Page 77 of What's Left of Me

On the right side of his face, there was a long, thin, silver scar under his chin by his lower lip and another on the upper one as if he’d done a lip replacement and it hadn’t taken. Aside from them appearing swollen, he wasn’t hideous. I’d seen worse—way worse.

“I’ll kill you,” he growled. This time as he came at me and I swung, I missed. He tackled me to the ground and hovered over me. “I don’t think you deserve the beauty of a rebirth.” He yanked the pipe out of my hand. “Let’s see if the firebird can fly with a broken wing.” He raised it up and connected with my arm, and I cried out.

Hazel’s head came up and when she saw me, her eyes widened, then she focused on Amo. She tried to get free of the chains and when she couldn’t, she kicked out, getting him right in the knee.

“You bitch.” He turned and slammed the pipe across her face. Blood sprayed onto the wall, and she slumped over.

“Hazel!” I shouted.

“You have problems of your own.” He raised the pipe again, connecting with my ankle. It was like fire shooting up my leg, and I fell on my back, my head falling to the side. I could see Hazel; her eyes were closed. Please let her be alive.

“You could have been amazing, firebird.”

I closed my eyes and waited for the final blow. The last thought I had was of Noel, his smile, his eyes, the love he made sure I felt every moment we were together. I’d miss his kisses most of all. I wished I told him I loved him.…Maybe he knew.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Noel

When we wereclose to the shed, I heard Phoenix scream his sister’s name, and I double-timed it. It was pitch dark, but I had the flashlight on my phone and I knew we were close.

At the shed, I didn’t hesitate and shattered the door. Amo was hovering over Phoenix, a pipe raised above his head.

“No way, fucker.” I leaped over the table and slammed into Amo, both of us crashing to the ground.

“Noel!” Phoenix shouted, but I had a psycho killer to deal with.

“You motherfucker, you don’t touch the man I love.” I grabbed the pipe that had fallen from his hands and started hitting him with it. I put every ounce of muscle I had into that. I didn’t want Carmichael arresting him; he had to die. Monsters don’t get to walk with legends and Phoenix was just that, a legend in my book.

“Noel, stop.” Someone tried pulling me off him but they couldn’t. I was determined; he had to die.

Suddenly I was flying backward and hitting the floor while Gabe was holding me down.

“Brother, enough. We got him, he’s dead, you killed him.”

“Phoenix.” I tried to get up, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Not like this, calm yourself. He’s hurt, Hazel is hurt. You need to get your shit together.”

I swallowed and breathed. “Okay, Gabe, you need to get off me. I need him. I…”

I felt a hand in mine and turned my head. Phoenix had crawled to me, his smile shaky, tears pouring from his eyes.

“Baby.”

Gabe moved, and Phoenix collapsed on my chest. I held him as tightly as I could without hurting him. He sobbed into my shirt, and relief washed through me. Knowing he was alive brought a rush of contentment right to my heart, and I was sobbing right along with him.

I didn’t know how long we were like that but cops, EMTs, and FBI agents were all coming and going. Hazel was breathing, but they rushed her out to the ambulance.

Eventually I helped Phoenix to sit; then I scooped him up.

“Sir, I need to check him out,” an EMT said.

“I’m getting him out of this box of torture. I’ll carry him to your rig and go with you to the hospital.”

No one argued, and Carmichael glanced at me as I walked by with Phoenix. Gone was the anger; he nodded. I had no idea what would happen to me and at that moment, I didn’t care. Phoenix was alive, the victims had all been rescued, and The Broken-Doll Killer was no more. That was enough for me.

BNN News Outlet:“The manhunt for The Broken-Doll Killer has come to an end tonight. Amo Cormac, owner of a string of cafés across the world, was the man behind the mask. Unfortunately, there will be no trial. He won’t be able to face his victims and pay for his crimes. Sources tell us one of his victims attacked Cormac, killing him. Maybe it was justice—that’s not for us to decide. Six victims were rescued from various locations tonight, and the bodies of two were taken out by the coroner. We’re also told he had accomplices. More on their information to come. For now, the world can sleep a little easier tonight knowing The Broken-Doll Killer is no more.”

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