Page 47 of The Madman's Nightmare
Slipping my hand into his, I felt the thick, sticky blood coating his palm. I should be grossed out or fearful of what he was capable of, but seeing him willing to do whatever it took to protect our family made him more desirable in my eyes.
“They’re never going to tell us anything,” I remarked, and he gave a solemn nod. “End this and let’s go home.”
He looked between the two broken people and lifted his gun toward Michael. Even missing half his teeth, a few fingers, and bleeding profusely, he tried to delay the inevitable. “If you kill us, you’ll never find your daughter.”
Hesitation hit us both, and he looked down at me. I shook my head, believing this to be another manipulation to keep them alive longer, and if I was wrong, then we would have to deal with the fallout. Devlin’s face hardened, and he turned back to Michael, pulling the trigger and shooting him in the middle of his forehead.
Blood dripped down the side of his face as his lifeless eyes stared off into nothing. Delilah, seemingly awoken from her semi-coma, lulled her head to the side. She looked between a dead Michael and Devlin before she pressed a smile onto her busted lips. “I knew you’d come around, lover.”
“What?” he asked and slid back a foot, pulling me with him. “What did you say?”
“With him out of the way, you and I can start fresh, without anything holding us back,” she reasoned. “We can leave the baggage behind us and have a good life.”
“What the fuck did you say to my husband, bitch?” I asked and pushed around Devlin, placing myself between Delilah and him. I was pissed and lifted the gun, leveling it on the center of Delilah’s face.
“Go to hell, misfit. You never belonged with him anyway. He was always meant to be mine, but you just couldn’t stop begging for scraps of his attention, could you? Pathetic,” she added.
“Devlin?” I looked at him and asked, “Is there any reason why I can’t end this now?”
“You don’t have the guts,” Delilah scolded. “The only thing you’ve ever been good at is spreading your legs. Just like your whore of a mother.”
I nodded. “You’re right. My mother was a whore, and my father was a pimp. But you know what, you crazy cunt? I’m not anything like the people who created me, and I have the one thing you’ve always wanted, but never had.” I aimed the weapon at the center of her face and added, “Devlin’s heart.”
The bullet tore through Delilah’s face before she could respond, ripping through her open mouth and out the back of her head. Her body twitched as she lay strapped to the table, missing fingers, knees, part of an ear, and covered in countless cuts.
Devlin grabbed me, spinning us around so I wouldn’t have to watch Delilah die. He glanced behind him, I’m sure seeing blood, teeth, flesh, and brains splattered on the floor around her.
James walked up, and I handed him the gun, remarking, “Can you give this back to Rhys, please?”
James nodded with a smirk on his face as Lucian and Skid walked over to Devlin and me. The pain in my ribs hadn’t been bad all day, but the longer I stood there, the greater it became. Lucian looked between Devlin and me and remarked, “You two are quite the pair, aren’t you?”
Devlin looked down at me and smiled. “She’s my precious Lamb.”
Trying to hide the pain that was building, I smiled at him.
“How do you handle this?” I inquired.
Skid explained, “It takes less than two hours to dissolve something that size in lye.”
“Oh,” I said to his statement. “I guess I’ll let Amaya take me back home.”
“I’ll take you home, baby. I’m not needed here anymore,” Devlin suggested.
“Are you sure?” I inquired.
“Why don’t you go out with Rhys and Amaya, and I’ll be out in a minute to take us home,” he replied and leaned over, kissing my cheek softly.
Walking out of the room, I heard James and Devlin speaking about some of the things they had told them during their interrogation, but I didn’t linger to hear what they were discussing. Whatever it was, I had no doubt that my husband would get it sorted out. James walked over quickly and pressed a code into the door so I could leave the old metal room.
“You did good, sister,” he whispered.
Stepping out into the warehouse, I saw Amaya and Rhys standing off to the side. She rushed to me and checked me overbefore gently pulling me into a hug. I returned the gesture and she looked back at the closed door and asked.
“Do I need to take you home?”
Shaking my head, I leaned against a crate and responded, “Devlin will be here in a few minutes to take me home.”
Rhys walked up and asked, “Is everything settled?”
