“Darius,” I whispered, swallowed, and went for it again, trying for louder, “Darius! He has a knife!”
Darius rolled Rivers but Rivers was fighting for his life. He wasn’t wasting time.
And thus he didn’t waste time yanking out a huge-ass hunting knife, twisting it around, and sinking it into the flesh of Darius’s side.
And yanking up viciously.
Darius grunted, but by some miracle he did not let go of his hold on Rivers’s neck.
Shock and terror pulsing through me, along with adrenaline (thankfully), I shrieked, “No!” and moved to grasp the edge of the bed.
I pulled myself off and pushed up on my hands and knees, scooting toward them, my hands slipping on Darius’s blood flooding the floor.
“Fuck!” I shouted, making it to them as they rolled this way and that. Rivers’s face was now blue, his legs kicking in panic and agitation. Darius was grunting, the noises full of exertion and pain. I got my hands on the knife still in Darius’s side in order to use it on Rivers and get him off Darius, but they slipped free over the warm blood. “No,” I whispered, going for it again just as sunlight hit the scene.
I looked up to see Ren charging in, Lee and Hank behind him, Eddie and Luke following.
Thank God.
Thank you, God.
Thank you, God.
“Ambulance!” I shouted. “Darius. Shot and stabbed.”
Ren hauled Rivers off Darius and dragged him away.
I didn’t look to see what Ren was doing, although I distractedly heard a fist thudding into flesh then flesh thudding into a wall (or the floor).
Instead, moving urgently, I slid on the blood to get closer to Darius who was on his back and not moving.
Lethargic, panting, my heart beating so hard it was painful, I didn’t need the knife to sink it into Rivers and help Darius, so I left it where it was but pressed a hand to his wound. I lifted my other hand to his chest and got in his face.
“There’re here. There’re here. You’re gonna be okay,” I told him.
Darius stared at me and I could hear Luke saying, “Gunshot wounds. Stab wounds. Head wound. It’s bad. We need a medic immediately.”
I felt hands on me and heard Lee speaking.
“Ally, let me get to him.”
I reached out and grabbed Darius’s hand. With effort pulling it to his chest and pressing in, I got even closer.
“You’re gonna be okay. The ambulance is coming.”
He kept staring at me.
I pushed in at his chest with our hands. “Talk to me.”
“You’re gonna be okay,” he repeated my words quietly.
For some reason, hearing his voice sent relief sweeping through me.
“Yeah. Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m gonna be okay.”
“They’re here,” he said, his voice weak.
Shit. Shit. Fuck.
“Yeah. They’re here.”
“So you’re gonna be okay.”
The hands on me grew urgent. “Ally, honey, let me in there.”
I ignored Lee and said to Darius, “Yeah.”
“’Cause they’re here,” Darius said to me.
I pressed harder to his wound as his blood flowed over my hand.
“No.” I shook my head. “Because you saved me.”
He held my eyes and lifted a hand to my face. “Yeah.”
I pressed my cheek into his hand and held his other one tight.
It was then, he closed his eyes and his lips curved in a smile I did not like.
