Page 95 of Savage Hunter

I shake my head more worried for everyone else. Two more SUV’s pull in behind us. Three men I don’t recognize haul a bleeding Dragon from the SUV behind us. He’s unconscious and bleeding.

“Gunshot wound to the shoulder and chest,” one of them calls out.

Oh, God! No! Dragon can’t die. His baby girl. I clamp a hand over my mouth and squeeze my eyes closed.

“Get them into the infirmary! Move your fucking asses. Surgeons are waiting!” Harlon roars. Ares is beside him helping load Wolfe onto a rolling gurney. “Anyone who can give blood, get your asses to the infirmary. We are going to need a lot.”

I grip Wolfe’s hand on the ride up. He’s so damn cold. And unmoving, I realize. The blood in my face drains to my feet. I feel for a pulse. I can’t catch my breath for the fear choking me. “Wolfe!” I try again. Nothing! Chills erupt. My chest locks with anguish.

“Wolfe!” I scream. His chest isn’t moving.

Harlon pushes me into Riot’s arms. “Get her the fuck out of here the second the doors open. Don’t let her see this.” Riot grabs the back of my head and tucks me into his chest.

“Don’t look sweetheart. Fuck, don’t look. Just pray, baby girl. Pray for him.” His words are kind whispers in my ear but all I want is to feel Wolfe’s touch again. Hear his voice and hear him tell me he will be okay.

“No, no, no!” My hysteria builds. I fight to get back to Wolfe, but Riot is stronger. “No!” I scream and struggle against his unbreaking hold on me.

Riot gives in and lets me turn around, but his hold on me doesn't lessen. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.” But the fear in his eyes is a whole other story.

“Come on, you son of a bitch, don’t you dare leave her!” Harlon is up on the bed compressing Wolfe’s chest while someone breathes into his mouth. Nurses and doctors put needles in his arms. They hook up monitor cables.

Beep. Beep.

My hands grip Riot’s arms. I look up to see the same hope in his eyes that blooms in my heart.

I don’t know what Harlon does to keep surgeons and ER doctors on hand. I don’t care as long as they save the man I love.

“Save him,” I beg. “Save him.”

I can’t focus on faces or what they are saying. My heart links with Wolfe’s. I can feel the life draining from him. My soul reaches for him but only silence reaches back.

I tear out of Riot’s arms and fall over Wolfe. “Don’t leave me, Wolfe. I’ll be your angel again and you can and forever will be the love of my life. Stay.”

The heart monitor drops. The red spike flatlines.

My love is not enough.

Wolfe is gone.

Twenty

Wolfe

Ithought I knew the difference between living for love and dying for it. Turns out there is no difference. It’s the same damn thing and one way hurts just as much as the other. I should know. I hunted Harmonia to the ends of the earth. The pain of not having her at my side drove me insane. And now I’ve died for that love and I can attest to the pain being equally soul crushing.

I figured I could palm a twenty to St. Peter and see myself through the pearly gates.

Hell, it almost worked. Everything was white with this ethereal glowy effect. Warm and peaceful. There for a while I didn’t hurt, the hole in my chest left from the months I spent desperately hunting for Harmonia didn’t exist. It was complete bliss. I saw the light, and it was beautiful. And then it all ended. A sledgehammer to the chest would have been softer than whatever knocked my ass back into my body.

I went from floating in heaven to burning alive and feeling every part of my body on fire. Not from hell’s flames, but from the pain.

I guess God took one look at my rap sheet and scratched my name off the list. Fair enough. I don’t blame him. I’m more apt for hell, anyway.

I swear to God the out-of-body experience is not a joy ride. Not recommended. Zero out of ten. Having my soul ripped from my body was like taking a nosedive off a forty-foot cliff with no parachute. And then crash landing head first.

Fun times right before the leap.

But not really. It’s all an illusion.

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