Slingshot by K.L. Savage

Iam so fucking sick of getting shot. This shit hurts. I’m sick of my dad too. I’m sick of him talking and talking.

And fucking talking. Nothing good is coming out of his mouth, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why we aren’t killing him.

Right.

Maximo has Braveheart. I don’t get why Braveheart isn’t fighting. He can wiggle his way free out of anything, and that’s when I notice the blood dripping down his arm and his leg. He’s injured.

“And you boys are stupid to think we would come alone.” Dad whistles and one by one, Maximo’s previous crew comes in by walking through the gate.

Even numbers now, it seems.

“Now…” everyone aims a weapon at one another. “The girl.”

“Fuck—” my insult is cut off when I hear something that resembles a warrior cry. Everyone is confused. I use it to my advantage and get my slingshot ready. People give me a hard time about my weapon of choice, but a sharp enough object flying through the air has killed more than one person before.

A stampede of motorcycles burst through the gate and a few run over a few men. Shots are fired, and one by one, Maximo’s men are going down, but the tires have circled too much sand into the air. No one can see shit now.

Dropping to my stomach, I squint my eyes to try to see through the flurry of chaos. “Natalia!” I scream for her, but she doesn’t answer back. “No, no, no. Fuck. Natalia! Answer me, baby. Answer me.”

Silence.

The dust begins to settle down, and that’s when I see Seer and Pocus standing next to Reaper, who’s currently holding my father’s heart in his hand.

“Watch me, watch you, watch yourself die right in my hands,” he sneers to Dad, squeezing his heart into mush.

Dad’s eyes find a way to mine before he falls to his knees, then swaying to the left until he hits the ground.

“No one fucking move,” Maximo says, and my heart stops when I see he has switched out his victim.

Braveheart is on the ground, but Natalia is in her uncle’s clutches.

Again.

“I’m going to leave and no one else is going to get hurt.” He begins to back away.

No one has a clean shot. He’s hiding behind Natalia.

He’s not as strong as he used to be, but he uses it on his own niece whatever strength he has left. I lift my slingshot and aim, deciding to fling a ball of a small piece of metal that will embed in his chest and cause a shit ton of pain.

Then we can take him to the playroom.

And then I’m going to FedEx him to the fucking swamp.

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m going to let you take my wife.” My arm stings as I pull the band back. Natalia is going to have to try and get out of the way. She knows that. I don’t know how, but she does because she gives me a nod.

“Idiot girl. You can do better than him,” he tells her.

While surrounded by bikers, he knows they won’t do a thing now since he has a woman in his arms. And not just any woman.

My woman.

She twists out of his hold and knocks the gun out of his hand, then dives for the weapon on the ground.

I take that moment to let go of the band. The small round piece of metal strikes him in the chest and disperses the metal points. Blood tints his chest and Seer comes from behind him, smashing him over the head.

“Grab Braveheart and get him treated. Slingshot. You too for that damn gunshot wound. Mateo, Maximo, playroom.”

“I’m not getting treated until I have my vengeance.”

“No, please, Noah. Be with me. Let them take care of Maximo. I just want to be with you. Be with me,” she begs, stroking my face gently. “Let Doc fix you up.”

“Bubby!” Maizey runs to me, and I turn to where she can’t see her father’s dead body. I’m sure she’s already seen it, but I don’t want to scare her more than she already is.

I grunt when she steps on my leg.

“Careful, Maze. He’s been shot,” Reaper says, squatting down to my level. “You did good, Slingshot.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I sneer.

“You hit him dead in the chest, and from this distance, that isn’t easy.”

“You killed him,” I say, talking about my father.

“I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I hope you understand.”

“I was hoping for…more.”

“Not me. I wanted him gone and away from Maizey as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.” I wrap my arms around my baby sister and stare at him in the eyes. I realize maybe I didn’t need to be superman or save the fucking day, but I did need to stay alive for Maizey. She couldn’t lose someone else. She’s lost enough. “Oh, thank you so much for keeping the both of us safe.”

“Bubby, I was so scared. I saws you get shot. Are you okay?” Maze applies pressure on my wound, and I hold back a loud curse and move her to the right.

“I’ll be fine, Maze. No way were we giving you up. Plus, Braveheart would have never allowed it.” I watch as he gets carried by Tool and that’s when I notice everyone has a few bumps and bruises. When I couldn’t see, I guess that’s when everyone fought.

Her bottom lip wobbles and she throws her arms around me again and cries. It’s amazing how I went from Uncle Slingshot to bubby in no time. If anything, the magical world has brought us closer somehow. I think Maze and I have always had a special bond, right off the bat, and maybe that was my subconscious trying to tell me something. What the hell do I know?

All I care about is that everyone is safe. Maze is here. My dad is dead. Maximo is about to be taken to the playroom, and I’m married to the most fearless woman I’ve ever met.

Reaper takes Maze from me, and she begins to wail loudly. “I want my bubby. I want him.”

“Hey, no tantrums. He needs the doctor. If you keep it up, no dessert for you after dinner,” Reaper scolds.

After dinner.

How could anyone be thinking of dinner right now when there are dead bodies everywhere that the guys are currently stacking up and getting ready to burn.

“Uh, holy fuck,” someone shouts a bit loudly at the gate.

We all turn our heads, and I see Benji staring at the massacre before him. Blood is flowing in small creeks across the sand from the enemies bleeding out.

“Is this a bad time to introduce myself? Should I come back—” Benji’s eyes roll to the back of his head, and he crumbles to the ground, fainting.

“Oh man, I hope he prospects.” Knives stomps over to him, stepping into a puddle of blood and getting it all over his boots. “He’s never going to hear the end of this. We’ll call him, Faint. Fainter? Little Bitch?” Knives laughs at his own joke as he slings the poor kid over his shoulder. “Ah, man. I love the smell of blood at night.” Knives hauls a limp Benji by us, and his fingers scrape the ground.

“Let me help you up, Mon Amie.” Seer offers his hand, and Mateo stands next to him, outstretching his.

I trust Seer, but Mateo? He fucking shot me.

I take his hand anyway, and at the same time, Natalia pushes against my back to help me off the ground. I stand on my good leg and wrap an arm around each of their shoulders. “Showing up just in time gun’s blazing, huh? Those visions are cutting it close.”

“So ungrateful that we decided to even show. Your slow asses were letting him talk his ass off,” Seer gripes.

“He had Braveheart.”

“Excuses,” he tsks. “Honestly,” he grunts as he lifts me to the steps. “I only came for the tacos.”

“They are far from ready,” I snort.

“They will be ready sooner than you think.”

“Ah, the wise fortune cookie telling's of Seer. I need to make a book.” I hiss when my wounded leg hits the door. “Mother…” I roll my lips together to stop from cursing. “I am so sick of getting shot! Seriously! I’m done with it. Seer, cast a protective spell on me.”

“I’m not a witch, Mon Amie, but my cousin is a sorcerer. I could talk to him?” Seer says seriously.

“Oh hell no. You get that voodoo shit away from me and this clubhouse. Magic doesn’t come without a cost, Slingshot. You’ll do well to remember that,” Tool says, pointing a finger at me before walking away.

“He reads too many books. The man is too paranoid for his own good,” Seer states. “Plus, it’s not like magic to take your firstborn. Just blood or a dead animal.”

Mateo and I both stop walking, and we gawk at him. “Just a dead animal? I can’t tell if you’re serious.”

He smirks. “You got it from here, Mateo?”

“Yes,” Natalia’s father answers.

Seer pauses at Natalia and whispers something in her ear. She gasps and tilts her chin down, sliding a hand across her stomach.

I really hate fortune tellers when they decide not to let everyone in on the secret.

Mateo and I hobble in silence as he helps me down the basement stairs. “I want to apologize for how I’ve treated you. It isn’t easy letting go of my little girl. I want her happy and if that’s you, then so be it. The ring, the size of it, makes me realize you’ll give her everything. That’s all I’ve wanted for her.”

I let out a frustrated groan. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been telling you that since the beginning. I have literally been saying how much I love her and how I have money, but you didn’t listen. Now you listen? After you shot me? Unbelievable.”

“Oh, it’s a scratch. Don’t be such a baby. It’s a flesh wound.”

I raise my voice. “I am a fucking corn tortilla of fucking flesh wounds. I’m breaking apart and bleeding the good stuff. You understand me?”

“No. I don’t understand that analogy. You make no sense to me.” Mateo drops me on one of the hospital beds. “Swiss cheese would make more sense because there are holes in it.”

I roll my eyes and Doc comes around and cuts my jeans to the thigh to analyze my gunshot wound. “You’re going to be on crutches for a while,” he says just as screams echo from the playroom. Screams that turn into sobs.

I cross my arms and pout. “Feed me tacos and call me handsome and I’ll think about it.”

“I’m not calling you handsome,” Doc deadpans.

“I wasn’t referring to you.” I stick my tongue out like a child and Doc looks me dead in the eye as he pours the alcohol over the bloody hole.

I scream and grab my leg. “Ow!”

“Oopsie,” he says innocently.

“Aw, I’ll feed you all the tacos and tell you you’re handsome every day.” Natalia kisses my cheek.

“That’s all I wanted, and you had to go make a show of it. I am wounded. Bleeding. Emotional. I haven’t had a taco all day—”

“I’m about to shoot you in the head if you don’t shut up,” Mateo warns.

“Papa!” Natalia hisses.

I scream when Doc plucks the bullet from the bone.

Fuck me.

Just another day in paradise, right?

If blood isn’t spilled, then it has not been a Ruthless day.