Page 18 of Her Reborn Mate

At that immediate moment, the skylight shattered, and Will crashed through it. He fell straight on top of Lawrence, confusing him. Will kicked away the knife and grabbed Lawrence by the neck, delivering a series of punches to his face.

“Are you okay?” Will asked as he threw Lawrence against the wall.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked as I picked up Lawrence’s knife and held it up.

“I had to make sure you were okay,” Will said, returning back to his fight with Lawrence.

What did that even mean? Hadn’t he gone back to Fiddler’s Green? Did this mean that he’d been lingering around like a stalker, ensuring that nothing would happen to me? As endearing as that was, it was equally creepy. Had he killed the five vampires? Was he the silhouette I had seen in the alley last night? So many questions—but why the fuck was I asking questions about Will when the real question I should have been asking myself was how gullible could I have been to let a psychopathic gun-for-hire sweet talk me into thinking that he was a well-wishing and compassionate man? And why on earth had I invited him to my apartment today?

Will was overpowering Lawrence by a mile, not even letting Lawrence take a breath as Will administered blow after lethal blow to his face, torso, and neck, bloodying him within seconds.

Then Lawrence quickly regained composure and threw Will out the window. Will crashed through the open window and hit the railing. I immediately went to him to help him up, but Lawrence blocked my path.

“I always do what I’ve been paid to do, sweetheart. You’re not coming out of this alive.” He wrapped his hands around me and began choking me. I plunged my knife into his chest, but to my surprise, the knife twisted upon coming into contact with him.

“You think I’m stupid enough to come to kill you without wearing Kevlar?” Lawrence spat, revealing black armor under his torn shirt.

Will re-emerged from the window and tackled Lawrence. The two men fell to the floor as I caught my breath. They grappled with each other, punching and wrestling on the floor, and all I could at that moment was how no one below had heard the commotion. Then it occurred to me that the bar was packed with Red Sox fans celebrating their team’s victory last night. They were all watching the highlights of the game presumably, and so busy creating their own ruckus that they weren’t hearing what was happening in my room.

Lawrence threw Will back yet again.

That’s when it happened.

The pain in my body. I could feel Will’s pain in my body. The bond hadn’t broken. We were still mates. How else was I able to feel him? How else could I hear him in my mind?

I cannot shift,he said.

What happened to you?

As the two men fought around the room, Will landing some blows and dodging others, Lawrence constantly overpowering Will, I continued my telepathic conversation with Will as I joined the fight to help him.

You never told me how you’re still alive,I said as I grabbed Lawrence from the back and held him steady to let Will punch him.

I didn’t die. Or maybe I died and came back. It’s unclear. I woke up in my grave. I had to crawl out of it. I think the mutations from Edward’s experimentations somehow made me immune to Wolf’s Bane. It was either that or the potion that Vince got me packed more punch than any of us had expected, Will said.

Lawrence reached around and pulled me. I still held the knife in my hand. I slashed at his hand and cut a deep gash in it. Will made use of this distraction to fling Lawrence out of the window. Lawrence crashed through the glass and toppled over the railing, falling down into the alley.

“Did you really mean it?” I asked.

“Mean what?” Will panted.

“That thing about you saying her name. Did you see her in some afterlife? Did you tell her that you had to come back for me?”

“I swear. I do not love that woman. I never loved her. It is you who is my heart’s desire. It is you whom I am mates with. My being here is proof of that. Saying that name meant nothing to me. It was a farewell to an old friend, if anything,” he said.

“I thought you had fucking died,” I said, reaching him and holding him by the shoulders.

“So you went ahead and decided to date some random man who turned out to be an assassin?”

“Date him? We hardly went out twice. I didn’t even touch him or kiss him or anything like that. If anything, he was just a distraction.”

“Next time, pick a benign distraction, like knitting or adopting a kitten. Don’t start with assassins,” he said.

“Are you one to lecture me? Really? Are you in that position? I thought you were dead. I was mourning. I needed some respite. Understand that I went through hell,” I said.

“Now’s not the time for this,” Will said, leaving the room through the window. “He’s gone!”

“No one really dies from a first-floor fall,” I said.