Page 53 of Creatures in the Night

When Connor stepped out of the way to let me and Lochlan work, Lochlan said, “If you ever introduce yourself as Shea Burke again, I guarantee that my brother will have something to say about it.”

“Yeah?” I retorted. “Well, I’ll get right on that as soon as your brother stops trying to kill me.”

“Uh…I think I’ll just wait outside, Conner muttered, and it really was hard to blame the man.

Chapter 33

Noah~

When Craig’s connections hadn’t texted back immediately with confirmation of the meeting time or place, I hadn’t been too concerned because they would have had to be super stupid to just agree to a blind meeting. You didn’t survive long in this life if you didn’t do a little recognizance when working, and it would make sense that they’d want to canvas the meeting area before agreeing.

Nevertheless, what I hadn’t expected was for them to show up at my fucking building to try to kill my wife again. Luckily, Cathal hadn’t killed Craig yet, so while Declan and I had taken off like a couple of madmen, James and Cathal had stayed back to find out just how in the fuck they’d known where I lived and how to get into the goddamn garage. While all the signs pointed to Craig’s bad judgement, there was no way that we weren’t going to make an example out of him now.

As soon as I entered the garage, Odhran was there to meet me, and he’d been smart enough to leave the dead bodies for me and Declan. While I had no doubt that Odhran had already checked the bodies, this was personal, and I wanted to know the faces of the men that had gone after my wife.

“She’s okay,” Odhran said as soon as I was close enough to hear him. “She’s helping Lochlan with Keagan, but she’s okay.”

While I wanted to see Shea, I knew that I needed to calm down before I did. Used to feeling very little about life in general, these past couple of weeks had done their job in turning me into a raving lunatic when it came to my wife, and I could admit not knowing how to deal with all these feelings maturely or rationally.

Before I could say anything more, Declan’s car was racing through the garage, then he parked right next to me and was out of his vehicle. Luckily for the both of us, we’d been observant enough not to have run over the two dead bodies, but even if we’d had, I would have learned how to live with it.

As soon as Declan got out of his car, he walked over to Andros and Sergey, then snapped a picture of their faces. “I’ll confirm tha’ the’re no’ Kotov’s men.”

“What the fuck happened?” I finally asked, though Odhran had already told me over the phone.

“They either snuck in while one of us was driving through or someone gave them the code to the building,” he answered. “Their guns both had silencers, but Keagan’s didn’t. So, when Shea shot them, though it was faint, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the lobby. Donal and Kerry heard it, then sounded the alarm. When we got to the garage, Shea was still shooting an empty gun into the two very dead bodies.”

“Did you ask her what happened?”

Odhran shook his head. “No. Since she was fine, Lochlan prioritized securing the building and fixing Keagan up.”

“And you’re sure that my wife is unharmed?”

“She said that she was,” he replied, wording his answer in a way that didn’t make him a liar.

“Go see ta Shea,” Declan ordered. “We’ll take care o’ da bodies.”

I gave him a terse nod before heading to the clinic, something that I was immensely grateful for now. While it’d always been practical and beneficial to have a couple of these in place, with as close as Shea had come to dying again, it was comforting to know that Lochlan would have been able to save her in time.

Leaving Declan and Odhran to dispose of the bodies, I made my way towards the clinic, and noticed Connor standing at the door. His back straightened when he saw me, and while none of this was any of their faults, I understood why they might be feeling a bit on edge around me right now.

“Donal and the guys are canvasing five blocks out, so I thought I’d watch the door while they worked on Keagan,” he said as soon as I approached him. “We don’t need any more surprises.”

“I agree,” I replied before walking past him, then into the room.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Shea standing on the other side of the operating table, her hands gloved up as Lochlan stood on the other side, doing what he did best, and that was patching up our guys. Many of our men owed their lives to Lochlan’s brilliant surgical skills, and if anyone could save Keagan, it was Lochlan.

“How much longer are you going to be?” I asked, and while Shea’s head snapped sideways in my direction, Lochlan kept his eyes on his patient.

“I just removed the bullet,” he answered. “So, about an hour or so…no more than two.”

“And you need Shea for this?”

Lochlan finally looked up at me, and whatever it was that he saw on my face, it made him say, “No. While having her here does help me, I’ve done this alone a million times, Noah.”

Shea’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’m not leaving,” she bit out. “He got hurt because I wanted to check on my car, Noah.” She started shaking her head at me. “I’m not going to not help him now.”

“You’ll do what I fucking tell you, lass,” I snapped. “Do I make myself fucking clear?”

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