Page 47 of Come to Head

“Untie her,” Emilio snarled out, stepping into the bedroom just behind Maddox. He surveyed the area, his harsh features turning soft as he met my eyes. “You did a good job, Isa.”

My men were here. I was safe.

I went to turn my head and look down. To see exactly what I had done, but Oliver finished freeing my wrist and swept me into his arms before I could. He blocked my vision with his hand.

“Take her to the car,” Oliver ordered, maneuvering me into Maddox’s waiting embrace.

Maddox’s calm aura wrapped around me as he quickly left the room. He held me as if I was a newborn. My head rested on one arm as he cradled me.

I loved Oliver and Emilio, but it was with Maddox that I finally could relax. That I knew no matter what, he would keep calm and sane.

“Yara…my dad?” I whispered out hoarsely, watching his face carefully.

Maddox’s lips tightened. A crease forming between his eyebrows. “Your dad is safe. Yara is”–his arms flexed, tugging me even closer into his frame–“I won’t lie to you. She is hurtbadly.”

We were walking down a hallway now, and I squirmed against him, wanting to escape, needing to go to her.

“Stay still. She’s in the hospital. We found her first. You were taken to a different location. That’s why we were so late.”

He looked down as he stepped over something.

I followed his attention. A body. It was face up, but I didn’t recognize who it was since half of their head was missing.

Maddox covered my eyes as Oliver had, stopping me from taking any more of the carnage in. It wasn’t the only body in this hallway.

I found that I didn’t even care. My mind focused solely on my friend.

“You need to take me to her!”

Yara had to be all right. I needed to see her. I needed tangible proof that she wasn’t going to die. That she would make it through this.

She had to.

“I will, but Ellie”–his voice broke–“please, Ellie. Please don’t leave us like that again. This world that Emilio is in isn’t safe. I want nothing more than to take you away from both of those men. Neither deserve you.”

Maddox finally pushed open a door at the end of the hallway of death, and I blinked my eyes at the onslaught of light.

How much time has passed?

“Maddox.” The word came out shaky, raspily. My throat was sore from being nearly strangled to death.

Maddox paused, staring down at me before placing his forehead to mine. His was much cooler than my own, and I welcomed it.

“Don’t be mistaken. I amnevergoing anywhere. And I won’t take you from either of them. I know how much you care about them. How much you love them. And that’s okay. You are worth it. I love you. But I need you to be careful.Please.”

I reached my hands up to cup his face but paused.

They were covered in a sticky red, something reminiscent of silly putty. “I killed him.”

Maddox walked to a vehicle parked on the road. We were on the outskirts of town, the industrial district, and it was the only visible vehicle I could see.

He maneuvered open the door and slid into the backseat, his arms still wrapped around me. “He was going to die one way or another. You simply sped up the process.”

“I should feel bad. I should feel distraught.”

“You’re in shock.”

I shook my head laying it against his chest, listening to the steady beat there. “No, Maddox…I think…I think I liked it.” As soon as I spoke the words, I knew them to be true.

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