I shove the double doors open and rush down the front steps as a car pulls into the circle drive. Kashton, Sin, Ryat, and Tyson rush after me. The car comes to a stop, and I yank open the front driver’s side door.
“Whoa.” A guy who looks to be in his early twenties raises both of his hands. I yank him from the car and knock him to his knees. Kashton shoves his face down and presses a gun to his back. Sin removes a guy from the passenger seat.
“We’re just helping her,” a guy rushes out as Ryat pulls him from the back seat.
All three are held at gunpoint. I’m not taking any chances.
I rip the back driver’s side door open, and she practically falls out, her upper body leaning halfway out of the car. She’s got herself crammed behind the driver’s seat and back seat on the floor. “Ash?” I bark out, kneeling next to the car. “Ash, talk to me.” I reach for her neck and am thankful I can feel a pulse. Pushing wet hair from her face, I find her eyes closed. She’s got indentions in her cheeks. They’re from a gag. She’s got a collar on, and she’s covered in mud and dirt. “Come on, sweetheart.” I grab her arm and have to pull roughly to get her out of the tight position she’s got herself in. “Get them to the basement,” I bark at the guys, carrying her unconscious body into the front double doors.
Gavin and Devin are already waiting for me. They’ve both been keeping a close eye on Haidyn, so the moment we got the call, I had them ready for her arrival. I lower her body onto a stretcher, and they start to rush her through the building and to the elevator.
I look over her body. She’s naked, covered in cuts and bruises. Her wrists and ankles have rope burns. I open her eyelids to see bloodshot eyes. She looks dead, but the subtle movement of her chest tells me she’s not.
It’s enough for now. “Hang on, sweetheart,” I say as the elevator dings, signaling we’re on the hospital floor. A piece of glass is stuck in her side with fresh blood running down it.
We get to the hospital, and when we go through the double doors, Devin pushes his hands on my chest. “Stay here.”
“No, I’m not—”
“Goddammit, Saint,” he barks at me. “I don’t have time to argue with you. Stay here.” He pulls away and rushes after Gavin who wheeled her into an operating room.
I sit next to her hospital bed. She’s been back at Carnage for five hours now. My wife was lucky. If you could call it that. She had a dislocated shoulder and was severely dehydrated, but other than that, she’ll be okay. The laceration from the glass in her side needed stitches but again, it could have been worse.
“How long until she wakes up?” I ask Devin as he enters.
“I’m going to start weening her off the sedation soon.” He comes over to the opposite side of her bed and checks the machine controlling the meds that are administered into her IV.
He said they don’t normally sedate for her injuries, but that they opted to because most likely popping her shoulder back into place would have caused her to wake up and be in pain.
“This is good news, Saint. She’s going to be okay. No broken bones or internal injuries. It looks bad, but it’s just cuts and bruises.” Devin had said to me earlier.
Then we got the results, and things weren’t okay anymore.
The rape kit came back positive. I knew it would. As much as I wished for it to be negative, I knew what was happening while she was gone. And I hate myself for allowing it. For not protecting her. I failed her again.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” I growl through gritted teeth and get to my feet. “They take her, shoot Haidyn, and then bring them both back here, film them separately, and then leave with her?” I shake my head. “Why?”
“I—”
“Then they let her go?” I pace, ignoring whatever he’s about to say. I’m talking more to myself than him. “There’s no way that she escaped.” I don’t care what anyone says, I won’t believe that. They let her go, knowing she’d come back here to me. Is that why? Let her return raped and battered? Do they think I’ll throw her away? Toss her to the side like she never meant anything to me? I spent four years searching for her, so nothing could happen to her that would make me not love her or give up on her.
And there were three men in the car? How many different men were on the videos they sent us? They were all dressed the same so those who were in the room with her, could have gone and been with Haidyn. I was sent two different videos. Who knows how far apart they were filmed because he waited two hours to even send me the one of Ashtyn.
The door swings open, and I spin around to see Tyson entering the room. He looks at Ashtyn and then me. The blank stare on his face has my pulse racing.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, stepping toward him.
He swallows nervously. “It’s Haidyn…”
“I’ll stay here with Ashtyn.” Devin says. “She’s fine. Promise.”
I run out of the room, wondering what the fuck is going on. My heart pounds when I see Tyson enter Haidyn’s room down the hall from Ashtyn’s. He holds the door open for me, and my stomach drops when I enter.
Sin stands up against the far wall, his face in his hands. Ryat sits in a chair, staring at the bloody floor. Kashton stands at the head of Haidyn’s hospital bed, his forearms on each side of Haidyn’s head, he’s bent at the waist, Kashton’s forehead resting on Haidyn’s. Gavin stands next to the bed, paddles in hand.
A loud beep fills the silent room. I’m trying to comprehend what I’m seeing, but my heart doesn’t want to believe it.
“I’m sorry,” Gavin whispers and places the paddles on the cart beside him.
I watch Kashton’s body shake as he fists his hands. Jasmine stands behind him, arms crossed over her chest as tears run down her face. I was told she arrived a couple of hours ago. After Ashtyn called her, she jumped on her father’s private jet and flew right here. She wasn’t going to leave until she saw her friend was okay. I’m not sure if the Kings know she’s here, but I’m not calling to rat her out. I’ll make the call if she gets in my way, but until then, Kashton can deal with it.
Licking my lips, my pulse races. Stepping forward, I look over Haidyn lying on the hospital bed. He’s got blood running down his nose and my knees threaten to buckle at the thought of losing my brother.
Kashton pushes up off the bed and Jasmine touches his back. He spins around and knocks the cart over. Everything crashes to the floor and Jasmine yelps in surprise at the sound of it clanking to the floor. “GODDAMMIT!” he screams and then storms out, pushing his shoulder into mine, and she runs after him.
I step further into the room, and Gavin’s eyes meet mine. “We did everything we could…” He reaches over and turns off the machine, bathing the room in a deafening silence.
The blood rushes in my ears like a freight train. My eyes are on Haidyn’s peaceful, but bloody face as Gavin pulls the white sheet up and over it, covering my dead brother from the world.
