the side of the house quickly, I realized there was nothing to climb down on, but I knew if I helped, I could lower Thayleah far enough so they could catch and not hurt her. “Come on,” I hissed quietly, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the window. Her eyes widened when she looked down, and she tried to pull back. “Thayleah, they are going to make sure you are safe. They are going to get you the hell out of this hellhole and away from Garrett Drake.”
Her whole body was shaking, and I knew how she felt. I could smell the smoke, and honestly, the room was starting to get a little hazy. I grabbed her hands and pulled her close. “If we stay here, we burn,” I told her, my voice cracking as a loud bang from downstairs shook the house. “You trust me, right?”
She swallowed, a hard lump present in her throat, but it only took a second for her to nod and another for us to get her out the window, slowly lowering herself down while looking up at me in pure fear.
Kid, Repo, and Mix were a few feet below her, ready to catch her with ease.
“Let go, Thayleah,” I murmured, checking behind me urgently before turning back to her. “They’ve got you, I promise.”
Her eyes pinched closed, and this calmness came over her for a second, then she was gone.
I lurched forward, looking down, seeing her cradled in Mix’s arms as he rushed away. Kid and Repo looked back up, Repo waving for me to hurry.
Grabbing the window frame, I lifted one leg over the side, rea—
“Not today,” the growl came from behind me, and I screamed as I flew backward, my ass hitting the floor first and sending shockwaves up my spine.
“Avery,” Kid shouted.
I wanted to call back, but my throat was completely clogged with tears, my scalp in agonizing pain as someone used my hair to pull me across the wooden floors and out of the bedroom Thayleah and I had been hiding in.
My body connected with the doorframe as they rounded the corner, dragging me behind them like a kid would a small cart. My already bruised ribs took most of the impact, and I couldn’t stop the painful scream that tumbled from my mouth.
The fire trucks were whirling loudly outside, the fire lapping at the staircase as I was hauled past.
Breathing was becoming hard as the air gave in and was pushed out by the thick, dark smoke.
Suddenly we stopped, the pressure in my head releasing while I fought for breath. My eyes stung in the smoke, but I forced them to look up, Garrett looming over me with a knife in his hand. “Why do you have to be so defiant? Why can’t you women ever listen? Why does it always have to be like this?”
He swiped.
I lifted my arm, trying to fend him off and protect myself, but his knife clipped my skin.
“Because you are not God,” I screamed through my tears, coughing and gagging but fighting to get the words out. Blood trickled down my arm, but I was scared to put them down in case he tried to attack me again. “Because you don’t get to control who lives and dies.”
I was so sick of these men.
Sick of these monsters.
Sick of the way they hide behind these perfect faces.
“You’re wrong,” he hissed, a manic smile curling the corners of his mouth. “Because I’m about to decide your fate right now.” He pulled the knife back, and I knew this time he wasn’t going to stop at one slice.
He was going to attack and attack until he was done.
Until he felt like he had achieved his goal.
To take my life.
SHOTGUN
“Avery! Goddammit,” I cursed, looking at the way the flames climbed and climbed so fucking quickly.
Mix suddenly appeared beside the house, a young girl in his arms who I recognized instantly. “Thayleah jumped. Avery was climbing out after her, but she was pulled bac—”
I didn’t need to hear the rest.
“She’s on the second floor!”
I was already running, rushing around the side of the house, desperately searching for another entrance with the front door looking like the gates to hell.
“This way,” Holly called, gun in her hand, as she ducked past me and disappeared around a corner. I didn’t hesitate, jerking to a stop at a large wooden door.
She tried the handle, jiggling it for about two seconds, before I tugged her out of the way and drove