Page 80 of The Predator
Nobody moves, and nobody says anything. We all stare at the ruin of the sheriff's skull, almost as if we are waiting to see if he will sit back up and spew more hateful words.He doesn't, of course.
Drew, Lee, and Aries stand on the outskirts of the room, all of them wearing some variation of a shocked—but not displeased—expression. I turn my focus to Ely. She slowly lowers the gun to her side, the muzzle pointing at the floor. Her lips are parted, her eyes wide and glassy, a kind of sadness lingering in her features. This is the final nail in the box holding all the memories of her past. I step toward her, and she shifts to the side, keeping herself out of reach.
Lee breaks the ice first, "I guess we all know now that she does in fact know how to use that thing." No one says anything, and Lee releases a harsh laugh and slams himself into the chair, snatching the bottle of bourbon off the desk as he does.
Aries moves toward the door to keep guard and watch.
Tanya shifts on the floor, flat on her belly now, crawling toward the open door. I ignore her; she's not going to get very far with Aries there and Drew only a few steps away from him. My need for revenge calls to me like a siren’s song, but I need to ensure Ely is okay before I do anything else. Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms around her and hold her to my chest.
"Don’t do that, Little Prey. Don’t shut me out."
The gun falls to the floor when she releases it, and I spot tiny red splatters of blood on her cheeks and neck.Shit.We are going to have to scrub every inch of this room by the time we’re done. Her features remain as if she’s frozen in time.Shock.I hold onto her a little tighter, clutching her head to my chest to keep her still and steady. "It's okay. You did so good. I know you didn’t get an apology, but in the end he learned his lesson the hard way.”
The dam of emotions breaks, and a painful sob wrenches from her chest. It's loud and unyielding, and when her legs give out beneath her I bear her weight, keeping her upright in my arms. Moving towards the couch, I gently sit her down on the old worn leather. She folds into herself, wrapping her arms tight around her middle, her shoulders and head slumped.
Crouching down I whisper, "Talk to me, Ely. Say something, anything."
"I….I killed him. I can’t believe I killed him.” She looks up, panic and fear swirling in her eyes. “We’re all going to go to jail, and it’s because of me, because of me!!!” She sucks a shallow breath into her lungs. "Oh my God; I killed him."
She starts rocking back and forth, her body trembling. "I killed him. I killed him. I killed him."
She had a similar reaction after Yanov, but it wasn’t as bad as this. I ease my hand down her back and cradle her tight to my chest. "Shhhh, breathe. Breathe for me.” I try to soothe her. “There’s nothing that money can’t buy, or fix. Not in his circles, or mine. Do you understand? I'll take care of this. I'll take care of you. Trust me."
There's a scuffle at the door, Tanya having made it through the door. When I turn to see what’s going on I spot Aries dragging her back into the room by the neck of her dress. Tanya sputters, half choking, half coughing as she lands on the floor in a heap. I watch as her gaze darts to the discarded gun and back to me. I can’t blame her for trying…but there’s no point. A monster like her deserves to get the same treatment as those she hurt.
She dives for the gun, but Aries is there, too, and the moment her fingers ghost the butt of the gun his boot comes crashing down on her hand.
“I’ll be taking that.” He smiles and reaches down to retrieve the weapon.
With the gun in hand he steps away, and Tanya rolls back, wailing, clutching her most likely broken hand to her chest.
“You broke my hand!” She wails.
I turn back to face Ely. "I know you’re afraid, and I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t be. I don’t have that right. But I will tell you that nothing that happens today will leave this room. None of them will say anything to anyone. We're a family, a brotherhood.”
"Your family?" she whispers.
I tilt her chin up and lean down so I'm only an inch from her lips. "And yours. Any one of them would die to keep you safe because they know if you die, I die. Same with Bel. You belongto me. To us. And no one is going to hurt you ever again, not without suffering the consequences."
That response seems to connect with her and a little bit of the panic in her features dissipates. “Yes, come back to me.” I murmur, soothing her until she stops shaking. "I’ve got you. Forever. And I’m so fucking proud of you, Elyse. So fucking proud."
She hums in approval of my praise, and I slowly untangle myself so I can look her in the eyes again. “Are you okay to stay, or do you want to go and be with Bel?”
Her gaze flicks from mine, and I know without a doubt she’s looking at Tanya. "No, I want to stay. I should be here, to support you, to remind you it’s all going to be okay.”
I nod in understanding. We'll comfort each other once we make sure our family is safe. I press my lips to Ely’s one last time before I pull away completely. As I come to stand Drew grabs the Sheriff's coat and hauls his body out the door, leaving it in the foyer.
Our gazes collide when he steps back into the room. "Didn't want to ruin your rug anymore than it already was."
“I think at this point I’ll be buying a new rug.”
“Good call.” Lee adds.
Tanya lets out a low, moaning sob bringing our attention back to her. "What are you going to do? What do you want from me?"
If only she knew how much I want to simply pick up that gun and be rid of her. But I can’t. Like Ely's dad, she needs to understand and face what she's done. Unfortunately for Tanya, I'm willing to go a lot farther than Ely did to make that happen.
Turning from Ely, I focus the entirety of my attention on her, and I don’t know if it’s the expression I wear or the fact that she knows she’s not leaving the room alive, but she starts to sob.