Beneath the Stars (Falling Stars 4)

His grin was smug derision. “Knew it was going to be a good night, but I have to admit, the money I found in the trunk of your girlfriend’s car was a nice bonus.”

Genny fumbled forward, beggin’, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Rhys. I didn’t mean to use you. I needed help. I needed you. I cared about you. So much. That’s why I ended us. I was protectin’ you.”

“Shut up, Genny.”

“Rhys, I’m sorry, please, you’ve got to understand. I won’t do this, Noah. Please. We can’t do this.”

Before I could make sense of it, Noah whirled around. “Told you to shut the fuck up.”

Then he pulled the trigger.

For a beat, I was stunned.

No ability to process.

To fathom.

Genny dropped to the ground.

My Maggie and my mama cried out beneath their gags.

That’s all it took for me to snap.

I dropped my gun and charged him, roarin’ as I went.

Eyes blurred and soul slayed and everything I’d thought I’d known gettin’ torn to shreds.

My daddy.

Maggie.

Genny.

My mama.

He’d hurt every single person I loved.

I have a tendency to hurt the ones I love most.

It was him.

I was halfway to him when he spun back around and another gunshot rang out.

A shock through the night. And still I was running, and that was right when Royce and Richard busted out of the trees from behind. They tackled Noah before he got off another shot.

I didn’t slow.

I dove right into that spiral.

Blinded by the fury that eclipsed all reason.

Blotted out coherency and all thoughts of what was right.

I tore into him.

Fist after fist.

“You killed him. You killed him.” Haggard, rippin’ words gasped and shook from my raw throat.

Crack, crack, crack.

Bone crunched and blood gushed and my spirit screamed.

Agony. Agony. Agony.

“You killed him.”

My daddy.

My daddy.

You’re a good boy, Rhys. A good, good boy.

My fist landed on his mouth, knockin’ free teeth. I did it again and again. Unhinged. Unchained. Uncontrolled.

That sickness consuming. One I couldn’t free myself of.

Because I knew nothing right then but hate.

This thirst for retribution more than I could bear.

“You killed him. You killed Genny. You hurt Maggie. You hurt my mama.”

I wailed into him.

But he wasn’t movin’.

Wasn’t fightin’.

And I was bleedin’.

Bleedin’ from the wound in my chest that I was pretty sure he’d inflicted that night seven years ago. Richard dragged me off him as I flailed and fought to bring down another blow.

“Stop, man. You’ve gotta stop. One more hit and you’ll send him to the other side.”

Vengeance cried out for it.

My daddy.

My daddy.

You’re a good boy, Rhys. A good, good boy.

I slumped to the ground.

Unable to breathe.

Chest completely caving in.

Pain sheering and my mind reeling.

I’m so sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to.

Maggie was suddenly screamin’. Her spirit tore through the air like a tempest.

Whipped the trees into a disorder.

The blackened sky was an endless abyss behind her.

I blinked as I looked up at her.

Her gorgeous, stunnin’ face brutalized by my mistakes. Tears streamed from her eyes and those sweet hands were on my cheeks. Her fingers scratching into my beard.

“My stallion. My stallion. You came. You found me. I knew you would. You’re okay. You’re okay. We’re going to be okay.”

I reached up and fiddled with a piece of her black hair. “Look at that…a goddess beneath the stars lookin’ down over me. Must’ve died and went to heaven.”

And my daddy’s voice filled my ears. Sank into my consciousness.

“And then every once in a while, God makes someone extra special. Someone who is more vulnerable than others, and it’s our job to protect them. To take care of them. Even when it ain’t pretty. You understand what I’m tellin’ you?”

But it was her bravery that made her vulnerable. Her willingness to give and give. To sacrifice her safety for the benefit of someone else.

This sweet, good, beautiful girl.

And I prayed this was enough. That she would pass on that extraordinary belief. Live every single day to its fullest.

That she would spread those wings and fly.

Soar.

And if she ever found herself one of those cowboys, she wouldn’t settle for bein’ treated for anything less than the treasure she was.

For that, I would give it all.

Thirty-Two

Maggie

I was jarred up to sitting, gasping and shaken from the dream.

From the nightmare that had fear saturating every cell of my being.

Disoriented, I blinked through the disorder. Trying to see through the haze of pain laying siege to my body, to hear over the beeping of the machines, to find reality in the room cast in shadows, dark save for the small light above the hospital bed.

Hospital bed.

It only took a second for me to realize the visions in that nightmare were actually memories.

Being rammed from behind.

The car rolling.

The pain.

The pain.

That vicious, terrifying face, the same man from the bar all those months ago when I’d thought Rhys had lost it on a complete stranger, when it’d become clear that it had gone so much deeper than that when the monster dragged me from the wreckage of the car.