“You bitch!” He snarled and came at me. I skirted back just out of reach.
“You’re going to pay for what you did to my brother. I’ll kill you myself!”
Calm washed over Rush. It was more frightening than anything else he’d displayed since stepping into this house. He pulled back, straightened to his full height, and adjusted his clothing as if his appearance meant something. “I came here today to see what you knew. I thought maybe I could let you live. Maybe you would be so broken about Merc’s death that you wouldn’t put the pieces together.”
“I hope you rot in hell.”
He smiled. “Silly girl. I’ve been to hell. More times than most could ever imagine. I thrive there… It makes me feel alive.”
I ran toward my phone, but he beat me to it, picking up the device and throwing it against the wall, shattering it.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t be the one to do this. I thought maybe sending men after you would get Mercer to back off.”
“Daniel would never back down from you!” I hurled the words at him, chest heaving.
“Yes, well. Too bad for him it killed you both.”
I took a step back when he took one forward. A light came into his eyes, one of enjoyment, one of animation. It showed me something.
I wasn’t broken. Not really.
This is broken.
Something Rush had seen or done, or maybe a combination of heinous missions, shattered him. It turned him into a monster whose only way of feeling was through killing.
“This way is better for you, though. Those other men, I told them to make you suffer. I planned to let them do whatever they wanted because the more tortured you were, the greater the pain for Mercer. It’s all mostly over now. Our secrets are protected, and my cover is intact. You’re the last loose end, Sabrina. An annoying little fly buzzing overhead. Come over here to me. Come over and don’t fight. I’ll make it fast.”
“Like hell I will,” I said, picking up a lamp and swinging it like a bat.
It hit him in the center of the chest. He slumped forward in pain, and I dropped the light. The bulb shattered when it hit the floor, and I rushed toward the door.
Rush laughed, vaulted over the back of the couch, and grabbed me by the back of the neck.
I screamed and kicked, but my feet left the ground when he lifted me as though I weighed nothing at all.
“You’re starting to piss me off,” he disclosed.
I wrenched forward and bit his nose.
He screamed in pain and slapped me so hard with his free hand I flew out of his hold and dropped to the floor. Wrestling against the ringing in my ears, I moved to my feet. Large, dark boots appeared as I was scrambling. One toe drew back, and I braced myself.
His boot buried into my ribs, and I felt some of my bones snap.
I slumped to the floor on my side, balling into a fetal position as pain clouded my thoughts.
Rough hands reached down and grabbed the front of my sweatshirt, wrenching me up off the ground. I struggled to breath. The pain in my side was tremendous as I stared up into the eyes of a madman.
He smiled, eyes wild, and wrapped a hand around my neck. I began to choke and wheeze, sounds that seemed to make him happy.
Laughter rang out overhead, and his other hand closed around my neck. The pressure he applied was unmatched. It felt like a vise was crushing my windpipe. My vision began to dim, and thoughts of Alex filled what was left of my consciousness.
The faraway popping sound cut through some of the pain, and then I was gasping and writhing on the floor, sucking in air I thought I would never breathe again.
“Sabrina!” Alex fell to his knees beside me, his hands gentle when he pushed me onto my back. His eyes were dilated and wide, but everything else about his face was calm. “You’re okay now.” He promised. “I’m here now. Everything’s okay.”
I wheezed and coughed, tears streaming down my face.
A shadow moved behind Alex, and I screamed.
Swiftly, he stood and reached behind him, grabbing Rush and slamming him against the wall. I struggled to sit up, knowing I still had to fight.
Alex rammed his fist into Rush’s stomach, and the man doubled over in pain. When he lifted his head to look at me, there was blood dripping from his lips, dribbling over his chin.
His face was ghostly, sweat dotting his forehead.
“I have to know,” Alex said, his voice calm but cold. “Were you the one who gave us up that night? Were you the one who got Wells killed?”
I gasped. It couldn’t be! Rush was dirty even then? He was the one who tipped off that village… the one who got Wells killed?
My God! They all could have died that night!
Rush coughed, more blood leaking from his mouth. “You all should have died that night. Then all this would’ve been over. You all should have died!” Rush hollered. “But no, you went subzero and ruined it all!”
Disbelief left me shocked and numb. All these years we’d been living with a traitor. My brother had been trying to bring this scum down on his own.
If only he’d told someone… If only…
“Death is too good for you,” Alex spat, yanking him off the wall. Rush fell onto his knees, gasping, and that’s when I saw the bullet wound in his back. Alex must have shot him when he was strangling me.
Rush laughed, the sound more like a cough. “Merc could’ve killed me once. He should have. If he had, he’d still be alive.” He lifted his head and looked at me. A twisted smile contorted his expression, and he reached out, slapping his hand over my ankle.
I screamed and tried to kick him away.
Alex appeared over him, straddling his back and reaching around his body with both arms. Lifting Rush partway off the ground, he leaned around him, his subzero temperature permeating the room, leeching all the heat from the space.
“I’m not as good as Mercer was.” He spoke matter-of-fact. “And though death might be too good for you, it’s all you’re going to get out of me.”
The sound of Rush’s neck breaking made me wince. The crazy glint in his eyes went out like a light, and his body dropped onto the floor in a heap.
Alex didn’t even give him a second thought, stepping over his body and reaching down to lift me off the floor. “If you had told me where you were going, I wouldn’t have been so late.”
I crumbled into him, weeping in shock and despair.
His arms supported all my weight, and his lips moved in my hair. “It’s okay now, kitten. It’s over. This time, it’s really finished.”
I cried against him until my throat was raw, and he peeled me away from his tear-soaked chest.
“Why would you leave and not tell me?” he demanded, cross.
“I wanted to say good-bye to my brother.” I hiccupped, trying not to look at the dead body staring at us from the floor.
“You couldn’t have told me that?” He fumed.
Finally, some anger beat back the numbness, and I found my voice. “There was no body to grieve over. No funeral, no place to bring flowers. This is his funeral. This is my way of saying good-bye. My brother died for me. All I wanted was to come here and say good-bye.”
The crystal blue of Alex’s stare penetrated me, a bit of relief passing beneath the cold. “You were coming back?” he whispered.
I blinked. It never once occurred to me Alex would think I wouldn’t come back. “I was always coming back,” I confided. “I wouldn’t leave you. I couldn’t.” My eyes found his. “You’re home.”
A sound of distress ripped out of him, and I was yanked into his body. He hugged me so tight it hurt, but I didn’t utter any complaint.
“I forgive you for leaving,” Alex said. “I forgive you for almost getting yourself killed.”
When I didn’t reply, he pulled me back, and I sucked in a painful breath and winced.
His face darkened with concern. “Sabrina?”
“I’m okay,” I wheezed. “Just some broken ribs.”
&nbs
p; He glanced down at the man he’d just killed and then back at me. “I have to make some calls. If I want to keep this quiet, I have to make them now.”
“How will you do that?” I asked, new fear creeping into my awareness. I pressed my lips together, then asked, “You could go to jail for this?”
He shook his head definitively. “No. That won’t happen. I’ll call my contacts. They’ll come clean this up. Rush was a traitor and a killer. They won’t want it to get out that one of their own did something like this.”
“Are you sure?” I worried, my eyes involuntarily straying to the man on the ground.
Alex moved to block me, his face wary. “I’m sorry you had to watch me do that. If it changes the way you feel…”
I rushed him. My body screamed in pain when we collided, but it was worth it. “I love you,” I dashed out. “You could kill a thousand men, and I would love you still.”
He hugged me, his chin sinking onto my shoulder. “I wish I’d figured this out sooner. Maybe I could have saved your brother.”
I thought a moment, and then I smiled. Pulling back, I gazed into Alex’s eyes. “The loss of my brother will always be my greatest pain, from now until the end of my life. But thanks to Daniel, I have my greatest love. He brought me back to you, and as long as we have each other, I can survive anything.”
All the ice in Alex’s eyes melted, leaving behind the warmth of a blazing fire.
“You might look like a kitten, my love, but inside you beats the heart of the fiercest tiger I will ever know.”
I smiled under his admiration. “Tell me you love me, Alex.”
“I love you.”
His words infused me with strength.
Pulling back, I gazed around the apartment. “Good. Now let’s get this cleaned up so we can go home.”
Alex
One Year Later…
The sun had barely risen, the sky just beginning to show signs of day, when I woke. I kept still, listening to the silence, noting nothing out of the ordinary.
But something was.
I might not have heard it. But I felt it. I trusted that feeling over any other senses my body had.
Slowly, I drew away from Sabrina, careful not to wake her but tucking the blankets up over her body a little farther. Soundlessly, I lifted the gun on the table beside me and pulled the knife out from between the mattress and box springs.
I crept out into the living room, heading for the door.
“Alex?” Sabrina’s sleepy voice stopped me.
Rotating, I let her see the weapons in my hand and watched her eyes grow wide as both palms went toward her belly.
She made such a beautiful sight that a rush of frigid ice rose in me, and I welcomed it. That deep cold inside me was the first thing I’d let out if I needed to protect my girl.
“Stay inside,” I ordered, then continued moving.
May God help the poor bastard who stumbled onto this property this morning.
The triangular window was lit with string lights, and beyond it, I noted a shadow of movement in the tree line. I went to the back door, glancing out the window from behind the curtain. Moving lithely, I slipped out onto the back deck, which was littered with leaves and lined with pumpkins.
The cold air slapped my bare chest, and I breathed in deep. Staying against the house, I looked out across the yard where I’d seen the movement before.
A dark shadow moved again, and I raised the gun, ready to fire.
A familiar sound cut through the morning silence. A sound from my past that I wouldn’t ever forget. It was the call of allegiance, the signal we always gave when there was no threat.
I didn’t lower the gun, but I held back on firing as a man stepped out from the cover of trees and into the yard.
I lowered the pistol immediately and shook my head.
I was a lot less quiet when I went back into the house and dumped the knife on the table as I passed. In the bedroom, Sabrina was standing in the center, her bare feet curled against the rug. My flannel was buttoned around her, and her hair fell down her back.
“What’s happening?” She fretted the second I stepped into the doorway. Her cheeks were pale, and her eyes were giant orbs.
I smiled, letting her know it was okay. “Someone is here to see you.”
A confused look crossed her face. “Me?”
I nodded.
She started forward, but I caught her shoulders and waited for her to lift her golden-green gaze. “You better be careful. You fall out there while you’re running, things will get ugly.”
Her face screwed up, and she rolled her eyes. “You’re being ridiculous.”
I let her go, trailing closely behind.
Sabrina pulled open the back door as though she expected someone to be standing there, waiting to be invited in. When she saw the space was empty, she glanced back at me, unsure.
“Outside, kitten.”
She went out, and I had to bite back the command for her to put on some shoes.
I was just at the threshold when I heard her sharp intake of breath. Sabrina rushed toward the railing, knocking over a pumpkin, and gripped the wooden rail so forcefully her hands turned white.
“Daniel?” she whispered.
The man in the yard took a step closer and lifted his hand.
A sob ripped out of Sabrina, and she tore across the deck, down the steps, and went running across the yard. I followed at a much slower pace, but my heart beat to the tune of her running feet.
She was crying, her sobs blowing behind her like the dark strands of her hair.
Daniel came across the yard, meaning to meet her until his feet stalled out and he stopped. Realization slammed into him, and his eyes widened.
“Daniel!” Sabrina cried out and launched herself at her brother. She hugged him tight, then began patting his back and shoulders, wrenching back to stare at him. “Oh my God! Is it really you?”
“It’s really me.”
Another sob cut through the morning, and she smacked him in the chest. “I thought you were dead! We all thought you were dead!”
Before he could say anything, she fell into him, sobbing. He put his arms around her and held her tight. Our eyes met over her head, and I stepped up nearby.
“You knocked up my sister.”
“I married her first,” I said, showing him the silver band around my ring finger.
“I guess I’ll let you live, then,” Daniel announced with a smirk.
Sabrina made a rude sound and shoved at him. “You stupid jerk! You let us think you were dead! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?”
“I’m sorry, Brin-Brin. It was the only way I could make everyone safe again,” he told her, eyes eating up her face and body.
Daniel looked rough, and I knew what he’d done wasn’t anything he wanted. It had probably been a year of hell for him, a year of moving constantly, barely sleeping, and eating only when he had the chance.
I respected him for it because he was right. If he hadn’t done this, Brina might never be safe.
“It’s been a year!”
“I’m well aware,” Daniel remarked dryly.
“Oh my God!” Brina declared and hugged him again. As she cried, she wiped her nose on his shirt.
“It’s the hormones,” I informed him.
Daniel patted her on the back, then hugged her tighter. Over her head, his eyes deepened. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
I nodded, swallowing past the sudden lump in my throat. “It’s good to see you, bro,” I said, holding out a fist so we could bump it out.
Brina sniffled and wiped her face on his shirt again before stepping back. “You smell.”
“It’s been a while since I had a shower.”
“You’re too skinny.” She went on.
“Was hoping my little sis might make me a meal.”
She made a sound. “I’ll make you ten!”
He smiled, his eyes warming as he took in her face. “Shit, I missed you
.”
“You have no idea.” Her voice was watery and deep. “I don’t even care you lied for an entire year.”
“It was necessary, kitten,” I added.
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. “Did you know he was alive?”
I shook my head. “No. But I understand why he did it.”
“I can’t believe you’re pregnant,” Daniel said, gazing at Sabrina. He lifted his hands to hover around her round belly.
She smiled, gently took his hand, and brought it to rest on her stomach. “I was going to name him after you.”
Daniel’s eyes flew to her face. “It’s a boy?”
“Two of them, actually.”
Daniel jolted. “Twins?”
Sabrina laughed and nodded. She still radiated the same amount of joy she erupted with the moment we found out.
Pride swelled my chest, as well as a little arrogance. “Hell yeah, two. I don’t do nothing half-assed.”
“They’re identical,” Sabrina told him happily, then made a sound and glanced down at her stomach.
“What was that?” Daniel asked, jumping back. “Something’s wrong!” he demanded at me, pointing to her.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Sabrina assured him, grabbing his hand again. “He just moved.”
Daniel seemed skeptical and a little out of his element. “He moved?”
Sabrina held his hand on her stomach, and I knew when someone in there moved because Daniel’s eyes went wide.
“Does that hurt?” he inquired, then looked at me, his eyes narrowing. “I know I gave you my blessing, Ice, but you better not be—”
“It doesn’t hurt.” Sabrina quickly spoke over him. “Your nephews are excited to meet you is all.”
His eyes widened. “They are?”
“I’ve told them all about you.” Her eyes welled up again, and tears slipped over her cheeks. A cold wind blew, and I stepped in.
“C’mon, kitten. It’s cold out here. You’re going to freeze your toes off.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted, still blubbering.
“The boys want some breakfast.” I scooped her up and cradled her against my chest. “Mercer does, too.”
Subzero (BearPaw Resort Book 4) Page 25