Page 125 of Jax

“Say hello to your lover in the afterlife,bitch.”

BANG.

* * *

Cold, wet rain pattered against my cheek.

The burning hot pain across my chest, the taste of metal in my mouth, and the dry, crisp gasps of air snatched from the smoked filled sky, none of it belonged to a gunshot.

The droplets of moisture fell harder, clinging to the soot and ash and blood dried and burned into my skin. My hand reached for my chest, the dampness of my clean clothes cold beneath my fingertips. I was…okay?

I heard Jacob’s bellow before my mind could comprehend what had happened. The heavy thump of the gun hitting me in the side of the hip woke my brain before the metal contraption collapsed onto the ground next to me.

My eyes tried to focus on what was going on around me, the blurred, distorted flickers of light and movement unfamiliar and unnerving. The cry of thunder roaring to life around me blocked out my hearing. I was still sprawled on the ground, feeling its heavy rumble grow closer and closer and—

Wait!

That wasn’t thunder.

My head lolled against my shoulder as I saw the familiar glint of metal, rubber, and leather as the storm of dust was thrown into the air. Bike after bike came skidding to a stop, huge men in leather storming the grounds like a SWAT team as they took to the ground.

Heavy, leather boots echoed from a distance as they grew closer to my face. A dark shadow loomed over my face, words being mumbled over my head. His face looked desperate, but whose face it was I wasn’t sure.

Until like a switch, I heard my ears pop.

“JAX!” Hunter bellowed in my face. “WHERE’S JAX?”

I felt my heart drop. The heat of the fire growing into a burning sting across my body as I became all too aware. The rain against my skin were the tears I couldn’t shed, as with the softest, weakest cry I could manage, the words crackled from my lips. “…Hou…se…”

Hunter disappeared.

I heard Wolf’s deep Russian baritone. Mint’s sharp yell. And others.

They all were screaming Hunter’s name. But he was gone.

The house screamed and roared as I heard wood collapsing, and what I assumed was the door swinging open.

“Shit!” Mint’s voice snapped above my head.

“That crazy motherfucker!” Wolf bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Get her out of here!”

“No!” I whimpered, feeling the reprieve of heat as Mint dropped down next to my head, another huge shadow covering my face. The rain against my skin still stung, but his broad shoulders shielded from its harsh shower. “Jax… I need….”

“It’s okay.” Mint’s hand touched the top of my head. “Hunter’s gonna go get him. He’ll be fine. They both will.”

He didn’t sound confident.

“Mint… plea…”

“It’ll be fi—”

Another roar burst from the house, wood creaking and protesting as roof tiles shattered against the floor. The whole thing began to tilt to one side, the pillars of the porch splintering and spluttering black, heavy ash.

I didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Mint’s arms scooped up underneath me and the rain pelted my skin again. I was sure I was crying in pain, but I wasn’t paying attention to myself. All I could hear was the screaming rumble of the house as the fifty-year-old, beautiful home began to collapse in on itself. I heard the shouts of brothers calling for their members, and even my own screams were despondent to the sound of the falling building.

Because I knew.

Neither of them were coming out.

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