Chapter 34

Fighting to open my eyes, I groan in my pain. My body feels like it was used as a fucking punching bag. Carefully, I shift my weight; my hand slips across the slick hardwood as I try to push myself from the floor.

Blood.

So much fucking blood.

Cora!

"Cora!" I call her name when I realize she's no longer lying on the floor beside me.

Struggling to look around, I no longer see the two men that burst into my home. I somehow force myself onto my hands and knees through the searing pain, and I crawl toward the open front door. Any evidence of my visitors or Cora is long gone.

As I grab at the doorframe, my bloodied hands slide along the wood as I try to bring myself to my feet. Unsteady and using the wall for support, I grab my keys from the bowl on the now-cracked marble table by the door.

I need help…

Stumbling down the steps, coppery smelling droplets fall from me as I cross the cobblestone driveway to my car. Climbing into the driver's seat, I head to the only person I know who will be able to find her.

Battling to keep my eyes open during the short drive, I'm relieved when I make it to the gate. Even more so when I find it open, allowing me to drive up to the house without the option of being turned away.

I pull to a stop in the driveway and climb from the blood-stained leather. Standing with a breathy grunt, I continue to take short, shallow breaths as I force myself up the front steps and onto the porch.

My arm trembles from the throbbing pain in my shoulder, causing my hand to shake as I press the button for the doorbell. Watching it shake, I realize that it's covered in blood. Both of my hands are absolutely covered in the stuff.

It"s practically pouring from my body, flowing down my arms, trickling from my fingers, and soaking my clothes.

Answer the fucking door…

…before I'm dead on your front step.

Pressing it again, I hold it with the same audacity that Michales rang mine earlier today.

"I'm coming," Abigail calls from the other side of the door. The door opens, and her eyes immediately widen upon the sight of me. She swallows hard and takes a small step back, looking as though she desperately needs to put distance between the two of us.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" I push out the words through the searing pain in my chest. Taking advantage of the small space she left on the threshold, I nudge her out of the way as I help myself into their home.

"Grant!" Her voice trembles with fear as she calls for him.

It takes only a second for him to react to her desperate call for him, and he joins us in the foyer almost instantly. With how protective he is of her, I'm surprised he didn't come barreling into the hall to protect her from me. He pauses briefly when he sees me—I knew this was the last place I should have come—and I can easily read the disdain on his face.

He quickly positions himself between me and Abigail. Stepping toward him, I extend my bloody hand for a truce—or maybe support for my wavering body—and mumble, "I fucked up…"

"What the fuck are you doing here." Grant scowls, ignoring my outstretched hand.

Grabbing my side, and struggling to stay on my feet, I take a shallow breath before answering him. "I know you fucking hate me, but I need your help."

"I told you, kid," he shakes his head, "I'm not cleaning up your messes anymore. You're on your own."

"It's not…" The burning ache in my side is nearly unbearable, and I press my hand against the wound. Grunting at the self-inflicted pressure, blood oozes between my fingers. "They took her."

"Took who?" Abigail steps around Grants as she questions me.

"Cora," I struggle to answer as I fumble to pull my phone from my pocket. Offering it to Grant, I force out the words as my vision begins to blacken around the edges. "I need you to find her."

Looking at Grant for a moment, Abigail hesitantly takes the phone from me. My bloody hands staining her porcelain skin as she slides it from my fingers.

"Please," I cough out as my legs give way beneath me, and everything goes black.