Page 87 of Whiskey Run Heroes

My heart plummets, and I can’t breathe as I take in the bloody scene in front of me.

Kali is sitting with her back against the wall. Her feet are duct taped together at the ankles. She’s holding a jagged piece ofmetal in her bloody grasp. There’s blood on her shirt and even some on her face.

“Kali!” I yell, and my voice doesn’t even sound like me. I’m terrified she’s dead; she hasn’t moved, and she’s just staring at the ground, no recollection in her eyes.

I move in closer to her. “Kali, honey?”

She blinks and looks up from the floor. “Knox! Oh Knox, I’m so sorry I lied to you.” She drops the weapon, and tears streak through the blood splatter on her face.

Nick is dead on the ground in front of her, stabbed multiple times. Blood is everywhere, and there is a stab in the heart and the blade is still there, a pocketknife.

Kali looks at the dead body but jerks her head away. “Can you get my knife for me?”

“Where’d you get that?” I ask as I pull the knife from the man’s chest. Normally I would leave it and follow protocol, but I can’t tell Kali no. I wipe it on my pant leg and close it up before handing it to her.

“That guy that bought my car gave it to me in case I needed it. I had forgotten about it, but it was in my pocket.”

Thank God, I think.What would have happened if she didn’t have it? I lift her up in my embrace, and she winces. I hold her easily to me, but I don’t let her go. “You got him, Kali. Thank God you’re all right.”

I don’t want to let her go, but I know she’s going to need help down from the train. Bear is below me, and he’s so tall I can reach her down easily. “Hold on, baby. Bear’s going to help me get you down, but I’m coming after you.”

She doesn’t respond, and I’m trying not to freak out by how quiet and withdrawn she is.

“I got her,” Bear grunts, holding his arms out to me.

I bend down and help her into Bear’s arms. As soon as he has her and moves back, I jump off the platform to the ground with them. “Here,” I say to him.

He puts her back into my arms, and I hold her against me. She’s covered in blood, and I don’t know where she’s hurt.

“I need to take you to the hospital and get you cleaned up.”

Finally, she seems to wake up. “No, I’m fine. Don’t leave me.”

I press my nose to the side of her neck and breathe her in. I can’t believe I almost lost her. “I’m not leaving you... ever.”

“Kali!” Nico hollers.

He and Carter are running down the track. I don’t even know how they were able to stop the train, but I’m glad they did. However, I was ready to follow it wherever I needed to go.

Nico stops, stunned when he sees that Kali is covered in blood. “It’s not hers,” I reassure him, and when he reaches for her, I know I have to let her go to him. He grips on to her until she moans. “Ease up, Nico. I’m not sure where she’s hurt.”

He looks at me over the top of her head. He’s mad. I know he is. He blames me for this because I promised I would protect her. “This is your fault,” Nico says.

I don’t try to argue with him. I’m already eaten up with guilt. “I know.”

“No!” Kali says and then pushes out of Nico’s arms and stumbles into mine. I grab her and hold her up. “No! It’s not Knox’s fault. I snuck out. He didn’t know.”

“Kali, baby—” I tell her, not wanting her to get upset.

“No, Nico, look at me. I’m alive. I’m okay.”

He nods and takes a deep breath. “Let’s get you cleaned up. You need to call your sister.”

She refuses to go to the hospital, so we sit her in one of the ambulances that is here, and I have Logan sew up the cuts on her hands. He’s the most meticulous of all of us, and when he wasin the military he was a doctor, so having him around comes in handy.

We all stand around at the back of the open doors watching her, and she doesn’t even flinch as she gets sewn up.

“She’s tough as hell. Always has been,” Nico says.

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