Page 36 of Frosted Hearts

"I said the bitch deserves what's coming to her for shooting my brother," he snarls. My eyes narrow into slits with his words, the fight within me even stronger to make this man pay.

"You all deserve your deaths for coming after her. His death is on you, and you alone," I growl, lifting my hand and shoving my knife right into the center of his chest, directly at heart level. This time, I leave the knife there, knowing he has no energy to even pull it out himself. "Go to hell," I snarl, pushing his body away from me and letting him drop to the floor. I stand over him, watching the light leave his eyes as he succumbs to death.

"Steel?" Illeana mumbles through the tears as she approaches my side. She's careful not to touch me anywhere but I can see that she wants to.

"Where's Grace?" I ask, taking a step down the hall. I have no idea how many men are left in this house or surrounding it.

"She's safe. They only took me." Her answers make me pause, as I turn to look at her in question. "I shut the safe room door behind me before they could pull her out. What do you need me to do?"

"Go back to the safe room and stay there. Don't come out no matter what anyone says this time," I give her a pointed look. Right now isn't the time to lecture her for being stupid. No, I need her locked up safe while I take stock and see how many are left.

"That was the last guy, he told me so himself. You need help, Steel," she grasps my arm trying to pull me toward the dining room. I don't let her move me, instead grasping her around the waist and pulling her into my body. I just need a minute to holdher, and then I'll go check the perimeter and see if that man lied to her or not. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Mercenaries like him can't be trusted. "Steel!" she gasps trying to pull out of my hold. "You're bleeding!"

"That tends to happen when you get stabbed," I chuckle in an attempt to make light of the situation. "Did you text Knox?"

"Yeah, he said everyone was on their way and they should be here soon. Said someone called the Brotherhood or something would be here first."

"Okay, that's good. Trust them, they will keep you both safe. Ask for Shadow or Jagger," I grunt barely able to get the words out.Fuck!This isn't good. I'm losing too much blood and my vision is beginning to turn blurry. "Get to the safe room and stay there," I demand once again trying to push her in that direction.

"No, I'm not leaving you alone. You can't even stand on your own," she retorts, grasping my arm.

Now that she mentions it, the room is starting to spin. I don't have time to warn her before I lose my balance and my will to keep my eyes open. The ground is coming too quickly and the next thing I know, it's lights out.

"STEEL!" I scream, my voice cracking as I try to catch him and lower him to the ground. The man is huge, and all I manage to do is fall to the ground right beside him. I did at least manage to stop him from hitting his head. He already has a decent amount of blood coming from the back of his head as it is and from a cut above his left eye. How he was still fighting as much as he did I have no idea. It's a miracle for sure.

Standing, I rush to the kitchen and grab as many kitchen towels as I can, running back and dropping to my knees beside Steel's prone form. From everything I remember reading in books and seeing in movies, I need to apply pressure to the wound and slow the bleeding. Balling up one of the towels, I press it against his side and hold it there while fumbling in my pocket, trying to get Steel's phone out. I have no idea what to do next. I'm hoping that Knox can walk me through it or know someone who can.

"Illeana?" Grace's voice calls out softly.

Damnit, Grace! Why couldn't you just stay in the damn safe room as I asked you to?"You need to go back to the safe room Grace," I demand, keeping my eyes on what I'm doing.

"I can help. Please," she begs, crying from where she stands nearby.

"You don't need to see this," I state, shaking my head. Hitting Knox's name on the phone and lifting it to my ear as I listen to it ring.

"Steel," Knox grunts as he answers. "Give me an update."

"Steel was stabbed and is currently passed out on the floor," I cry out, the tears falling over, unable to hold them back anymore. I'm terrified and the adrenaline is wearing off now.

"Okay, listen to me carefully," Knox states in a soothing tone. "I need you to get some towels and press them against the wound. Don't let go. We need to slow the bleeding down. Where is the stab wound?"

"I... I already am applying pressure," I stutter, focusing on what he's telling me to do. "Where are you?"

"We're on the way and will be there as fast as we can," he answers. "Where is the stab wound, Illeana? I can't help you if you don't answer the questions."

"It's on his side. His left side." My eyes cut to Grace, as I watch her drop to her knees beside me.

"Okay, we need to try to stitch him up," Knox begins, but I cut him off.

"I can't do that. I have no idea what I'm doing," I shout. "I can't hurt him. You need to get here and do it. I can't lose him. Please!" I beg.

"You won't lose him if you listen to me carefully. You are the only one who can do this. Put the phone on video chat. Is Grace there with you so I can tell her where the supplies are?" Knox asks.

"She's here," I answer, nodding my head as I move the phone and put him on a video call. He answers immediately and begins speaking calmly to Grace, telling her where there are medical supplies in the master bedroom bathroom. I watch her follow hisinstructions, running out of the room. "How am I supposed to do this?" I ask, trying to compose myself. I need to be strong for Steel. He won't make it if I don't, and I'll never forgive myself. "Oh, Steel was worried about more people, but I haven't seen anyone else. Are we safe?" I don't know why that's what came to my mind right now, but if someone comes in while I'm working on Steel I'll have no way to fight back.

"I checked the cameras while we were talking, I've been watching them since you texted me. Steel handled all of them. You are safe. Is Grace back?" He asks at the same time, she rushes back into the room, dropping the supplies beside me. "Good, Grace, I need you to go boil a hot pot of water and bring it to your sister. Illeana, I need you to dig in the medical bag and find the alcohol. You are going to pour a good bit of it over the wound when you remove the towel. You need to be quick though because he is going to keep bleeding as you do this. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I can do that, I think," I answer, digging with my free hand in the bag until I find the bottle of rubbing alcohol he was talking about.

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