Knock Down, Drag Out / Book One

Chapter Twenty Three

Darcy rushed out of her hiding spot from in between two ginormous trees, a scream tearing its way out of her throat when she saw Steven Lambert hit Lylah on the back of the head with the butt of his gun; sending her tumbling to the ground where she lay motionless.

In the back of her mind she knew this was a bad idea, knew that he could snatch her up and press his gun to the side of her head and Ruby would have to let them go because she wouldn't risk Darcy or the baby getting hurt. But she rushed past him and flung herself on top of her twin's body anyway.

The metallic scent of blood hit her in full force and she fought not to throw up, tears clogging her throat and making it hard to breathe. She knew that head wounds usually looked worse than they really were, but the blood gently pooling underneath Lylah's head had her panicking. The ones you loved getting hurt had a tendency to make all rational thought vacate your brain.

Darcy barely registered that Ruby surged out of hiding behind her, could hardly hear that the safety clicked off of two separate guns; one pointed at Steven's head and the other angled towards her own. The fact that she could still feel Lylah's heart beating against her own chest was the only thing that saved her from standing up and rushing Steven, daring him to shoot her. If he had somehow killed her sister when he had hit her with the gun, Darcy knew that she would have tackled him to the ground and bashed his head in with the rocks scattered across the forest floor.

A sob caught in her throat as she brushed Lylah's bangs away from her face. This had turned into a shitstorm in less than three minutes, and she had no one to blame but herself. She should have stayed put when Ruby put her hand on her shoulder instead of shaking it off and rushing towards her twin. If she had stayed hidden, Ruby probably would have just taken aim and ended this entire nightmare.

"Darcy, baby. Stand up and come with me. I'll take you away from all of these people," Steven encouraged, desperately wanting to reach out and stroke her hair. Touch her skin. Prove to himself that she was really there this time and willing to run away with him. He would have to get rid of Lylah and the other woman in front of her, but Darcy would understand. She was a practical woman and she knew that everyone else was standing in the way of their happily ever after.

Darcy shook her head and held onto her twin even tighter. She didn't want to stand up and face the situation, didn't want to look a crazy man in the eyes and know that she was the reason he had become completely unhinged. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to look him in the eyes and know that this was going to be his last day on Earth. She had already accepted that Steven Lambert was going to die but she had hoped that she wouldn't have to be the one to witness it.

"Darcy, get up. Come with me. I love you. We can finally be together," Steven begged, lowering his gun so he could reach out and stroke Darcy's bleached hair. That would be the first thing they did when they got out of here. He was tired of seeing his soulmate hiding behind false alterations to her body. He wanted the original Darcy back, black hair and sapphire eyes and a smile that could light up the night sky.

Ruby took a slow step forward when she saw Steven lower his gun, her own steady in her hands and still aimed at his head. She would take him out in a heartbeat but she wanted him further away from Darcy and Lylah, didn't want them to end up splattered in his blood and brain matter. They had enough horrors to work through, they didn't need to add that to their list.

She flinched when she took another step forward and stepped on a twig, the wood breaking with a loud snap and causing Steven Lambert to swing his gun around and aim it at her instead of Darcy. She was terrified, her heart racing inside of her chest at an alarming rate, but she stood steady and refused to lower her gun; pulling back the hammer and slipping her finger on the trigger.

Darcy buried her head into her sister's chest and let out a muffled cry when she heard the gun go off, hoping that it belonged to Ruby and not Steven. She knew she was acting like a baby over this entire situation, had condemned Steven to his death herself but she couldn't even watch to make sure that he was actually the one who had gotten hit with a bullet. She wasn't brave enough to face death like that.

She let out a shrill scream when a hand clamped down on her shoulder, definitely to large to belong to Ruby, and started to tug her off of Lylah. Her flight or fight instincts finally kicked in, causing her to flail about; legs and arms kicking out. She might have let Ruby down, she was terrified to look over because she didn't want to see the body of someone she loved laying lifeless on the ground, but she would do everything in her power to protect her sister.

"Damn it, Darcy! Stop acting like a fucking windmill and calm down!"

Every part of her came to a screeching halt when she heard his voice, laced with anger and relief and exasperation. Maddox had come to save them and now that she realized it wasn't Steven trying to drag her into his version of paradise and her version of Hell, she allowed him to pull her against his chest. She watched as Damion picked her sister up into his arms, cradling Lylah gently and making sure that her head was tucked safely against his shoulder. She turned her head and saw Ruby standing there, looking shaken but definitely not injured.

Maddox kissed the top of her head and held her tighter against his chest when she moved to look at Steven's body, a bullet hole in the center of his forehead and his eyes staring sightlessly up at the night sky. He had come in at the right time, sliding up right next to his mom and taking the shot first so she wouldn't have to live with the fact that she had killed someone. He felt absolutely zero remorse and knew that this wouldn't haunt him like it would have haunted his mother.

"It's over, baby. It's finally over," Maddox whispered. It was like him acknowledging the fact that this entire nightmare had come to an end gave Darcy permission to fall apart, sobbing against his chest and clenching his shirt in her fist.

They still had things to talk about, the baby and their relationship and telling the police what had happened in the middle of the woods the most important, but for right now he just wanted to hold her. Wanted to calm the raging worry that had been racking his body since he had found the kitchen empty. As far as he was concerned they had the rest of their lives to work out the kinks.