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“I could kill her,” he spat, shoving the barrel of the gun harder into her side.

  She screamed, jerking her body, but he pulled her back to him again.

  “Don’t. Just let her go and I’ll give you a head start. How about that?” I offered. “A ten minute head start for you to get away before I hunt you down and tear you apart.”

  He laughed. “I think you’re forgetting that I have the upper hand here, I’m the only one with a gun, and you, well you have all that drug up in your system too so you won’t have your fancy little healing trick to help you,” he growled. Quick as a flash the gun moved, pointing towards me. I heard the shot before I felt it. It blasted into my chest, ripped the skin and muscle as pain radiated through my whole body. As the healing fire consumed my chest, I distantly heard Tyler gasp.

  My eyes snapped up to see a triumphant looking Eli, lower the gun, obviously thinking that it was really going to be that easy.

  “Wrong move,” I spat venomously.

  Eli’s eyes went wide as I ran forward, closing the distance between us in a split second. My left hand clamped around Tyler’s wrist, pulling her out of the way as my right hand smashed into Eli’s horrified face.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I savoured every second of it as I let out all of my anger, all of my helplessness and hurt. His broken and bloody body jerked with every blow that I threw, every kick made him groan and writhe in pain. The sounds of his snapping bones resonated amongst the trees, but I still wasn’t satisfied because I could still hear him dragging in painful sounding breaths. He was begging for mercy, begging for me to kill him. His pleas sounded a lot like Tyler’s from the tape, and that just spurred me on more.

  “Enough, Sean!” I heard from behind me. I recognised the voice, I knew it was Ryce, but I just didn’t care what he said, I wasn’t done, I’d never be done. I was going to beat him until I broke every bone in his body and then I’d cut him into little pieces and burn them. “Sean, stop,” Ryce commanded again, grabbing me from behind and dragging me back a step. At this point I was so far gone into my anger that I even considered killing Ryce too, just so he’d let go of me. “Enough now,” he said softer as he gripped my body in a bear hug from behind, clamping my arms at my sides. “Don’t let her see you kill someone,” he soothed.

  The fog lifted. I looked over at Tyler to see she was watching me with wide eyes, a terrified expression on her face.

  I nodded quickly and Ryce let me go. As I stepped away, towards Tyler, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. Eli rolled to the side, his teeth gritted, his eyes determined as he grabbed the gun that was near him. I didn’t have time to react as the shot went off, so loud in the darkness that it echoed and sent a flock of birds flying off into the night sky.

  But I felt nothing.

  I looked down at Eli, wondering why he hadn’t shot me. I was standing so close. How could he have missed me from this close? But the gun wasn’t even pointed in my direction, it was pointing off to one side…..

  I looked in that direction in time to see Tyler cough up a mouthful of blood, her shaky hands clutching at her stomach. Dark blood was seeping out, soaking her dirty t-shirt. She dropped to her knees as another gunshot went off. This one came from close behind me, obviously Ryce’s gun. Eli slumped to the floor, a hole in the middle of his forehead but I couldn’t focus on that now. I blinked, unable to move as Tyler fell backwards, gasping for breath as she clutched at her stomach.

  Chapter 38: Precious Visions

  I slumped down next to her and felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. She was clutching at her stomach, her face contorted into a mask of pain. The groan that left her lips made me panic as I had no idea what to do. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay.”

  She just groaned in response, her mouth moving as if to form words, but nothing other than a strangled gargle came out.

  “Ryce, what do I do?” I screamed, grabbing the bottom of her shirt and pulling it up. The minute I did, I wished I hadn’t. The raggedy, gaping hole just to the right of her belly button, caused me to gag and a fresh roll of horror to wash over me. There was so much blood, it was pouring out, running down her sides and pooling onto the hard ground underneath her.

  “Get her to the medics, now!” Ryce shouted urgently as he bent and reached out a tentative hand towards Eli’s neck, his gun still at the ready.

  I nodded, moving forward, slipping my arms under her body. “Help’s coming, baby. Hang on in there,” I cooed. She screamed as I lifted her, obviously pulling on the wound because more blood gushed out, soaking into my clothes.

  I ran full pelt back to the farmhouse, with my extra speed it didn’t take long. There were flashing lights everywhere, cop cars, ambulances, even a fire truck stood there at the ready in case it was needed. People were everywhere, some of the police I recognised from the search. Mostly they were leading people in handcuffs to the awaiting cop cars and vans.

  My frantic gaze settled on a medic who I recognised from the labs, he knew us, he knew about the drug. He was just stepping out of the barn. “Help!” I screamed, running towards him, which made Tyler groan louder because of the movements. “Sorry, I’m so sorry,” I apologised.

  The medic’s head turned in our direction, his eyes going wide as he looked at us. I’m guessing we looked like something out of a horror movie right now, all covered in blood and gore. He hesitated for a second before he ran over to meet me. “What happened?” he asked, immediately starting to check Tyler’s pulse.

  “She was shot, it’s her stomach. The drug is in her system, she’s not healing. Please help her,” I begged.

  He nodded, shouting to another medic to get supplies. I sat down on the cool dirt floor, keeping Tyler close to me as I looked down at her beautiful face, helplessly.

  “Sean? Is that Tyler?”

  I looked up to see Michael, the Chief of Police, looking at me sympathetically. I nodded weakly, not having the words to say right now.

  He frowned, patting the medic on the back. “She’ll be fine, Sean, I’m sure of it,” he assured me. A crowd was starting to form now, everyone obviously wanting to get a glimpse of the girl that we came here to rescue. The medic signalled for me to lay Tyler on the floor as Michael waved his hands at the crowd. “Everyone back to work, give them some room,” he ordered.

  “S-Sean?” Tyler whispered painfully. That was the first time I’d heard her talk in almost a week, the sound of my name on her lips again made my heart ache.

  I looked down at her and smiled, trying to appear confident when in actual fact I was barely in control of my emotions. “Yeah, baby?”

  “I want to die. Please, please just let me die,” she begged, clutching at her stomach, a pained expression on her face.

  I shook my head, trying not to notice the blood that was everywhere, or the metallic smell of it. Her face was getting paler and paler by the second. She wasn’t healing at all because she had that stupid drug in her system. Based on the tests that Jeremy did on her, it took about four hours for her to burn it off; the air flow had only been cut off for about an hour, that wasn’t long enough for her to fight the drug. Could she survive long enough for her to start healing properly?

  “She’s losing so much blood; I can’t get it under control. She needs a transfusion but she won’t last long enough to get to the hospital,” the paramedic said, looking at me worriedly as she pushed his hands away, crying endlessly.

  “Just leave me, it’s better, it’s better this way. I can’t live like this!” she cried, coughing up blood, choking on it.

  I grabbed her hands in both of mine, pulling them out of the way as I thrust my other arm at the paramedic. “Give her my blood. Maybe my blood will help her fight off the drug quicker,” I ordered.

  He frowned. “Are you the same blood type? Some blood types don’t mix, it’ll kill her.”

  I groaned. I actually had no idea what blood type she was. I felt like a useless imbecile - that was definitely something a husband should
know about his wife. “I don’t know. But we’re bonded, won’t that make it okay?” I asked curiously.

  He looked at my arm sceptically. “I don’t think so.”

  I shook my arm at him again in prompt. “If she doesn’t get the transfusion then she’ll die, you said so yourself. You said she won’t make it to the nearest hospital so we don’t have a choice!” I cried desperately.

  He gulped nervously, but nodded, turning back to his partner and requesting the relevant instruments. As he ran off I turned my attention back to Tyler who was sweating profusely, gasping for breath, her eyes squeezed shut with pain. At this moment in time I was grateful that our link wasn’t working because of the drugs, if I felt the pain she was in right now I would be no good to anyone. I felt so helpless, I could do nothing but pray - so that was what I did. I pressed my face against her shoulder, still gripping her hands tightly in one of mine, and I prayed she’d be alright.

  When the paramedic touched my shoulder, I just held out my own arm to him and kept right on begging the Lord to spare my wife. I barely felt the needle break the skin on the inside of my elbow, I didn’t pay attention to my hand as I clenched and unclenched my fist like I was instructed by the medic so that the blood would flow faster. All I let myself focus on was the sound of her ragged, painful breathing.

  “It’s okay, baby. This will all be over soon and then we can go home. Back to our home and sleep in our bed, see our friends. Just stay strong for me,” I whispered, kissing her cheek.

  Her hand squeezed mine, so I pulled my face back to look at her. Her green eyes locked on mine, a fierce expression on her face. “I’m not gonna survive this, but you, you do. You go on to have a beautiful baby girl. I’ve seen her,” she said, smiling weakly.

  I gulped at her words. “No, We have a baby girl, together,” I corrected wondering why she was saying these things.

  She shook her head, whimpering as the paramedic changed the dressing on her stomach quickly, applying pressure again. “I’ve never actually seen myself with a baby, Sean. Only ever you. She’s yours, not mine. You have to promise me that when I’m gone, that you won’t pine for me and shut yourself off from everyone. You have to promise me that you’ll fall in love with someone else and have that little girl that I saw in a vision,” she instructed, her voice weak and croaky.

  Tears fell down my face. That couldn’t be true, she couldn’t die, I wouldn’t allow it. “No, Tyler,” I choked out.

  She smiled, her expression seeming to clear slightly, not be so filled with pain. It was almost like she’s given up and had accepted her fate. One of her hands pulled away from my grip and she raised it weakly to my face, cupping my cheek. “She’s so precious. Look,” she whispered. Instantly the dusty, busy farmyard disappeared and my mind was transported somewhere else.

  I saw myself holding a tiny little baby in my arms. It looked like I was in a hospital room because there were white walls and a little curtain was pulled around one side for privacy. I was older than I was now, maybe in my mid-twenties. My hair was shorter; my face was tired looking as I smiled down at the baby as if it was the most special thing in the world

  “Well hi there little girl. It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” I cooed to her.

  I focussed my attention on the baby, my heart aching as I looked at her scrunched up, obviously fairly new-born face. The me from the vision pushed the blankets back slightly and looked at her mark on her chest, smiling. I gasped when I saw how pretty and intricate it was. It was a rose in full bloom, chains exactly like mine looped around the stem of it, crisscrossing over at the bottom.

  The baby started to cry then and I watched as the vision me rocked her soothingly, but she continued to cry. The other me laughed sheepishly.

  The vision was getting blurry now, the edges fuzzing out.

  “Time to go back to Mommy. She has the magic touch,” I stated, walking over to the side of a hospital bed.

  I gasped as a slightly older looking version of Tyler laughed and rolled her eyes playfully. “I hope she’s not always gonna get passed back to me when she cries.”

  My mind snapped back to the present, looking down at my wife who lay bleeding out on the dusty floor. I gripped her hand tightly, pressing it harder against my face. “It’s you, Tyler. It’s you, baby.

  That’s our baby and you live to be a mommy,” I cooed, laughing excitedly.

  But she didn’t answer, she was completely still. Dread settled over me as I let go of her hand and it fell lifelessly to the ground. “Oh God,” I mumbled, terrified. She couldn’t be dead though, could she? I’d know if my bond mate had died, surely. It was supposed to be excruciatingly painful when a bond was severed. I looked up at the paramedic, panicked.

  He smiled reassuringly. “She’s just passed out. The transfusion seems to be helping with the drug.

  Her wound is healing already,” he stated.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. Instantly the memory of her with the baby filled my mind, making my heart overflow with love.

  “While she’s passed out I’m gonna get the bullet out. I would rather leave it until we get to the hospital, but I don’t think I can. It needs to come out before she heals. While she’s unconscious is a good time to do it,” he suggested, looking at me intently, as if he was asking for my permission.

  I nodded quickly and looked away, back to her face while he grabbed some horrifying looking silver pincer things and directed them towards her stomach. I definitely wasn’t strong enough to watch it.

  Ryce dropped down at my side, looking at her worriedly. “How’s she doing?”

  I smiled and nodded, knowing that my praying had paid off. After seeing that vision I knew she’d be fine - Tyler’s visions were never wrong. In a few years’ time we would have a baby girl with a rose mark on her chest, that much I was certain of.

  “She’ll be fine,” I confirmed.

  He let out a sigh of relief, his sad eyes coming up to meet mine. “That’s great,” he replied, grinning and gripping my shoulder tightly.

  “What about him?” I asked, unable to bring myself to say his name as I nodded back towards the woods. I knew he was dead though, the shot that Ryce let off was killer for sure.

  His jaw tightened. “He’s dead. Everyone is either dead or in custody, including Edward.”

  I felt my body relax as I looked at him gratefully. It was only now that I took in the bruises and the little plaster thing he had stuck over the bridge of his nose. I was pretty sure that I’d done that when I punched him in the face back at the labs.

  “Ryce, thanks so much for coming through for me. You’re a great friend, and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without your help. I’ll owe you forever,” I stated. That was the honest truth; I’d never be able to repay him.

  After I’d hung up the phone from Billy the other day, my first thought was to make a back-up plan in case he was double crossing me. He’d told me not to trust anyone, but Ryce wasn’t just ‘anyone’

  to me, he was more like a brother. I’d gone straight to him, telling him everything that Billy said and what I’d agreed. I told him about Edward too, and how he was feeding back our movements to the Organisation. With Ryce’s help, we’d managed to convince his grandfather to believe us about Edward. From there the two of them had pulled in favours from trusted friends, and the plan was made. I was to act like I was going rogue, and get captured. And then they would covertly set up a little way away from the location and prepare themselves for attack. Only a few trusted people were in on it all. Once they confirmed that Byron Jefferson was here, they’d move in and we’d all kick ass together. The plan was genius but it wouldn’t have been possible without Ryce.

  He smiled, squeezing my shoulder. “You don’t have to thank me. Tyler was in trouble so I would have done anything to help. But thank you for trusting me when you didn’t know who you could trust, that meant a lot to me.”

  Nodding I took a couple of deep breaths as I started
to feel woozy. The adrenalin was done now and I’d given Tyler goodness knows how much blood already. “Sorry about your face,” I muttered tiredly.

  He groaned, touching his face gingerly. “We agreed to make it look convincing for Edward’s sake, I didn’t see the need for you to break my nose though,” he whined.

  I grinned sheepishly. “Personally, I think it’s an improvement. It gives you a certain bad boy edge, girls love a bad boy,” I joked.

  He laughed and looked down at Tyler who was still unconscious. The paramedics had successfully removed the bullet and were confident there were no fragments inside, so then they unhooked the makeshift drip that was going from my arm to hers.

  “I think it’s safe to move her now. This all looks good. It’s almost healed completely,” he paramedic stated.

  “Why hasn’t she woken up then?” I asked worriedly as I brushed her hair from her face.

  He smiled reassuringly. “Her body’s recovering well, Sean, just give her mind some time to catch up. The mind is a very powerful thing, it’s shut itself off for a little while so that it can heal too,” he replied, nodding to the other medic who slid a yellow spinal board under her body.

  While he moved her I turned back to Ryce. “Go get some rest. I’ll call you when she wakes up,” I suggested.

  He nodded, pulling me into a man hug, slapping my back. “Okay. I have reports and stuff to fill out anyway. Take care of her, Sean.”

  I smiled, watching as they wheeled Tyler into the waiting ambulance. “I will. I’d better go,” I said quickly, not wanting to leave Tyler for a second longer than absolutely necessary. I forced my weary body after her, climbing into the back of the ambulance and slumping down into the free chair.

  I took her hand, pressing the back of it to my cheek. “I love you, Tyler,” I whispered, bending and kissing her forehead.

  Chapter 39 - Nothing to fear, but fear itself

  She was still unconscious she hadn’t even stirred in her sleep for almost sixteen hours. The doctors at the shifter only that we were at said that physically she was healing well, the gunshot wound and her other wounds had healed now that the drug had left her system. I knew that the emotional pain wouldn’t go away that quickly though - maybe it never would. The doctors said they would talk to me more about that when she woke up and they could asses her.