“Hey!” the doc called, and I got right in his face, his body freezing.

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth and listen up.” The doc gulped, and I said, “Now you’re gonna take care of my brother and my woman with a motherfuckin’ smile on your ugly face, or I’m gonna let my brother, Vike, here run a background check on your family, then show up in the middle of the night and stab them in their fuckin’ hearts. You getting that, asswipe?”

“Y-yes,” he stuttered, and I put my mouth close to his ear.

“The Hangmen run this city, not the cops or feds or any other authority you might think of calling. You might wanna remember that if you try to get in the way of me seeing my woman. Because nothing short of the damn apocalypse is gonna stop me getting in that room to be with my bitch.”

Vike came next to me, twirling the name badge in his hands. “What’s up, doc?” He paused. Then a huge fuckin’ grin spread on his lips. “I’ve been fuckin’ dying to say that.”

I snapped my head to him and clenched my teeth. Vike quickly lost his smile and said, “You gonna do what you’re told, or am I gonna get a chance to play with your wife’s tits?”

The doctor backed up. “No, I’ll comply. Just don’t hurt my wife.”

“Good choice,” I said tightly, then asked, “Where’s Lilah and Flame?”

“Lilah’s in room eight. Flame is in recovery room B. He’ll be transferred to a private room soon.” The doc turned on his heel and almost ran out of sight.

Mae tried to push past Vike and me to get to Li’s room, but Styx held her arm, only letting go to sign, “Babe, let Ky see her first. Let him be with his woman. We’ll go later.”

“No!” Mae snapped. “She is my sister. She will want me… She will need me.”

Dropping my head, I faced Mae and said, “Mae, please. Just let me be with her on my own for a while. I fuckin’ need this. I need her.”

Tears filled Mae’s eyes, huge tired rings underneath. “Okay,” she whispered. “Just let her know I am here for her if she needs me.”

Curtly jerking my chin, I headed down the hallway toward room eight. I could feel eyes watching me as I did—from staff, from visitors, from patients. I ignored the fucking lotta them and found myself outside a private room.

Turning the doorknob, I pushed through, immediately seeing Lilah sleeping on the bed. My chest tightened like I was inside some iron lung. Her short hair was brushed back and white gauze strips covered her body, the biggest one running down her cheek.

Movement from my left caught my eye, and a male nurse wearing scrubs met my stare, freezing in his step.

“You done?” I asked shortly.

He nodded and went to speak, but I cut him off. “Get the fuck out and don’t come back until I tell you.”

“But—”

“Fuckin’ do it!” I roared, and hitting his back on the medical cart, the nurse got the hell out of Dodge.

As soon as the door shut, I flicked the lock and walked slowly to Lilah. Standing at the side of the small cot, I noticed the IV sticking in her hand, the smell of antiseptic coming off her skin.

I ran my finger over the back of her hand, listening to her soft breathing. Her face looked so calm, so peaceful. She was so beautiful, so fucking beautiful.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I dipped down, pressing a kiss to her soft lips, then scooped my arms under her back and shifted her to the side, careful of the IV.

Kicking off my boots, I lay down beside her, breathing in her vanilla sweet scent. Wrapping her hand in mine, I laid my head down on the pillow beside her and stroked her short hair.

“I love you, baby. We’re gonna get you through this, ‘cause, fuck, you deserve more to life than you’ve been getting. You deserve to be happy with me.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lilah

Hearing the steady rhythmic dripping of water, I slowly opened my eyes and was instantly faced with a white-tiled ceiling. Disorientated, I took in a deep breath and filled my lungs with air. My entire body felt stiff, my back itchy and raw, so I gently rolled to my right side and instantly stilled.

There, before me, was a mirror on a wall, a mirror reflecting a woman on a bed. A woman on a bed covered in bandages, messy short blond hair, and a large white bandage on her cheek.

Blue wide and shocked eyes stared back at me, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

This was me?

This is me…

Flashbacks crowded into the forefront of my consciousness—the knife, the daze, the cuts, the extinguishing of the devil’s curse… the freedom from my beauty.

Inhaling a careful breath, I immediately frowned. There was no twisting of my stomach as I realized what I had done. There was no demon in my mind, tormenting me, telling me I was a sinner, that I was bound to hell. All I felt was a calmness, a divine peace that I had never experienced before.

I was no longer beautiful. This girl staring back at me was… less. Less than attractive, less than sinful. This girl would be nonexistent in men’s eyes. To me, this girl was my kind of perfection.

As I stared at this girl, I realized there was real beauty in the ugly.

I tried to smile, smile in sheer relief, but the injured side of my face did not lift, the scar too deep, affecting the muscles, the sensation of the movement strange and unknown.

Lifting my hand to feel along my new face, I caught the wire poking from my skin, and more memories came to my mind. The gun I had grabbed, pulling the trigger, Maddie running forward, Flame pushing her out of harm’s way… And Ky, Lord, Ky holding me in his arms, his eyes tortured and afraid.