Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,57

wasn’t in these bastard’s plan and probably took them by surprise because they start panicking. Hope blooms in my chest like a flower in Spring.

This is it! This is definitely it. Our chance to escape.

“Kristine,” I whisper hotly. “You need to scream.”

“What?” she whispers at me, a deranged look on her face.

“You need to fucking scream,” I say quickly, looking around to see where Sean and Shane are, but I can’t see them, but my God, I can hear them. They’re moving around in a rush. I hear something being pushed, maybe one of the metal shelves cluttered around. “You need to scream as loud as you can and male a lot of noise.”

Whoever it is out there needs to hear us.

“Mia, if it’s one of your boys or all of them, they’re going to kill them.”

Yes, I saw the gun, but even with that knowledge, I still freeze as fear unlike anything I’ve felt since the first time I woke up in that freezer grips me by the throat, almost choking me. Hearing it said out loud doesn’t dim its validity and closeness.

“No,” I croak.

“That’s been their plan all along, Mia,” Kristine cries, a look of intense pain on her face.

I stare at her, the blood pooling on the floor.

Blood.

I have to focus now.

“Whether we get help or not, this baby is coming,” I say, rolling back my shoulders as my adrenaline spikes some more. “You need to push and fucking scream so whoever it is out there can hear us. Now fucking push!”

At that, Kristine throws her head back and screams louder than she’s ever let out up to this point.

I can feel the baby’s head as she works to push, cursing and crying as she does. I scramble to tear off another sheet. The blood on the floor, the screams and cries, the pale look on Kristine’s face… it all makes me want to throw up all over again, but I hold fast.

“One more push!”

She screams again, and just then, I hear startled shouts and curses and then… the unmistakable sounds of a deadly fight breaking. I have no idea who it is until… “Welcome to the party, Fitz!” and then a maniacal laugh.

Julian!

But I don’t have the time or luxury to feel the relief of Julian’s presence—let alone panic about it—as Kristine cries out. “Ah, get it out of me!” she screams but just as quickly, she falls deadly silent like she just lost her voice.

I look up at her, thinking she passed out, only to see fear enter her eyes unlike before. Her face is paler and her eyes wider. Her lips drop open to scream as suddenly, her face is cast in shadow.

Instinctively, I quickly reach for the knife I tucked in the folds of my sheet, as I feel a hand on my shoulder and then over my mouth. Panic and fear bubble up in me as I smell faint trace of gasoline. I’m all but ready to swivel around and stab the fucker as many times as I can, to death hopefully, until I hear…

“Shh, don’t scream. Mia, it’s me.”

Cole!

Shocked and still in static disbelief, I whip around so fast, I think I make myself dizzy and awaken the throbbing in my head, but I don’t give a flying fuck as I launch myself into Cole’s arms and cling to him, desperately.

“Cole!” I whisper, tears stinging my eyes, but I don’t have time to be emotional or feel the crashing wight of relief. The baby is coming!

“Aww, baby girl,” he whispers in my hair and then he pulls back and takes a good look at me. Almost immediately, his face hardens. His jaw clenches, reminding of a marble Greek god at the intimidating, savage beauty. He reaches for the side of my head where my hair is matted with blood and I see his eyes darken further into dark pools of rage.

“I’m all right,” I whisper in a rush, looking away.

“The fuck you are,” he seethes. I’ve never seen Cole so angry like this before. I swear if this was an alternative, paranormal universe, his eyes would burst out with raging flames. I realize then that he smells like gasoline. “They’re fucking dead.”

I can hear the sounds of flesh pounding against flesh. I can hear the metal shelves and whatever else being moved around and my heart starts pounding in my throat.

“Is that Julian out there?” I question, my voice a stutter as I try to fight the waves of pain. “Is