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33 Honor

Nathan was shot.

I saw the blood gushing out of his side and running down his bare skin to pool at the waistband of his jeans.

Where the hell were the cops?

“Nathan!” I shouted when he pushed off the wall and ran after Lex. He was an idiot! He was shot!

If he died, I was going to make the paramedics revive him so I could kill him all over again. Forgetting all about my orders from Nathan, I rushed back up the stairs and shut Lucy in the bathroom. She whined as I moved back down the hall, but I didn’t know what else to do with her. At least in there she would be safe.

I gripped the gun as I rush-limped down the stairs. I wasn’t about to let Nathan fight my battles for me. He already took some glass to his arm and back and a bullet. But this was my battle. That man out there was my kidnapper. I wasn’t going to let him control me. I wasn’t going to let him make me cower in fear.

When my foot hit the very last step, a dark figure stepped around the corner. I gasped.

It was Lex.

I’d know that handsome yet sadistic face anywhere.

I glanced behind him into my destroyed office and looked for Nathan. Where was he? Did he pass out? Was he dead?

“He’s not too bright, is he?” Lex said. Just the sound of his voice made my insides curdle like spoiled milk.

“What did you do to him!” I demanded.

Lex smiled. “Not a thing. I’m saving all my punishment for you.”

I looked at my kidnapper again. He wasn’t wearing all black like the man Nathan was fighting. Lex was dressed in jeans, running shoes, and a black NorthFace jacket. He wasn’t wearing a hat at all.

He looked like he came from the grocery store or something.

My eyes widened when I realized what happened. He tricked us.

“How did you find someone sick enough to help you?” I asked, glancing behind him once more. Where was Nathan?

“I’m offended you think I’m sick,” he mocked.

“Even if you kill me, you won’t get away with this. The police have Mary’s locket. They already know what you did to me.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes. I saw the news. Not to worry,” he said, taking a step forward as I took one back. “By the time the cops get here, you’ll be dead and I’ll be long gone.”

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” I said, remembering the gun clutched in my hand.

“Who says I need a reason? Maybe I just do it because I like it.”

For some reason, I glanced down. His crotch was hard. Talk about a guy with sick fantasies. I swung up the gun and aimed it at his head. He lashed out, smacking the glass in my leg and making me cry out and stumble.

Lex took advantage of my momentary rush of pain and slapped my wrist and yanked the gun out of my hand. I kicked him and then scrambled up the steps away from him.

(Yes, I am aware I now joined the ranks of stupid idiots who run UP the stairs when a killer is after them.)

He grabbed my ankle and my chin slammed into the step. I felt my lip split open, and the pungent taste of blood flooded my mouth. I groaned, rolling onto my back and kicking with my free leg. My foot connected with his face. He let go, and I scrambled across the landing and up the second set of stairs.

Lex was hot on my heels as I raced into the living room, desperately looking for something I could use to defend myself.

The contents of my purse were still spilled everywhere, and the cell phone was still lit up and open on the table. “Help me!” I screamed in the direction of the phone. “He has a gun!”

Lex jumped me from behind, and I fell under him, onto my stomach and crying out as the glass in my thigh was shoved even deeper into my leg. Pain screamed through my body and tears filled my eyes.

I couldn’t seem to think past the pain.

Lex flipped me over and straddled me. I forgot about the pain as my hand closed over something lying on the floor and I brought it up and jammed it down into the top of his thigh.

Lex shouted as the pen buried itself into his leg. Then I picked up a pack of Tic Tacs and threw it at his head. (What? I had to use what was available.)

He knocked the mints away and then reached for the pen sticking out of his leg. I twisted beneath him and he fell sideways. We went rolling across the floor as I reached up and gouged my thumb into his eye socket.

He jerked away and I followed him, ripping my gun out of his hand.

“Please stop!” I cried. I knew he wouldn’t, but I admit, I yelled it for the benefit of the operator on the other end of the phone line.

I wanted absolutely no doubt that what I was about to do was self-defense.

Lex grabbed onto my ankle and grinned up at me. I kicked him in the face and blood bloomed around his teeth. He looked like some funhouse clown that had gone mad.

With a single jerk, he sent me falling backward, landing on my back.

Inside the bathroom, Lucy barked and I could hear her clawing at the door, trying to get out.

“After you’re dead,” Lex said, crawling up my body. “I’m gonna screw your body before it turns cold.”

I shot him.

The bullet slammed into his shoulder and he recoiled. I scrambled out from under him and stood.

“Honor!” Nathan screamed from downstairs, and my knees went weak with relief.

“I’m up here!” I yelled, my voice sounding more like a squeak.

Feet pounded on the stairs, and I moved to rush toward him. I wanted his arms around me. I wanted to see that he was okay.

A hand closed around my ankle and jerked me back.

I screamed.

Lex laughed.

Twisting quickly, without hesitation, I shot him in the head.

Nathan skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs, his wide eyes going between Lex and me. I could only imagine what he saw. Me covered in blood with a busted lip and a heaving chest, holding a gun, while standing over a man with a bullet in his head.

Reality crashed over me.

The gun fell from my hand and bounced off the carpet.

I shot someone.

I killed him.

My kidnapper was dead.

“Honor,” Nathan said breathlessly and rushed across the room to wrap me in his arms. My body shook violently, so hard that my teeth chattered and my skin felt icy.

“I killed him,” I said, shoving my face into his bare, blood-smeared chest.

“You protected yourself, baby,” he murmured. “You did real good.”

Police sirens drew closer and soon, the flashing blue-and-red lights filled the windows and the driveway.

I felt lightheaded and I knew I lost a lot of blood. I pulled back from Nathan and looked at his side where the bullet entered his body.

“It’s not so bad,” he murmured, tipping my chin up so I couldn’t look.

“He was crazy,” I said, my voice hollow.

“Hell yes, he was.” Nathan agreed, swiping the pad of his thumb across my chin. My lower lip was swollen again.

The cops burst in the front door with weapons drawn. I weaved a little on my feet. Standing up was growing harder and harder.

Nathan scooped me up in his arms and turned toward the cops. “I need a medic!” he roared.

Then he glanced down into my face. “Just hang on, Honor.” He got this pinched look in his eyes. “Don’t you die on me.”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of dying. I have way too much to live for.”

As my house filled with emergency workers and medical personnel, Nathan and I held each other’s gaze.

“Me too,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Me too.”