LIA! WHEN I came to, my thoughts were immediately on Lia and where Sam had taken her. Shit! I had to find her quick. I jumped into my truck, ignoring the blasting headache, and called my dad as I headed towards Austin.
“Dad! Sam has Lia!” I shouted into the phone when he answered.
“Fuck! We’re too late. Cale, I need you to listen to me. My friend sent me an address earlier to a property that was gifted to Sam after his grandfather’s death. I was going to send it to you but was going to wait until the morning. It’s on the outskirts of Austin. I’ll meet you there after I call the police. I will text you the address. If he’s taken her somewhere, then that would probably be where he’d go. Son, be careful,” he warned before hanging up.
When my phone chimed, I typed in the address in my GPS as I drove like a bat out of hell. Please, God, let her be okay. I can’t live without Lia. Since it was late, thankfully there weren’t many cars on the road. I pounded my hands against the steering wheel with each passing mile. My GPS finally indicated the road I needed to turn on to arrive at my destination. It was critical that I had the element of surprise, so I flipped off my headlights and slowly drove up to the house.
After slipping out of the truck, I pulled the gun out from underneath the seat and tucked it into my waistband. The house was completely dark, but there was light coming from the barn and I could hear voices. When I heard her scream, I bolted towards the barn faster than any football game I’d ever run in.
The sight momentarily stunned me. My sweet Lia. That fucker had taped her ankles and knees, and her hands were bound behind her back. Rage blurred my vision when I witnessed her desperate attempt to roll away from his endless kicking. That asshole was kicking my woman. Snapping out of my shock, I tore off towards him. When I reached him, my body slammed against his as I tackled him to the ground.
He cursed a slew of words out at me as we scuffled, rolling over and over. We were each trying to get the advantage over the other. This motherfucker might have been as tall as me but I was a hell of a lot stronger than his scrawny ass. Lia was screaming in the background, only adding fuel to my fire of hate towards Sam. I felt powerful when I finally managed to pin the asshole underneath me. There was no way he was winning this fucking fight. Not against me. Not when I had all the fury in the world backing me to protect my girl. As I raised my fist to punch him, I realized Lia had been shouting something at me the entire time, but my mind had shut out all noise in my rage.
“He has a knife!” The words she screamed snapped my attention to the man beneath me but it was too late. I gasped in shock when I felt the sharp blow to my stomach.
Looking down, I blinked in surprise as blood quickly poured out around the knife that was stuck in my stomach. He can’t win. This can’t happen.
Remembering the gun and that I still had the advantage of being on top of him, I yanked it from my waistband. The darkness was quickly eating away at my vision. So in one last moment of clarity, I focused and aimed the gun at his head, not even hesitating as I squeezed the trigger. My last thoughts were of Lia, my love. And then I was gone.
The angel was back to take me away. This time, she had brown hair. Her beauty was otherworldly as she spoke silent words to me, her green eyes filling with tears. She had the most beautiful wings that spread out behind her. Then, a different angel knelt beside me. This angel had black hair and was smiling.
She whispered, “You found what makes you happy, Cale. I love you.” The angel with black hair kissed my forehead and stood up. Then she walked away, leaving me with the green-eyed one.
What kind of angel wears black combat boots, I thought as she disappeared in the distance?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Is that my alarm clock?
What day is it?
Suddenly, I jerked awake, needing to find Lia.
“Cale!” she shouted, running up to me, crying.
Where the hell am I?
Next to her was my dad, who was also crying.
“Where am I?” I murmured. My voice was raspy and nearly unrecognizable.
She smiled through her tears and kissed my hand. “You’re in the hospital. You were stabbed in the abdomen when you came to rescue me from Sam,” she explained. Her smile fell and she started crying harder. “You almost died.”
I blinked as I came to terms that I almost left this world without my Lia. Like that would ever fucking happen.
“They had you in surgery for hours. But you made it. Thank you for saving me from him and risking your own life to do it,” she sobbed. “I love you, Cale.”
“I love you too, Lia.”
“Please don’t ever leave me again,” she begged.
“I could never leave you. Your light pulls me in. As long as your light burns bright, I’ll always follow it like a moth to a flame. Even the prospect of death couldn’t stop me,” I promised.