Shit, there’s blood all over him, all over this dump. What the hell happened here?”
That sounded like Pike. Nice of the guys to show up. But then they didn’t know. Soon they would. Raven would be sure to tell them. Guess, he wouldn’t be one of the gang after all.
“Come on, Aidan. Talk to me.” Lynx shook him. “Tell me what went down here.”
Slowly, Aidan turned his head. Lynx inhaled when he saw his face. “She promised me, Lynx. Promised that she’d give us time.”
“Who promised?” Lynx brows furrowed. “Raven?”
He nodded. His head became too heavy so he let it sag back to his chest.
Lynx shook him again. “Where are you hurt?”
“Hurt?” He laughed with no humor. “I’m in too much pain to hurt.”
“Who did this to you, son?” Pike asked, kneeling down next to him. “Was it Roland? Is he dead?”
“Nope.” Aidan shook his head. “Left.”
“He walked out of here?” Lynx’s voice was disbelieving as he took in the destruction.
“Yep. The bastard wouldn’t kill me, neither. Not after Raven was here.”
“We’d better get him to Eva,” Pike said. “He’s not making any sense.”
They pulled him to his feet.
“No. Leave me here. I belong here.”
“He’s like ice,” Pike said. “If we hadn’t gone looking for him…”
“Let’s get him back to the lodge. We’ll figure everything out there.”
Aidan’s footing gave out, so they wrapped his arms around their necks and carried—dragged—him out of the cabin to Lynx’s waiting pickup.
He must have dozed. The next thing Aidan knew he awoke to a nightmare. He really didn’t see how this day could have gotten any worse. As near as he could tell he was laid out in the guest room he’d used previously, and Garrett Hunt was standing over him, his piercing blue eyes narrowed in his fish cop face.