Better when He's Bold

She shrieked when she saw Booker lying facedown and bloody on the entryway floor. She stopped, which had me slamming into her, and made both of us stumble.

“He’s hurt.”

“I know, but you have to go!”

She wouldn’t budge even as I shoved her from the back. I heard a roar that sounded like it came from a wounded animal and knew our window of opportunity was about to slam shut.

“Karsen, move! You have to get out of here!” I grabbed her arm and tried to drag her toward the broken door that was hanging drunkenly on the hinges.

Thundering footsteps were pounding down the stairs and there was no time left to think about anything. I wasn’t going to let Drew hurt either one of us. I felt awful for the tragedy that tied us together, but I wasn’t about to pay for the sins of my parents, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to allow Karsen to suffer for their mistakes any more than she already had.

The gun that Booker had pulled out when Drew started shooting through the door had landed by the back of the couch. I might not know how to use it, but I figured the sight of it might buy us enough time to get out of the condo and call for help.

Karsen pulled free of my frantic attempts to move her out of danger and was now on her knees next to Booker, her hands on his back and covered in blood, while she whispered his name.

I picked up the gun and pointed it at the base of the stairs, making sure I put myself directly in front of my sister and Booker even though he was already down and bleeding. I had never fired a gun before, but I would do it to put an end to this madness once and for all.

Drew tripped and staggered drunkenly down the stairs. He had the gun dangling from one hand and the bloody knife in the other. One of his shoulders was drooping down at an odd angle and the look on his face was monstrous and inhuman. He was literally unrecognizable.

He lifted the arm holding the gun and narrowed his eyes at me.

“Which one of us do you think is faster, Brysen?”

I didn’t want to find out. I curled a finger around the trigger and had to narrow my eyes to focus because wavy lines and black stars were dancing all across my vision. The river rushing between my ears had turned into a waterfall and I was having to concentrate really hard to stay up on my feet.

“I don’t want to find out, Drew. Hasn’t enough damage been done? Haven’t both of us lost enough?” My finger twitched on the trigger and I told myself I needed to pull it even if I really didn’t want to.

He roared again and I saw the muzzle of his gun flash right before an explosion blasted next to my head. I felt hot air buzz across my cheek, swore I could see the bullet as it zipped by me, but instead of feeling even more pain, or recognizing I had been shot, I saw a perfectly round hole appear right above one of Drew’s eyes as he toppled forward and landed on his knees. He gasped and wheezed as the knife and his gun clattered to the carpet and he pitched all the way forward to land on his face as blood started to trickle out of the bullet hole in his head.

I spun around and promptly burst into tears when I saw Dovie standing inside the broken doorway clutching a small black pistol.

She looked awful. Both of her pretty green eyes were ringed in black-and-blue bruises, her nose was bleeding, and she had an ugly gash decorating her cheek. She was paler than normal and her freckles were standing out in stark relief on her nose and cheeks. She looked like she’d had the crap kicked out of her, but the gun in her hands was steady and the line on her mouth was hard.

When she saw me gaping at her, she shook herself a little and gasped when she saw Booker.

“I already called Bax. He and Race are on the way.” She threw the phone to Karsen and told her to call an ambulance for our bleeding bodyguard. She made her way over to me and gently grabbed my arms and forced me to lower the gun I was still clutching like a lifeline. She took the weapon from me and looked at it with a frown.

“You had the safety on.”

I stared at her for a split second before bursting into a torrent of hysterical tears. I felt her wrap her arms around me and I let her hold me while I shook and shook.

There were two shot and bleeding men at my feet. I had seen my life flash before my eyes, and my sister was more worried about an injured thug than she was about her own safety. I couldn’t believe Dovie was acting like this kind of thing just happened every day. I couldn’t take it.

“I thought he might have hurt you.”

She dropped Drew’s gun and tucked her own into her pants as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms.

“He jumped me in the parking lot of the university. Bax told me Race was on the warpath about him, so I knew immediately what was going on. He shoved a gun in my face and made me call you. I was hoping you could tell something was wrong, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. The idiot wanted to take my car in case there was an outside camera on the condo. He pistol-whipped me when we pulled up out front, which knocked me out for a few minutes. But I’ve been in the Point long enough that I don’t go anywhere without some kind of firearm. I got the gun out of the glove box and prayed I wasn’t too late. Looks like I was for Booker, but I got to you in time. You need to learn how to use a gun, Brysen. Have Race teach you.”

I couldn’t believe how calm and collected she sounded. All I could do was cry and let her try and soothe me.

Somewhere in the distance sirens started to howl, and it was just in time because Booker let out a low moan.

Karsen’s head snapped up and she screamed, “He’s alive!” just as thundering feet and male voices barked, “What in the fuck!” and “Holy fucking shit!” as Race and Bax shoved each other to get into the room.