Page 77 of The Devil's Conflict

I’m running before I even tell my legs to move. “Bullet, move!” I scream, even as he whips around. And that’s when I see Sniper on the other side of him, and when he sees me, his gaze is hard and shocked. But I can’t focus on him. I need to get to Bullet. “Shooter in the trees,” I roar, and Sniper is whipping around, gun up and firing, but it’s a second too late.

The two shots fill the air, and I slam into Bullet sending him flying back, even as pain sears through my shoulder and we’re both falling to the ground.

“Shit,” I hiss, the pain swimming through me, even as I roll to the opposite side, gripping the one that’s now oozing blood.

“Thea!” Sniper bellows, getting to his knees next to me. “Let me see,” he orders, pulling my hands away, and already cursing.

“Get her to Medic,” Bullet orders, his voice gruff. My hazy eyes connect with his, and I see something there that I can’t make out. Relief? Gratitude? Anger? I’m not sure, but the pain is too much for me to care. Fuck, that hurts.

I managed to keep from getting shot in my time during the Forces, despite everything. I’ve been sliced, bruised, and beaten,but I always had that one claim to fame. Guess I have to give up my streak.

Sniper scoops me up and he’s running for the clubhouse. The pain of the movements has me shutting my eyes and gritting my teeth to keep from crying out. “Medic!” he yells as soon as get inside.

When we reach the med bay, I see that Medic is still working on Crypt, Rose helping him, face pale, but eyes laser focused as she hands Medic the items he needs. When he hears us, Medic quickly turns his head our way. “I told you to fucking go down to the safe room,” Medic gripes. “Sniper, put her on the other bed. I need to get Crypt done or he’s dead. I’ll be over in a minute to give her a sedative.”

“No, I don’t need one,” I protest as Sniper is already moving to put me on the bed.

“Shut up,” Sniper bites out at me. My gaze whips up to his, furious that he dares to speak to me that way, but some of my anger dissipates when I see the fear in his eyes, along with the feral look on his face. This is not the cool and collected Sniper that everyone knows. This one is slowly losing control. “You’re going to do what you’re told and not argue. Your ass is already in trouble for not following orders, and the minute you’re healed, I’m going to make sure you understand that. Do you hear me, Athena?”

“Alright, fine,” I huff, deciding it’s better not to push him much farther. But before I can stop the words I add, “Now calm the hell down before you give yourself a stroke or a heart attack. Medic doesn’t need to worry about your ass too.”

Sniper’s eyes narrow at me, and I hear Rose give a soft chuckle, even as Medic tells her to keep pressure on whatever he’s doing, his gloves snap off and he rushes to grab whatever he needs to knock me out. Sniper doesn’t move, holding my hand as Medic checks the wound quickly, making me cry outin pain, before he stabs me with the needle, tosses it aside and heads back to Crypt, leaving Sniper to take care of me. Sniper soothes me as I breathe through the pain. Alright, Medic might not be my favorite person after that. Damn, that hurt worse than getting shot.

My eyelids grow heavy quickly, and a silly smile pulls at my lips. Oh yeah, I remember this feeling. It’s so good. I look up at Sniper, who’s watching me with a bemused look on his face. “You’re so hot,” I slur as I look at him. “You’re really going to be a silver fox ’fore long. Just have to hope that your dick doesn’t shrivel too. Cause I like it. ’Specially that piercing. That’s really nice. Can I feel it again soon?” I ask him.

I hear laughter somewhere, but I see Sniper’s lips twist in a smile. “Close your eyes, baby girl,” Sniper encourages, his hand stroking my hair as my head starts to loll.

“Okay,” I agree, more than ready to slip into such a comfy slumber. “Love you.” Then there’s nothing but darkness.

THIRTY-ONE

SNIPER

She holds everything about me in her hands.

I knowshe probably doesn’t mean it, and it’s just the drugs talking, but her words still hit me like a punch to the gut. I don’t move for a minute, but I know I can’t stay in here. I need to leave her with Medic, who will make sure she’s fine. I turn and see Rose looking at me past Medic’s shoulder. “We’ll take good care of her,” she promises me.

“That shot was through and through,” Medic tells me absently. “I need to sew her up and pump her full of antibiotics and she’ll be fine. Now get out of my space and deal with shit. I’ll have your woman patched up in no time.”

I hesitate, everything in me screaming to stay with her, but finally, I force myself to turn away from her after I press a kiss to her forehead. When I turn back, I ask Medic briskly, “What happened to Crypt?”

“He saved me,” Rose says tightly. “He and Thea were getting the rest of us pinned down behind the rock wall. Shadow and Viper got their families inside first. But someone popped up just as I was about to get inside, and I was in the direct line of fire. Crypt threw himself in front of the bullet, and Thea killed the other guy.” Her voice shakes, and I can see just how upset she is at the knowledge of what she just faced down.

“Will he make it?” I ask Medic bluntly.

“If I have anything to say about it,” Medic answers grimly. “But this isn’t the most sterile environment, so the biggest thing is going to be fighting the infection. I got the bullet out, and we’ve sewn the internal stuff back up and I think we’ve saved him from any permanent damage.”

“Good.” Relief fills me. We haven’t lost a single man, yet, and I want to keep it that way.

“Any other injuries?” Medic asks.

“Just scrapes and bruises, and a couple of grazes, but they can wait. Focus on saving Crypt and fixing up Thea. Who is guarding the women?”

“Last I saw, it was Stone with the dogs, but that was only because he was the only one in here when the shots started.”

I nod. I head outside, and I find that the clean-up has already started. I tell Bullet what Medic told me and Bullet nods, face grim. “It looks like they came up through Syn’s land to get here,” Bullet explains. “We’re fucking lucky Thea and Crypt were out here, brother.”

I nod, my gut clenching tightly at the thought. “But we managed to get them all, and any we missed we’ll round up. Now we need to clean this mess up.”

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