Hunting (36 page)

“
Julia. She’s a smart
woman. Managed to tell me who...but I had already figured you out,
Nate. You see, you were next on the list of men to investigate
after Allan. I almost didn’t add you, you see. I didn’t think you’d
be worthy of playing such a game with me.” Malachi wanted Nate’s
attention focused on him. “No. I just added you because you lived
in New York at the same time as I did.”

“
Once again, fortune smiles
upon the god that is Malachi Brockman. Tell me, has anyone ever
told you how annoying all that perfection can be?”

“
Ironically, yes. Answer me
one thing, Nate. Why? What did I do that made nearly forty people’s
lives matter so little to you?” Julia still hadn’t moved. And
neither had Nate.

“
Perfection. In essence,
perfection. For years I was compared to you by my idiot mother. And
after that first death, that first moment of realization that you
would never truly be as I am, because all of that perfection was
fake, I decided to have a bit of fun. Play a game with you, where I
was the winner this time.” Nate shrugged, telling him wordlessly
that he was attempting not to show how much he cared.

“
Won by cheating. How could
I play your game, if I never sat down at the board?”

“
The game was always there.
Because you were too dense to see the board does not change a
thing. Julia, I suggest you step over here, my dear. I’d hate to
have to shoot you right now. That would grossly interfere with my
plans.”

“
Don’t move, sweetheart.”
Malachi wouldn’t let himself look at her; not yet. “This is between
Nate and me. It doesn’t involve you.”

“
You’re the boss, Galahad.
I’m just here for special effects. Dramatic tension, and all
that.”

He nearly smiled; his Julia
would always be spitting and fighting when it counted. Did she
realize just how strong she was? “Good girl. Damn, I love
you.”

“
Yeah? Well, I kind of love
you, too. But you’re a real lughead for coming here. I was managing
just fine with ole-what’s-his-name on my own, you know?”

Malachi laughed, though his
gaze never left Nate. “I could always step out a moment, let you
finish what you had going on?”

“
That’s ok; it’s past
Ruthie’s bedtime. I want to go home and tuck her in.” Julia’s voice
broke at the last, and Malachi understood she was holding on by a
thread. Holding on to give him time to figure this out.

“
We’ll do just that in a
little while. We need to finish the
game
, first.”

She wanted to cry, seeing
him standing in the door, looking so big and strong. Looking like
safety. He had to be hurting; he’d just been shot twenty-four hours
ago. Yes, it had been a mild wound, but it still needed to heal. He
needed to heal, not come rescue her from the bad guy. When had she
become such a wimp?

She was bleeding. She
didn’t know exactly where, or how badly, but there were several
slices to her arms and torso. She’d lost a lot of blood; she knew
she had. Probably offensive and defensive wounds. Deep ones. She
still clutched the porcelain shank in her right hand.

But the gun was still
pointed at her.

Nate moved, lunging toward
her, grabbing her left arm. Why had she not seen it coming? He
pulled her bodily in front of him, using her as a damned shield.
Malachi froze. Probably like Nate knew he would. Malachi would
never risk shooting her—or having someone else shoot
her.

He jammed the gun under her
chin and she cried out.

“
Now, we have two options.
You put your gun down, or I take your queen.”

Yeah, like she couldn’t
have predicted that happening? Even for a bad guy, this madman was
starting to sound predictable.

Jules stared into the blue,
blue eyes of the man she loved. And that’s when she knew exactly
what he would do. What he was planning on doing. He was going to
put his gun down. And give himself to this bastard, in hopes that
Nate would let her go.

He’d do that, sacrifice
himself to protect her. That was the way he was made; he’d do it
for anyone he cared about.

But he’d do it without
flinching for the woman he loved. For her.

And she would not watch
this insane bastard hurt the man she loved again.

“
I love you.” She spoke
before she even realized it. He needed to know it before whatever
happened happened.

His eyes widened. “I love
you, too.”

Jules clenched her fingers
around the makeshift weapon in her hand. It was all she
had.

It would have to
do.

Al heard the screams from
outside, and despite her brother’s orders she was two seconds
behind Fin and Hell. J.T. and the rest of her brother’s team were
more than capable of managing the outside operations.

Her place was inside with
the people she cared about.

Hell saw her coming and she
knew the man understood. “Your brother is upstairs, Lorcan’s with
him. We think Jules is up there. We heard her cussing and yelling.
We’re still searching for Paige.”

“
I’ve checked the garage.
His car’s in there, and so was Paige’s bull skull earring she was
wearing today. She’s here, somewhere.” Josh Compton said from
behind Al’s shoulder.

“
Al and I will check the
second floor. Fin, take the third. Compton, first. If Paige is
here, she would have heard what was going on. She wouldn’t be
sitting still. Unless she’s incapable. We’ve not heard her, yet. We
need to find her, and fast.”

Al understood what he was
saying—if they hadn’t heard Paige yet, knowing her, there was a
reason for it. And that wasn’t good. They proceeded with textbook
efficiency, checking each room as they came to it.

No Paige.

Al climbed the stairs of
the home that looked so much like her own. Entered the bedroom that
was in the same location that hers was. This room was even
decorated in the same colors as her own, though the furniture was
different.

Creepy, and eerie. And told
her that Nate had been in her room at some time in the past, though
she’d never invited him in. She knew she felt violated by his
betrayal, how worse must Malachi feel?

She opened the door to the
bathroom, weapon ready. They still didn’t’ know where Nate was; he
could be in any room of the house.

It wasn’t Nate
inside.

Paige was tied up and
thrown in the antique-replica claw foot tub, her head lolled back,
and her body limp.

Al checked each corner of
the small room, making absolutely sure Nate wasn’t around. “Paige?
Dammit, Paige, you better be sleeping...”

She checked Paige’s pulse;
it was low and sluggish. Weak. Hell came in behind her. Cursed when
he saw Paige. Al texted J.T. and Fin that they’d found
her.

And to have an ambulance
ready. Because whatever he had given her, it was doing more than
just sedating Paige.

Yelling and thuds, the
sound of a scuffle came from upstairs just as Hell lifted Paige out
of the tub. He turned to Al. “Get up there; help your brother and
Jules. I’ve got her. Go!”

Al nodded, didn’t hesitate.
She went.

Malachi lowered his gun to
the floor, just like Jules knew he would. He kicked it away,
sending it backwards out into the hall.

The bastard holding her
laughed. “That’s the thing about you, Malachi. Every time we
played, you would make the most predictable of moves.
Always
put your king in check recklessly. Always, and without thought. It
was how I’d beat you each and every time. This time is no
different.”

He turned the weapon on
Malachi.

Jules yelled, pulled her
weight down and to the left. Nate went with her, jerked off-balance
by surprise.

Jules jabbed the porcelain
shard into Nate’s leg, aiming for the femoral artery. She pushed as
deeply as she could, ignoring the burn as the shard sliced through
the silk wrapped around it, as it cut deeply into her own skin. She
stabbed, and then twisted.

He screamed an agonized
wail that she would never, ever forget. And then he doubled over,
his hand still clutching his gun.

He loomed over her where
she still sat on his floor, his face mere inches from her own.
“No...”

“
That’s the game, you sick
son of a bitch.” He heard her whisper; she knew he had. “That’s
check and mate. Game over. The queen’s match.”

He raised the gun just as a
bullet struck his chest. Then another. And another.

He fell directly on top of
her,
his
gun falling uselessly to his side.

Sebastian Lorcan stood in
the doorway, eyes trained on Nate’s body. In his hands he held two
guns. He handed one toward Malachi, grip-first. “Used yours.
Figured it was appropriate since you tossed it my way. And
considering it was your move. And one hell of a move it
was.”

Al made it up the stairs in
time to see her brother grabbing Jules from the floor and running.
He nearly barreled over her; she jumped out of the way just in
time.

Jules was covered with so
much blood. Had it been hers? Nate’s? Al stared at his body for a
moment, then looked away. He wasn’t worth her regard anymore. She
looked at Lorcan instead. He was overseeing the body until the next
steps could be taken. They both knew the drill.

“
We found Paige. She’s
drugged, with what we don’t know. Hell’s carrying her to the
ambulance. We’re not waiting for EMTs to get her.” She’d known Nate
as long as she could remember. What had Malachi said? That they’d
met when Al was just a baby? How could someone she’d been close to
for almost thirty years have done all of this?

Even with her background,
with the things she’d seen she would never understand
this.

“
Is he dead?”

“
Yes. I shot him, but
Jules’ took care of him herself, too. Hit the femoral artery, is my
guess.” He motioned to the porcelain sticking out of Nate’s
leg.

“
Whose blood?” It was
everywhere in the room that looked so much like her
brother’s.

“
Both, I think. I think
she’s been cut, and I don’t know how badly. Go. Fin and I will
handle things here. Be with your family and Paige. They need you
now.”

Al went.

She held pressure on her
injured hand while he carried her out of the house of hell. “I
meant it.”

“
I know you did.” He
couldn’t, wouldn’t, think of that. Not when she was bleeding in his
arms. “How badly are you hurt?”

“
I’m bleeding. Have been
for a while now. Defensive and offensive wounds. I gave the bastard
a run for his money.” Her words were wispy, weak. Quiet and
terrifying.

“
That you did.”

“
Had Lorcan not shot him
he’d still be dead right now. I’m not a coward. I fought, and
I
won.”

“
That you did.”

“
I didn’t need rescued.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “Not really.”

“
No, you didn’t.” She was
trembling. From adrenaline? Shock? How bad were the injuries? He
hastened his step, ignoring the pain in his side and back from
yesterday’s injury.

“
I did what I had to do. To
protect myself. And you. I’m not a coward. Not any
longer.”

“
Honey, you never
really
were. It just took you a while to see
that.”

“
I love you. I was going to
tell you...before...before he was there. I didn’t tell you inside
just because I thought I was going to die. Or you were. You need to
understand that. It’s not like that. Not for me. I meant
it.”

Was she in shock? Was that
why she kept going on and on? “I know you did.”

“
So...you know. And I know.
So now what?”

“
Now we get you to the
hospital. Check on Paige...and Mick.” Shame hit him as he realized
he’d forgotten his own brother.

“
I wanted to help him more.
But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to leave him there. Didn’t want him
to die like Bryan had.”

“
I don’t know if he’s ok,
sweetheart. I left before we knew. But he was alive when I left.
And he’s big and strong and one hell of a fighter.” Was his brother
dead? Was that what he faced at the hospital?

She must have known what he
was feeling. “He is strong. And from what I saw, it was entirely
possible the bullet or bullets missed everything vital.”

She went limp against him.
Her eyes closed for a moment. “I don’t know...and it hurts like
hell. I’m still bleeding...I’m type AB+. Prob’ly going to need
some...”

Fear had him nearly running
to the nearest ambulance. He thrust her onto the gurney, then
climbed in beside her. The EMTs were seconds behind him. “Go! She’s
lost a lot of blood! Go!”