Page 36 of Beast's Wife

“What’s going on?”

Flora put a finger against her lips.

“A van crashed through the gate. Andy got the alert, as did Carver. Andy’s been shot, and Carver’s out there dealing with it.”

“What? That’s a lot of gunshots. We need to help them,” Morgan said.

“No,” Flora said, grabbing her arm. “Carver has warned us about this. You cannot leave this house. I’ve got to wait, and when I know it is safe, I’ll get you to safety, but until then, you’re staying put.”

Morgan shook her head and felt tears coming to her eyes. “No, this can’t be happening. No.”

“Look, Morgan, I get that you’re scared, but this is real, and Carver has asked us to protect you and keep you safe, and I’m not going to be the one that fucked all of that up. Not with everything he has done for me.”

“I’m not scared,” Morgan said. “We’ve got to help Andy, and we’ve got to help Carver. Nothing can happen to him.”

“Nothing will happen to him,” Flora said. “But we can’t distract them.”

Another gunshot rang out. Tears filled Morgan’s eyes.

“I can’t stay here,” Morgan said. “I’ve got to go and try to help.” Then, she did something she never thought she would do. She put Roxy in Flora’s hands and grabbed the woman’s gun.

“Damn it, Morgan, you’re not a good shot,” Flora said.

“You don’t let go of my Roxy,” Morgan said. “But, I spent my whole life watching as men and women were hurt or killed. I had to stay back and do nothing, and I will not do that again. I will not stand by while others get hurt, and I will not allow someone else to die for me.”

With that, she rushed out of the room, keeping low. She had to raise the skirt of her dress so she wouldn’t trip over it.

Her heart raced as she got to the dining room window. None of the gunshots were in the house, so she looked and saw Andy outside, bleeding into the snow. Several feet away from them, she saw Carver, and then Romone. Both men were facing each other, and she couldn’t tell if one of them had a gun.

There was blood coming from Carver’s mouth, and then both men moved, and they were facing one another. Carver didn’t have a gun but Romone did.

Morgan screamed and then rushed out of the house. During her panic, she had alerted both men to her presence, and she’d distracted Carver, giving the other man a chance to gain the upper hand. She knew she’d messed up.

Breaking out into the snow, she didn’t care how cold itwas, she held onto the gun she’d stolen from Flora.

“Isn’t this sweet, your little whore has come out to protect you. I didn’t know you needed protecting, Beast?” Romone said, and every word that came out of his mouth was on a sneer. “This is so interesting. How about this, if your little whore can kill me, then I am going to allow you to live. How about that, sweetheart? You want a chance to fire that gun, protect your husband?”

Morgan looked toward Carver and felt a sense of panic. This is … terrible. There was no way she would be able to save Carver. This wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to do this.

She felt her tears well up as she stared at her husband.

“Shoot him,” Carver said.

“Two to five.” She didn’t know if she said those words aloud or not.

“Then make this that two to five,” Carver said.

Morgan raised the gun, and she saw the shaking in her wrist. There was no way she was going to be able to kill Romone. No way at all.

Romone held the gun to her husband’s head.

She stared at Carver, looking into his dark blue eyes. This man had saved her life. He’d given her a reason to live, a reason to want to live. She thought about all those years, of watching women being beaten, hearing their screams as they were repeatedly raped. The helplessness. Watching men and women beg for their lives as Romone took them. His rules were law.

And as she thought about everything, she focused on Romone, she breathed deeply, and this peace settled over her. She couldn’t even begin to explain it. She felt peace, and she knew what she had to do.

Staring down the barrel of the gun, she didn’t aim for his shoulder, she pointed at his head, looked straight at him, and for the first time since the beginning of her training, she didn’t even flinch as the gun went off. She fired, and Romone did not get thelast laugh, because the bullet, against all the odds, went straight through his brain.

Carver shoved him back, and then rushed toward her.