Page 73 of Frenzy
But quitting had never been in my DNA. That was evidenced by the fact my father pursued his wife and Naja until his dying day. The fact I was in this position to start with. The fact that I had a Pack of beautifully stubborn people.
I got a good slice across Eldridge’s calf, making the fucker drop to one knee. I took the opportunity to launch myself at him, because this was it. Do or die. And I didn’t want to die, not really. I still had a family to protect, and Pryce needed me. He’d need me most now that Bonnie and Radic… No. Until I saw their fucking bodies with my own two eyes, they were alive. I refused to believe otherwise.
I screamed as I slashed at Eldridge’s face and body, and he scrambled away as quickly as he could, dragging himself to his good leg and hopping away faster than I could commando crawl.
Spinning on his good leg, he switched directions, diving until he was on top of me, his claws buried in my gut.
All the air left my body. This is how I died then, against an unworthy opponent.
Eldridge was saying something, but I couldn’t hear over the sound of nothingness rushing through my head. Maybe it wasn’t nothing.
Noise suddenly roared in my ears and I realized it was someone screaming, turning my head to see Dominic sprinting toward me. He’d be too late, I knew this, as Eldridge clenched his fist, pulverizing my insides and making me scream.
Fuck. I was going to die screaming in the dirt. Not how I thought it would happen.
I watched Dominic get closer, pulling his gun, but he was too slow. Like he was running through quicksand. There was a boom, and then it was raining gore. Eldridge’s head exploded, and his hand released as his body slid to the side. The momentum tore his claws out of me slowly and torturously, and I thought it might have pulled out some of my intestines too. I looked into his now unrecognizable face.
Yeah, now I could die happy.
I turned to look back at Dominic, who slid onto his knees beside me. The sand around us was so red that the color was visible to my eyes even in this darkness.
Beyond Dominic was a head staring sightlessly at me from the sand. I hissed when I realized it was Doc’s head. Blood loss made my brain confused, because how the fuck did that happen? Didn’t matter. I had no strength left to wonder.
I looked up at Dominic, who was crying. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Dominic cry, ever. Not even when he was a kid and his Pack sold him to us for a few bricks of cocaine and a blow job.
I tried to lift my hand but I was no longer in control.
“Love you.”
Goddess, keep them safe.
42
Dominic
Thirty minutes earlier
When I got to the infirmary, no one was around. No Doc. No one. Radic wasn’t answering his phone, and neither was Courtland. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Laying Bonnie down on a hospital bed, I checked her wounds. I didnt know what the fuck to do. I wasn’t a surgeon. Where the fuck was Doc?
“Stay with me, baby. I’ll find him, okay?”
There was a bang on the front door, and then Murphy was in my face, his gun pointing at me. I bared my teeth, pulling my own gun, but he raised his hands.
“Hey, we’re cool, we’re cool. Merrick!” There was blood all down his shirt. “We heard the gunshot and found him like this—I swear it, Dom.” Merrick walked in, and my heart dropped to my stomach. In his arms was a bleeding Radic. Murphy looked around me at Bonnie and gasped. “What the fuck is going on?”
I couldn’t help the snarl that climbed up my throat. “A coup. A motherfucking coup. They have Pryce,” I choked out. “I can’t find Doc, and Courtland isn’t answering his phone. Is anyone else medically trained?”
Merrick was shaking his head, lying Radic down on the metal examination table in the corner. “Not really. Bonnie was Doc’s backup, and even she can’t do anything more technical than field medicine. Can Loren do any kind of magic to heal it?”
A lump so big I thought I’d suffocate on it lodged itself in my throat. “Loren is dead. He took the bullet meant for me.”
Merrick’s face morphed from shock to pity. “I’m sorry, man.”
I didn’t have time to think about Loren’s death right now. I dragged my cell from my pocket and dialled.
It answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
