Page 86 of Damaged Princess

"So he's dead?"

Vik picks me up and carries me back outside. "It depends on which vertebrae Wolfe got. Hopefully…"

I shrug. I'm pretty much positive I'm in shock, but at least I'm not having a breakdown. I'm also really sure Dimitri won'tbe hurting anyone with a broken neck. And that's all that really matters to me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rafe

Murphy and Luke drag Dimitri's body off the porch and into the backyard.

I help Wolfe take a seat on the steps. "I'm pretty sure that's going to need at least a couple of stitches."

Wolfe shrugs. "Can you see bone?"

"No," I sputter. "But he tried to bash your skull into your brain matter…"

"I'll be fine. They've got to have some super glue around here somewhere." He slaps my hand away and takes over holding the towel.

"We've got some at the house," Murphy says, like this entire situation isn't a visit to crazy town.

"This fuckwad is still alive." Luke frowns, holding two fingers to Dimitri's neck. "It's faint, but it's still there. Was that purposeful?"

"Asshole. Was it purposeful?" Wolfe scoffs.

"Technically it's extremely hard to kill someone from a broken neck. At least instant death. In most cases it causes paralysis that in turn causes organ collapse and then death," I tell them helpfully. All three of them look at me like I'm an idiot. Of course they already know that.

"Give it a few minutes, and I'll have finished the job just fine," Wolfe grumbles, still holding the towel to the back of his skull.

"I would have twisted his head right off his shoulders," Vik grumbles, stepping around Wolfe and coming to stand by the rest of us. The veins on his neck and arms are poking out and he still looks half feral. I believe it would have been a lot bloodier if he got his hands on Dimitri.

Vik's holding Ana so close to his chest that I vaguely wonder if she can breathe properly.

"Of course you would have," Wolfe says, sighing heavily. "In case anyone cares, I'm about ninety-nine percent sure I've also got a concussion. I'm still seeing double."

"Hey, asshole," Luke says, chuckling. "How many fingers am I holding up?”

"Two," Wolfe says without a lick of hesitation. "Why do you have two middle fingers on that hand?"

"That's not a good sign," Ana says, carefully untangling herself from Vik's hold and heading over to Wolfe once she's back on her feet. "We should get you to a hospital."

She's extremely numb in the bond. Which is concerning as hell. I'd imagine most civilians would be freaking out right about now.

Hell, I don't think I'll be able to forget the sick crunch of his bones breaking… Not for a long time. It was gruesome from where I was. I can't imagine what it sounded like up close and personal.

"What are we doing about that?" Luke asks, scratching at his jaw and frowning at Dimitri's body. He's no longer checking for a pulse, which hopefully means this shit show is over.

"I'd just like to officially say I told you so," Murphy says, crossing his arms over his chest. He kicks Dimitri in the thigh. "If we'd bought that large animal sanctuary, we'd be set right now. Free food for the animals."

"God." Luke laughs. "You're never letting that shit go. Okay, get it all out before we get back to the others."

"I mean…" I sigh when all their heads swivel my direction. "We've done nothing wrong. He came here with bad intentions. Add in the fact we're in a stand-your-ground state…"

"You want to call in Ned?" Murphy asks, scratching at his beard. Ned is the town's chief of police. "That seems like a lot of unnecessary headache." He looks at Wolfe. "No pun intended."

Anastasia snorts. Wolfe frowns. We're firmly in crazy town territory. Why is this even a question?

"There's definitely grounds to call it in," Luke says, leaning down again. "I figure if we give him about another two or three minutes he'll be nice and dead by the time they get here."

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