Page 18 of Mountain Murder

Air pressurized in her chest, aching for freedom, but it wouldn’t budge. Audrey hit against his forearms with everything she had, but he was too strong. Too heavy for her to escape. She tried to drive her knee into his side, but he quickly pinned her to the floor with both legs.

“You should’ve been there for her, Audrey.” Wavy hair frizzed out away from his head, highlighting the same angles to his jaw as he shared with his sister. His eyes ping-ponged across her face as Dominic put all of his weight into crushing her. It was easy to imagine her patient taking her brother’s place. That her hands were the ones locked around Audrey’s throat. Tears splashed across her cheeks from above. “You should’ve saved her. Why didn’t you save her?”

The shadows grew thicker. As though she could feel them physically enclosing around her. Webs penetrated the edges of her vision. Gravity had an intense hold on her, yet she felt lighter in some places. “S-sorry.”

That single word sounded so pathetic and weak.

Holding nothing of the emotion bottled inside.

“An apology isn’t going to bring her back.” Emotion drained from his voice. The pain inside of him had effectively become numb. Something that couldn’t reach him anymore. It was evident in the tightening of his hands around her neck. In the way he straightened his arms to put as much distance between their faces as possible.

Her fingers ached as she tried to pry him free. He was going to kill her. Because she’d failed to save the one soul that mattered to him the most. And she deserved it, didn’t she? She’d punished herself all this time, accepting responsibility. Burned herself out trying to be everything to her clients. A support system, a listener, a problem solver, a friend, a backup plan, a sin eater. And, in the process of trying to redeem herself for one life lost, she’d left nothing for herself. Being needed had somehow equated to being loved, but that wasn’t true.

Because of Lance.

Because she’d found something she wanted for herself. Him. With his triggers, with his withdrawals and episodes. With his need to make things right with his family. His smile, his strength, his standards and sarcasm. There was an easiness and a connection between them that’d given her a lifeline these past few days. The need the ensure he was happy over her own needs hadn’t reared its ugly little head, and for the first time in years, Audrey felt like herself. Whole.

She deserved to be whole. Just as her patients did.

And she’d punished herself enough. “N-o.”

Audrey released one hand from his. She clawed at his face. Skin built up beneath her fingernails as his groan filled her head. But it wasn’t enough. She tried to bring her leg up, to get some kind of leverage against him. But it still wasn’t enough.

He wouldn’t stop. Even if she escaped tonight, even if she escaped a thousand more times, Dominic wouldn’t stop until she was dead. His grief wouldn’t let him stop.

So she had to die. Right here. Right now. She had to give him what he needed in order to give herself what she did. Numbness spread into her fingers and toes. Her body was starving of oxygen, trying to compartmentalize what was left into her brain, lungs, and heart. The muscles in her legs spasmed before losing their strength altogether.

He was killing her. Slowly but surely. One limb at a time.

She jerked under his weight, her head falling back against the floor. She couldn’t help but notice this was almost the exact same position in which she’d found his sister dead. Just a few more inches to the left. But she wasn’t going to end up like her. She wasn’t going to give up.

Her mouth parted in one final attempt to inhale, and she relaxed into the floor against her will. Eyes heavy, Audrey lost her hold on him, slipping away.

“That’s it. Just let go.” One second. Two. Three.

She let go. Her hand fell to the floor.

Dominic’s exhale brushed against the underside of her jaw as he released his grip from around her throat. But she wouldn’t move. She wouldn’t breathe. Not yet. He shifted off of her, and a rush of blood rushed back into her legs.

The door burst open.

He spun to confront the mountain of muscle and rage and defensiveness barging inside.

And gave her the opening she needed.

Audrey forced her eyes open and took a deep, cleansing breath. Then reached for the blade still stuck in the TV stand above her shoulder. She pulled it free a split second before Dominic turned all that pain back onto her. Wrenching her upper body off the floor, she stabbed him in the middle.

Time distorted as warm liquid seeped over her hands, clasped around the hilt. His mouth worked to form words. He shifted away from her, his back against the coffee table. “You…you should’ve saved her.”

Audrey let go of the knife. It thudded to the floor. The outline she’d gauged as one man coming through the door split into two as she heaved for oxygen. The room refused to stay in one place, but Dominic’s slack features stayed distinctly his. Not his sister’s.

“Audrey.” Strong hands gripped her arms, keeping her from falling apart right there in the middle of the floor. “Can you hear me?”

Instant recognition had her leaning into the man pulling her to her feet. Her heart rate eased down from the rafters as Lance dragged her close. Exactly where she needed to be. She stumbled as pins and needles assaulted her feet and calves, but he held her up. He kept her strong. Tears burned in her eyes at the thought of so much pain, so much loss, shaping her world, and she turned her face into Lance’s chest. “It’s finally over.”

“Yeah.” His voice vibrated beneath her temple as he threaded his hand into her hair. “It’s over. I’ve got you.”

“His name is Dominic Cote. His sister was my patient.” There should’ve been relief in Lance’s words. She should’ve felt…something, but she could only think of Inez McGarthy’s blank expression as Audrey had stumbled over her body in the woods. The same expression Dominic shared now. “None of this needed to happen. I could’ve helped him. If he’d just come to me after…”

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