Page 44 of Hemlock

I look over her to make sure she's okay and simultaneously reach for my side, my eyes drilling into my palm when I lift it and notice the blood on my hand.

"Owen?" Zara screeches, her voice barely audible over the cheering and spray of beer starting to coat everyone.

I shake my head, and pull her toward the door, doing my best to ignore the flash of green to my far left.

"We have to get out of here," I growl when she tries to dig her feet into the floor.

"We have to call the cops. What happened? Why is there so much blood?"

With one hand gripping her arm and the other covering the firearm in my waistband, I usher her toward the door, the pain in my side growing exponentially with every step I take.

She's damn near hysterical by the time we make it outside.

"Owen!" she yells as she tries to escape my grasp. "Stop! You're hurting me!"

The roar of vengeance is loud in my ears, and it only grows as I realize I'm hurt more than I initially assumed. I stumble a step, feeling the wetness of blood running down my thigh and pooling in my boot.

"This is fucking bad," I growl.

"We need to call the cops. Give me your phone."

"No cops," I growl. "Promise me, Zara. No fucking cops."

"Owen," she pleads, tears running down her cheeks.

"Jericho," I tell her, my eyes growing heavy. "Call Jericho. He'll know what to do."

I manage to pull my phone from my pocket and hand it over to her.

"Take this," she says, pulling her sweater over her head. "Apply pressure."

I want to cuss her, unclothing in an area where anyone can walk out and see, and then I realize the insanity of that.

"We need to get out of sight," I urge, curling my fingers to get her to follow me into the shadows.

I still don't know where the man is who knifed me, and more scarily, I don't know why I was stabbed in the first place.

"Call Jericho," I manage once again before I drop to my ass on the ground beside my bike.

I pull my gun out of my waistband, needing it close in order to defend her if the man who stabbed me had the intention of getting her, but then my head swims with dizziness.

I only have a second to open my mouth and warn her before my vision fades to black.

Chapter 22

Zara

I can't help but wonder how long it'll take for me to wear a path into the hardwood floor with how long I've been pacing in this damn room.

The night has been a battle of emotions—from my confession to the way he almost kissed me.

I never thought it would end with a bloody wound, a phone call, a scarred scary bastard with a bad attitude, and his insistence that I drive Owen back to their place rather than a hospital, despite the massive blood loss.

When I argued, he told me I could either drive him or he'd take my car since he showed up on a motorcycle.

I had no other option but to drive. I followed his taillight as he zigged and zagged through the mountain, pulling up outside a massive cabin that would probably be better suited for a family reunion than anything else.

Owen passed out before his friend arrived and he still hasn't regained consciousness. Another glance down at my watch tells me that I've been here fifteen minutes since Jericho carried Owen up the stairs and put him on his bed, bleeding still.

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