Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“Holy crap,” Libby hisses when I open the door, a gust of wind getting her.
I think to myself, Fuck it and scoop her up into my arms after closing the door behind us. I run toward William’s truck, putting Libby inside. I have to fist my hand so that I don't reach up to stroke my thumb across her cracked lip. I want to go back inside and kick her father in the head a thousand more times. To finish what I started. To send him to hell where he belongs.
“Can you drive?”
“Kinda?”
I debate for half a second and shut the idea down before closing the door and jogging to the driver’s side. I start the truck up, blasting the heat before I pull my controller out. Libby watches me with curiosity.
“We can’t just drive out of here. The woods is our best option.”
“Not taking you through the woods.” It isn’t a chance I’m willing to take with her. She’s so damn small, and her clothes will do nothing for her.
“I can make it.” Libby sits up straighter, wanting to be strong. There’s nothing more I want at this moment but to give her that strength. It will have to wait for another day, though. Right now, getting her out of here is what matters most. We have the rest of our lives for me to empower her and show her her worth.
“Trust me, babe,” I reassure her as I get the drone back up into the sky from where I’d hidden it. I need to make a distraction. They likely won't think much of William’s truck driving around, but if someone is paying closer attention, they will notice he’s not the one at the wheel. Let's give them something else to pay attention to.
Libby leans over to look at the screen. I see that her brows are furrowed together. “Is that a video game thingy?”
“You think I’d play a video game right now?” I’d laugh if I wasn’t still raging inside.
“Sorry,” Libby whispers, leaning back away, her eyes looking anywhere but at me.
“I was teasing you, babe.” I soften my tone, not wanting her to think I’m making fun of her. She might not know what a drone is. "See?" Those gorgeous blue pools meet mine again. I tilt the screen toward her, wanting her to lean toward me again. It’s not what I should be thinking about right now, but I’m doing a lot of things I’m not supposed to be.
“Oh.” I get what I was wanting. “That’s the front gate.”
“Yeah.” The drone flies over it. I notice an empty building devoid of any heat signatures.
“That’s our church,” she says, but I already know that. Winter’s map didn’t leave anything out. I interpret it as a divine indication that the church is deserted, as I search for a structure to blow to pieces. So that’s what I do. I lock the target in and fire. “Is that…” Libby’s words trail off. A small gasp leaves her when the missile strikes. A second later, we feel the ground shake below us. Direct hit.
“It’s gone,” I tell her, then spin the drone back around. I lock it on the truck and engage defensive counters before I hand the controller to Libby. She accepts it, her blue eyes widening once again. They’re so damn expressive. I like that I can read her so easily. That she's not trying to hide anything. It's right there for you to see.
“I don’t want to hit the wrong thing.” Libby holds it like it’s a bomb.
“It won’t respond to you.” I throw the truck into drive and take off toward the front gate. People are coming outside trying to see what is going on. The men are running toward the explosion.
When I conducted my last check, there were four people at the front gate. I glance at the screen and notice that only one heat signature is now visible. The body moves inside the hut at the gate—coming out. I’m sure to check us. I press the gas down harder. It’s now or never.
“Short,” I call out.
“What?” Libby asks, confused.
“Hit the left side of the gate in three.”
Libby lets out another one of her adorable little gasps as she watches the screen lock in on the gate.
“Target acquired. In three, two—” I see the man step fully out of the hut, reaching for the gun on his hip. “One.” Short fires, nailing his target, blasting the gates open. The impact is hard enough to send the man flying back through the air a good five feet.
“That was insane,” Libby says as I floor it through the gates knowing she’ll never return to Heaven’s Temple. No, by the time I am finished with them, there will be nothing left.
4
LIBBY
“Oh gosh.” I drop the tablet control thing when I realize I’m squeezing it to death. I know he said that it wouldn’t work for me, but this thingy is crazy. This is all so surreal. Could I still be sleeping? If I am, I don't want to wake up.