Page 76 of Butcher

Toxic’s t-shirt was off—though he’d put his cut back on because that was how we identified who not to shoot. The material was wadded up against Butcher’s skin. Blood was soaking in, turning it red.

I looked up at him, tears shimmering in my eyes. “Toxic-”

“I know. Come on, help me get him into the cabin.”

Grabbing Butcher’s feet, I tried to hold back my sobs as we carried him into the safety of the cabin.

CHAPTER 26

Butcher

Groaning, I opened my eyes. I frowned as Isla’s tear streaked face filled my vision. “Terror?” Why was she crying? A thought occurred to me and I ignored all the shouts for me to lay the fuck back down as I bolted upright and dragged Isla onto my lap on the couch. My hands were roaming all over her. “Where are you hurt?”

Toxic’s asshole face appeared next to her. “Right here, Big Guy. She’s hurt right here.” He folded his hands over his heart.

She pushed him away. “I’m not hurt,” she said with a watery laugh. “You are. Lay down.”

She shoved at my chest, and her words sank in, so I laid back down. My damn head was throbbing. I’d heard her scream my name, and turned just in time for that bitch behind me to pull the trigger. I’d managed to jerk far enough that the bullet hit me in the side. Now that I thought about it, that was throbbing too.

I’d just gotten to my feet when some fucker had tried to bash myhead in with the stock of his rifle. He’d cold clocked me from behind. Chicken shit. “What the hell happened?”

“I heard Isla scream,” Toxic told me. “By the time I got to you some asshole had knocked you out. I killed him and was trying to drag your sorry ass inside while the rest of the guys finished off the assassins and their crews.”

My eyes flicked around the room. Everyone was here. “They’re all dead?”

“Yeah, they are,” Lock told me.

Toxic leaned in and whispered, “Lock had one of his little tantrums after he saw you shot. Decided to end things himself.”

That didn’t surprise me. Lock’s been a bit pent up lately. When he blows his top, he goes big. I was just glad he’d lost his shit on our enemies rather than me and Toxic. It was always a tossup as to whether we were going to push him over the edge. My eyes locked on Isla again. “You sure you’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine,” she said, cupping my cheek. She was still sitting on my legs, my hand on her hip, keeping her in place. It was as if she knew that moving would make me lose my shit and drag her back again, so she stayed.

“Drifter did what he could to stop the bleeding,” Lock told me, motioning at the Saint’s Outlaw who was packing medical shit back into a bag, “but we need to get you looked at. Smoke, too. He took a bullet to the arm.”

“Looked at?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“He means you’re goin’ to see Crash Cart,” Hush answered with a smug grin.

“The fuck I am,” I growled. “You can bring Smoke there, but I’m fine. I don’t need shit.”

“That wasn’t a request, Butcher,” Lock said, glaring down at me. “You’re going.”

“Dammit,” I muttered, closing my eyes. “Just give me another bandage. I’ll be fine. No need to go to that place.”

“Let me get a hold of Switch real quick,” Isla said, “then we canleave. I need her to take down that hit on us before someone else gets the bright idea to try.”

“We’ll stay and take care of the bodies,” Kilo offered.

“That’s a lot of work,” Lock replied. “I’ll leave some of my guys to help you.”

“Naw, get them home. I’m sure their families are anxious to see them,” Kilo said. “I’ll call Ruck, get a few more men up here.”

“The place is yours for as long as you need, or want, it,” Isla told him. “Use the pit trap in the back, it doubles as a fire pit.”

I kept my eyes closed as they spoke. It kept the damn world from spinning. I fucking hated being injured. It was best to pretend like nothing had ever happened and eventually the injuries just went away. Ireallyhated the idea of going to Crash’s. No wound was worth it.

“Take this.”

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