“No!” I bellowed, firing at Francis before I had time to figure out what just happened.

“Hold your fire!” Eli shouted when Francis fell from the two shots I was able to get off to his shoulder and chest.

“He killed her! It was him all along!” I ran to Mackenzie, cradling her in my arms, blood pouring from a through-and-through bullet wound to her upper chest.

“No,” she squeaked out, her breathing strained as her eyes met mine. “He killed Richard.”

“What?” I studied her, looking for an answer.

“He’s not a monster. He slew the real dragon. If he didn’t, Richard would have…” She swallowed hard, her breathing uneven as she shivered.

“I’m so sorry, Serafina,” I whimpered, her body growing limp in my arms. “I should have gotten here sooner.”

“No,” she breathed, grabbing my arm with her cold hand. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You gave me something I never thought I’d ever have.”

“What?” I asked, barely able to see through my tears.

“A home.”

I let out a loud sob, not caring that anyone saw me cry. I wanted them to see me like this, to see that I was human, that I couldn’t bear the thought of history repeating itself.

“Promise me one thing,” she said, her voice growing softer.

“What’s that?”

“Save our baby.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our baby comes first. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

I shook my head, refusing to listen. “Stop talking like that. You’re going to be fine. It’s just a shot to your shoulder. People survive those wounds all the time. It barely grazed you,” I choked out, staring at the blood covering my hands. I was more than aware that even typically non-fatal bullet wounds could become fatal if not treated in time.

A slight smile crossed her mouth. “You’re a horrible liar.”

“I’m not lying. I’ve waited my entire life for you. Do you think I’m just going to let you give up?”

“Please, Tyler. Promise me. If it comes to having to decide, you’ll choose our son.”

I continued to shake my head, the reality of having to make that decision gutting me.

“Please…” Her breathing grew shallow and I knew she was on the brink of losing consciousness.

Sighing, I nodded, although the thought of losing her ripped me apart. A content smile crossing her face, she closed her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Sirens grew closer and closer, but they still sounded like they were miles away.

“Chase the demons away, Tyler,” she whispered, opening her eyes once more, a lone tear falling down her cheek.

I lowered my lips to hers, wishing I could breathe life back into her. Kissing her softly, I sang the words to “Every Time We Say Goodbye”, barely able to get through the lyrics, praying this wasn’t the last time we would ever say goodbye.

Tyler

IT WAS A FRANTIC scene as I followed the paramedics out of the ambulance and into the emergency room, nurses and doctors meeting us before we could even take two steps. They spoke in medical terms I couldn’t understand, and I had no idea what anything meant.

“Sir.”

I snapped my head up to see a woman with green scrubs addressing me.

“How far along is your wife?”

“Almost thirty-eight weeks,” I answered.

“Okay. She’s lost a lot of blood. If there’s any chance of us saving the baby, we need to perform a C-section, but that means we have to delay operating on her own wounds.”

I nodded solemnly, taking a deep breath as I remembered the promise I made to Mackenzie. “I understand. I promised her I’d save the baby.”

She gave me a sympathetic smile before following the stretcher through a pair of swinging doors, one of the nurses staying behind to ensure I didn’t follow. I retreated down the hallway, watching as the second ambulance arrived carrying Mackenzie’s father, the paramedics pumping oxygen into him as they ran him down the same corridor.

I paced the empty sitting area, time seeming to crawl as I desperately waited for someone to come to me with good news to put my concerns at ease. But I had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen.

Falling into a chair, I buried my head in my hands, trying to figure everything out. I had no idea how everything went down. How had Richard, or Viktor, gotten away with what he did for years? I feared the only people who could answer those questions wouldn’t survive, leaving the rest of us with more questions than answers.

“Tyler!” Eli shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts as he barreled into the waiting room.

I stood up and hugged him briefly before noticing the crazed look on his face. “What is it?”

“This,” he said, shoving an iPad at me.

I scrunched my eyebrows, unsure of what I was supposed to be looking at. All I knew was it appeared to be a camera feed of a man chained to a wall and surrounded by a bank of monitors and computers.

“Looks like Richard has this guy locked away somewhere,” he explained.

“Who?”

A satisfied smile crossed his face. “I ran a facial scan on him and we got a hit. That is Damian Mills.”

“Damian?!” I exclaimed. “Mackenzie’s Damian?” I had all but given up hope we’d ever find him alive.

He nodded. “Benson and Maxwell are doing their best to trace the source of this feed right now.”

I exhaled and collapsed into a chair. “That’s a relief. I was so worried with everything that just happened, we’d all have more questions than answers. Maybe Damian can fill in some of the blanks we’re left with right now.”

Eli placed his hand on my arm in a comforting manner. “Don’t think that way. She’s a fighter. She’ll get through this. I’m sure she has all the answers you need.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said solemnly.

Over the next few hours, people began to trickle into the waiting room…other members of my team anxious for any news about what happened this evening; Mackenzie’s co-workers at the restaurant; Brayden and Jenna, who seemed to be in a daze as she was now faced with the reality of who the man she married truly was. Despite the scratches and bruises on her face, she remained strong, vowing to stay at the hospital until Mackenzie was well enough to walk out of here with her. I knew she saw the truth in my eyes, that there was a strong possibility that would not happen, but I didn’t want to dampen her spirit. In fact, it was her positive attitude that gave me hope everything would be okay.

I had no idea how much time had passed and I was getting anxious for some kind of news about Mackenzie and the baby…good or bad. The waiting was eating me up. Finally, the doctor who had met the paramedics when we arrived appeared in the waiting room, her expression blank.

“Mr. Burnham,” she said, looking at me. “Will you come with me, please?”

Standing up, I hesitated briefly, glancing at the full waiting room, everyone else just as anxious for news as I was.

“Go,” Eli said, gesturing. “We’ll be here if you need us.”

I nodded and followed the doctor. “How is she?” I asked quickly as she led me toward an elevator.

“She’s in surgery right now,” she replied, getting into the elevator and pressing a button for the fourth floor. I scanned the directory, seeing that the fourth floor was the labor and delivery unit. “We had to be careful when we delivered the baby, but he made it. We gave him a thorough exam because of all the trauma he had endured, but he’s doing wonderfully.”

I remained somewhat in shock as I followed the doctor down a hallway and into a room, a nurse sitting on a chair in the corner and rocking a little blue bundle. I’d had months to prepare for this moment, but it wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Mackenzie was supposed to be here so we could celebrate the birth of our child together. Instead, she was undergoing surgery to save her life.