Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
She nods and does as instructed. I prowl over to CJ, half the bone in my grip and the pointy half sticking out of my fist. Grabbing onto his shoulder, I pull him over onto his back. His eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn’t have time to react.
I slam the bone down into the softest part of his face.
His eyeball.
The squish of it makes me gag, but I’m invested now. Before he can holler, I punch him across the face. Hard. Like I punched Wild. One of his teeth cuts into my knuckle on impact, sending sharp pain shooting up my arm. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, I grab the lantern and smash the metal bottom against his face several times until it breaks, bathing us in darkness.
“Let’s go,” I hiss to Sadie.
We scramble out of the tent in a rush. My heart is in my throat and my ears are ringing. CJ is still alive and making sounds of distress. Hopefully, Stacey’s bellowing and the thunder will drown out the noise. Once we’re out of the tent, I expect to be tackled by Michael or Logan.
There’s no one around.
I stare longingly at the tents that house Dez and Ronan, but there’s no way I can save them both right now. I need to get the kids and Sadie out first. Then I can come back later and rescue them.
Dakota runs fast just like he promised, his hand firmly attached to Sadie’s. I dart after them, holding a crying Declan to my chest. He’s only three, but he’s chunky and heavy. I know my arms are going to be screaming in pain soon. Not that it’ll matter. I’ll carry him until my arms fall off and then I’ll force him to hang on while I carry him some more.
No one yells after us or shoots.
I think we’ve made it!
Chick-chuck.
The sound of a shell being loaded into a shotgun stops me in my tracks.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice snarls right after.
Whipping around, I come face-to-face with Mya. She’s sopping wet and I can barely make her face out in the dark, but there’s no mistaking the glint of metal pointed right at me.
“You can stop me, but the others will get away,” I say calmly. “You know this isn’t right. We’re leaving, Mya.”
She and I both glower at one another. Despite her smaller frame, she has the upper hand right now. I’m on the losing end of her shotgun. Maybe, if I had my knife or if my hands were free, I’d have a literal fighting chance, but not now. Not with Declan clinging to me.
“Please,” I plead. “Just let us go. No one has to know.”
She sneers at me. “Oh, everyone is about to know the second I start screaming. You think your life is bad now? Just wait until my uncle takes you from my brother. Your begging will be music to my ears.”
“Hey, Mya,” Dakota says from behind me. “Sadie said to call you a bitch.”
Before I can process that my baby brother called this bitch a bitch, a figure charges toward us from my right. I turn my body, hoping to protect both Deck and Kota, and hear a sickening crack. A thumping sound follows after as a body hits the ground.
I’d expected to be the one to get attacked, but when I swivel back around, I discover a heavily breathing Sadie holding a thick branch as she stands over Mya’s prone form.
Tearing my gaze from Sadie, I look down at Mya. She’s not moving or crying. Even in the dark, I can tell her head is twisted at an odd angle against the base of a tree.
Holy shit.
Her neck is most definitely broken.
She won’t be walking away because she’s dead.
“Grab her gun,” I hiss at Sadie. “And thanks for that.”
Sadie snatches the shotgun from her lifeless grip and then takes Dakota’s hand again. “Good job, buddy. We make a good team.”
I’m cold and tired and scared out of my mind, but I’m also elated.
We’re free.
We’re finally free.
* * *
* * *
“Fucking have the baby already,” Logan complains with a huff. “Anyone else sick to death of hearing her scream?”
Me and Kristen both mumble out words of agreement, though neither of us really cares. I’m just happy to be out of the rain and attempting to dry out. My toes feel like ice cubes that might fall off at any second.
I shiver inside my sleeping bag, wondering if my siblings are warm. If we were together, we could huddle for warmth. I’d even considered snuggling close to Kristen, but who knows how Logan would react to that. Since I don’t want to be near him, I shiver alone, hoping to eventually regulate my body temperature.
Another pained sound croaks in the distance. It sounds more masculine than Stacey’s awful howls, but I could be mistaken. Maybe she really is in bad shape. I sit up on my elbows, listening for the sound again.