Captivate Me (26 page)

On the last word, something hard hits me in the side. His hands release me, and I crash hard to the ground, my head hitting the tile hard.

“Now,” I hear Princess scream as a little ball goes rolling across the floor. Suddenly, it bursts open, shining a light so bright another planet could see it.

I close my eyes and shield myself as guns go off and loud thumps sound all around us. My head throbs, and I feel blood running down the side of my face. I try to roll over but only get to my stomach.

“Ma, don’t know what the fuck that is, but stay down,” I hear Princess say and feel her pull me with her across the floor as she crawls.

There is no way in hell she’s using her eyesight for this. That’s my girl, going with her gut.

“Stay!” she orders, pushing me against a hard wall. My head throbs, and it’s hard to think. My eyes burn, and the sounds of women and men’s screams tear through my ears.

I fight to breathe. I fight to hold on. I fight to take in anything and everything around me. Only, I can’t.

I must’ve hit my head too hard. Everything is fuzzy. Everything hurts. Everything is … black.

It hurts worse than any pain I’ve endured. My chest feels like a hole was placed in it. I could probably look through it to the other side. My skin burns, and I can smell the scent of burnt flesh. I try to move, but I can’t.

I try my fingers: nothing. Toes: nothing. Arms: nothing. I can hear screams, things exploding, and debris falling to the ground, but I can’t move.

And I can’t hear Buzz, which makes my heart ache.

I search inside myself to try to find him. We’ve always had a deep connection, but when I search for it, nothing comes.

Something hard smacks me in the head. It’s hot, and I try to remove it from my skin to stop the pain, but I can’t. I can’t scream for help. I can’t do a damn thing.

My chest tightens, not in pain, but in an ache for what could have been.

My breathing is irregular, and the harder I force myself to stay in the here and now, the more I lose the battle.

I fight to connect with Buzz one more time.

My brother. My mother. My woman. Just one more time. One more time, I want to feel Shaina, the woman who gave me more than I think she even realizes.

This is it. Never again. I’m done.

My eyes throb, and even though the light is no more, it doesn’t matter, because my eyes still see it. I’m not sure how Princess and I communicated our plan, but somehow, we at least pulled part of it off.

She was going to Ma. I was going to Tanner and Shaina. After grabbing one of each of their arms and pulling them the opposite way down the hall, the burst of light stopped me in my tracks, and I fell to the ground. The light was so blinding it messed with my senses.

I reach over and feel bodies next to me.

“Motherfucker!” the male voice that I believe is Ransom screeches a second before it’s silenced.

“That son of a fucking bitch!” Dagger spits as a couple of shots go off, and I jump.

“You think you’re gonna get my daughter, do ya?” another male voice I’ve never heard before says. I have no idea where he came from. The tone is rough and frightening.

I lie there, still wishing I could see what’s happening as fear filters through every nerve.

More shots go off and thumps hit the floor, vibrating out.

I catch myself, wanting to move back yet freezing because I fear what’s going on.

Then silence.

Nothing. Not a single sound.

Not a whimper.

Not a cry.

Not anything.

Terror grips me. How do I know we are safe? How can I help anyone if I can’t freaking see?

I blink rapidly and rub my eyes, trying to get them to function again. When I open them, I see a blur of white then red. I put my hand on the red. It’s warm and wet. Blood.

Not giving a shit, I tear the shirt from my body and place it on the red. I feel around for the other body, but it’s not there.

I stay quiet, not knowing what’s going on or who’s here. I reach back for my gun, but it’s not there. It must’ve fallen out when I went to get these two. Or one, because I don’t freaking know where two is!

I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. I can handle this. I’m a strong woman. It’s push mode, and I need to think.

“Dad?” Ma’s voice comes through the space. I’ve never heard of a father, but then again, I haven’t been around that long.

“Hey, baby girl,” the male voice responds, and I blink, wanting to see what the hell is going on. How come they can see and I can’t?

“What are you doing here?” Ma asks.

“Dad? What the fuck, Mom?” Princess practically growls.

“Ah, so this is the little sweetheart Malcolm was telling me about,” he teases.

I mean, who the hell teases at a time like this? I can’t see, and there is blood all over the place!

“Yeah, I’m a ray of fucking sunshine. Is the fucker dead?” Princess asks.

“Two bullets to the head,” he responds. “Thanks to that fucker Dagger there.” While I can’t see Dagger, I can hear his heavy breathing as anger pulses around him in waves.

“What about the guys outside?” Princess asks, sounding like she’s going into some take care of business, I’m in charge kind of mode.

While I don’t feel safe at all, Princess’ firm, resolute tone helps calm me. She really kicks ass.

I think of Buzz hoping what that asshole said was wrong. And where the hell is Shaina?

“Your guys are down, and I mean, down. Bullets to the head.”

My heart grows tight. Some of the Clayton guys stayed back to protect us, while the others went off to do club business. Because they stayed, they lost their lives because of it.

“All of them?” Princess asks, her voice not changing a bit.

“The seven of them who are here. I’m assuming there are more?”

“Not here. They had shit to do today,” Princess responds.

“What about Pops and the guys?” I hear Ma’s voice, but it sounds really far away.

“No fuckin’ clue. Got word of the move. Tried calling Malcolm, and it went to voicemail. I came here as fast as I could.” He pauses and sighs. “Looks like I’m a bit too late.”

“Who’s hurt!” Ma yells, and I feel movement under my hands.

“Fucking fuck me!” Dagger screams next to me, grabbing Tanner, and I jolt back.

“Fuck, that hurts,” Tanner moans, and a small bit of relief hits that she’s at least talking.

“She’s fuckin’ shot!” he yells next to me.

“How bad?” Princess asks from beside me, and I jump again. “What’s wrong with you?” Her hand comes to my shoulder, and I flinch. Then I realize she’s talking to me.

“I can’t see anything. Everything is blurry. It’s like I burned my eyes or something.” The fierceness of the burn has me aching for relief. Water or something cool would be good to put on them. Thank God I lay down and pretended I was shot, or I’d be in an even bigger mess right now.

“Fuck, that light burned your fuckin’ eyes,” Princess snaps. “Just sit back and close your eyes until I can get to you. It’ll be a bit. You’re safe, though.”

Princess moves to the blob I think is Tanner, but I still can’t make anything out.

“I had Shaina, but I don’t know where the hell she is,” I tell her as I hear her moving and Dagger cursing.

I clench my hands, feeling the sticky blood that is partially starting to dry. Tanner’s blood. Those assholes’ words roll through my head.
“All your men are dead. I bombed them about thirty minutes ago.”

Buzz can’t be gone. He just can’t be.

“Where are the guys?” I ask to no one in particular.

“I’m trying to call GT, but he’s not answering.” I notice the hiccup in Angel’s voice, but she masks it. She gives me a cold cloth. “Put this over your eyes for a bit.”

I do, and everything is darker than before. Still, the cold is soothing.

“What about the bomb?” I ask, trembling, thinking that we could blow at any minute.

“Richard, Ma’s dad, is working on that. Says we need to stay put until he figures it out.”

Fear scrapes through me, but I try not to show it. I can hear commotion and Princess barking orders. I hear commands for a man named Doc to get here now. I hear a deep voice that coincides with Princess’ as they “
stich ’em up,”
as they put it.

A cold bottle is shoved in my hand, but no words before the body moves off. I feel the bottle. It’s water. I press the coldness against my eyes. It feels better than the cloth.

“Shaina?” I question the group.

“They’re working on her,” Blaze answers, kneeling down next to me.

“Is it bad?” I ask stupidly. I saw the damn bullet go through her chest, so I know it’s bad. How in the hell did she move away from me? Guess that part doesn’t matter now.

“Yeah, it’s bad.” She squeezes my shoulder, and then she is gone.

I want Buzz. I want my phone so I can try to call Buzz. I want him right here beside me.

I feel the tears well up in my eyes, and I do my damnedest to push them back, but one escapes and rolls down my cheek. The burn of my eyes increases with each tear that falls, but I can’t stop it. The burn in my eyes is as bad as the burn in my heart.

I can’t lose him. I just can’t.