Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
I dig the silver switchblade from my bag, flicking it open.
My father’s eyes fall to it, narrowing at the cheap, dime-a-dozen weapon that’s worth more to me than any other I own.
When he looks up, his expression is sure and strong, concealed, but he can’t hide the hint of fear in his gaze. Fear for us in this moment. It’s unnerving, seeing the epitome of strength afraid.
“Dad.”
“Run through the side gate, go into the school if you have to. Any cover you can find, take it until the grounds guards and the others get here. They should be seconds away.”
My chest inflates with a heavy breath. “Dad—”
“You will leave me here and you will not look back,” he orders, dipping his chin. “You have to, my darling girls—”
The door is yanked open and smoke floods the vehicle.
Boston tumbles over me, reaching toward the opposite side, but I grab her, yanking her back in. She really needs to get back to training. They are pushing us one way, proven when my father does the same, but on purpose, so he is the one they focus on. His instant, harsh grunt follows, letting me know I was right. They were waiting.
With no other choice and nothing but a knife, I drag Boston out the door the smoke bomb was tossed through, and we drop to our knees, crawling as fast as we can across the concrete until we can tuck behind a stone beam.
I can’t see my father, but I watch as a man in all black takes a bullet to the chest and no more than jerks at the impact. His hand darts out, wrapping around and snapping the wrist of my father’s guard until he crumbles. The guard’s screams fill the air and then he’s jabbed in the neck, falling to his feet, his skull cracking against the cement, and Boston’s nails dig into my forearm.
Sai is out the door, throwing his body across the hood, and I breathe an instant sigh of relief.
The soon-to-be-dead man spots him immediately, steps over the possibly lifeless guard’s body and charges him like a bull, but Sai is built like one. He manages to knock the hit man to the ground, and while my heart beats faster in my chest, my mind knows that he’s got this. He’s a fucking savage and my sworn guard for a reason.
Together, they crash to the concrete, rolling a few times, the momentum shifting between the two of them, and then, to my horror, the man twists, flipping his body until he’s at Sai’s back. He pulls something from his pocket, a gun from what I can tell, but my vision is shit at the moment, the air around us still thick with the smoke bomb and the dark of the early morning doing nothing to help.
But the flames have grown, spread to our car, and suddenly, the hood erupts with a thunderous boom, but neither flinches nor allows themselves a moment’s distraction.
“Where the hell is Dad?!” Boston panics.
“Shhh!” I hiss with a glare, keeping my eyes focused.
The man lifts his weapon right as Sai turns, and I suck in a harsh breath as he presses it against the underside of Sai’s neck.
No!
And then both men freeze, Sai and the fool who dared to come at us.
It’s momentary, literally no more than the blink of a second, and then Sai’s arm twists and bends, his hand shooting out, gripping the back of the man’s head and I wait for him to end his life. To snap his fucking neck and send him to hell, but he doesn’t. Sai throws his right arm back, and my eyes widen as it falls into the flames, and I swear he holds it there a moment before swinging it back around at the masked man.
They shuffle backward a bit, and then with my next breath, ice shoots through my veins, cold and fucking staggering. The man in the mask lowers the gun.
He lowers his fucking gun, darts away, and Sai … lets him.
I hear the others coming now, the shouts and then the gunfire, but they’re careful because they have no idea where we are. Fire blocks any clear line of sight they might have had, so it’s likely their bullets are being shot straight into the air and not in any actual direction.
Still, the man runs, and I can’t see where he goes, but the taillights shine back the way we came, the getaway car having been parked behind the second SUV, hidden from sight.
The gates squeal loudly as they are wrenched open and man after man runs into the street, searching each of the vehicles, weapons held high, fingers on the triggers.
“Rocklin!” Damiano shouts.
“It’s safe!” Kylo screams. “Come on, girl, come out!”
It takes me a moment to find my voice, my limbs shaking slightly as my mind tries to process what I just saw. If I saw anything. When I look to Boston and her eyes slowly reach mine, I know I’m not crazy. The same dread shines within hers and when she goes to open her mouth, I give a curt shake of my head. Smartly, she closes her lips, straightens her spine and as we’ve been taught a hundred times over, my sister and I put on a blank face and slip out of the shadows.