Gabe had me sit on the edge of the tub while he cleaned my neck with rubbing alcohol. I gritted my teeth as the burn ran across my skin. He stayed silent as he bandaged me up. When he was done, he pulled me onto his lap. He curled me into his body and ran his fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of his scent. My fingers grazed along the soft fabric of the bandage

The girl's muffled screams and sobs echoed through the house.

"That was too close," Gabe said before pressing his lips against my temple. "I can never let that happen again."

"He only wanted to hurt me because you were killing them," I said.

"No," he said. "That is not the reason. They wanted to hurt you so we had to kill them."

I sucked in a deep breath. There was no use in arguing with Gabe. He would win and I would probably get punished.

"We only kill people that come onto our property so that we can keep our family safe," Gabe said. "No one is ever going to hurt you."

I kept my eyes closed as I rested my head against his chest. I listened to his heart beat in his chest. It brought me to the nights Finn and I would curl up in bed together. That was bliss and this was a small reminder of that.

"I will always love you," Gabe said. "I am never going to stop loving you."

His words caused a pang in my chest. Finn used to say something similar to me. I was happy to hear those words again. I liked those words, even if they came from a killer.

They killed today to save me. The family killed the man because he was going to kill me. He would have sliced my throat and let me bleed out. Gabe and Noah stopped that from happening. They could have let him kill me, and Gabe would have gotten another wife.

They did not do that though. They loved me and wanted to keep me safe.

I opened my eyes and looked up at Gabe. He was staring at me with his deep dark brown eyes. My heart fluttered in my chest as I watched a smile grow across his lips.

"Tell me you love me," Gabe said.

"What?" I raised a brow.

"Tell me you love me," he repeated.

I liked my parched lips and let out a shaky breath.

"I love you," I said.

"Say it again," he said.

"I love you."

Gabe leaned down and brushed his lips against mine.

"I love you too," he whispered.

He kissed me and without thinking I kissed him back. I raised my hand to cup the side of his face and weave my fingers through his hair. He broke the kiss and pressed his lips against my forehead.

"Let's get back downstairs," Gabe said.

"I really don't want to see that," I said. "Can we stay up here?"

"No," he said. "I want you to see it. They tried to hurt you. I want you to see us protecting you."

"Please." I grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "I think I will be sick if I see it."

"That's more reason that you need to watch."

Gabe stood and pulled me onto my feet. He wrapped his arms around me as we walked out of the bathroom. My knees wobbled as we went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I gagged and turned to bury my face in Gabe's chest.

The man was hanging upside down from the hooks. His stomach was sliced open. Taylor was hacking out his intestines and stomach from his abdomen. He dropped the organs into a bucket below the man's dangling body.

Gabe grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face the scene.

The girl had given up screaming and was sobbing. Her head hung low. Her eyes were squeezed shut so that she did not have to look at her boyfriend's dead body.

My neck throbbed as I thought about the blade to my throat. Only thirty minutes ago, he was trying to kill me and the family saved my life.

"I love you," Gabe whispered in my ear.

I bit down on my bottom lip to stop myself from being sick.

"We are doing this to keep you safe," he said.

The girl shook her head. Her hair was stuck to her tear stained face.

Noah was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs watching his son disembowel a man. He had the bloody axe in front of him and was leaning against the handle. Jenny was standing behind him chewing on her fingernails. Noah looked over at me to see I had gone pale.

He cleared his throat as he stood. He held the axe in his hand and walked over to us. He held the axe out.

"Take it, Lindsey," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Do not question us," he said. "Take the axe."

I looked up at Gabe. He nodded, telling me to follow what Noah was saying. I picked up the axe. It was much heavier than I expected in my hands.

"I want you to kill her," Noah said.

"What?" I almost dropped the axe.

Noah scowled and shook his head.

"You need to stop questioning us and you need to trust us," he said. "I want you to kill the girl. Gabe can help you."

I opened my mouth and shook my head. Gabe grabbed my elbows and pushed my body forward. I dug my heels into the floor to try and stop him, but it was no use.

Taylor and Dylan untie the girl from the chair. She thrashed in their hold. Taylor swung his leg out and pushed her onto the floor. He dragged her to the edge of the tiles. She cried as she begged for her life. Taylor held her hands behind her back and pinned her to the floor.

"It will be easy," Gabe said. "We will do it together."

"I swear if you chop off my fingers I will be furious, Gabe," Taylor said.

"You know I have excellent aim."

Gabe raised our arms so that the axe was in the air. I closed my eyes as my body tensed. I held my breath as Gabe swung our arms down.

The girl's screams were cut off. I peered one eye open to see that the blade had made its way through the girl's neck. Her head now separated from her body.

I gagged and dropped the axe to the floor. I crumpled to my knees as my eyes burned with tears. A sob was caught in my throat.

Gabe got down on his knees in front of me. He cupped my face in his hands and wiped my tears off of my cheeks with his thumb. He gave me a soft smile.

"It's okay," he said. "You did a good job. I am so proud of you."

I tried to speak, but it caused me to cry harder. Gabe wrapped me tight in his arms. He held me as I cried in front of the bloody scene.