Laughing in triumph, she started for the front door, which was only a few feet away. She'd barely gone a step when she heard Sundown firing at the scorpions again.
He was still trapped.
Leave him. He didn't deserve anything better than to be stung until his head exploded. Every part of her wanted to hear him screaming in pain.
He saved your life just now.
So what? That didn't undo her parents' deaths.
But what if he wasn't lying? What if someone else had really killed them? If he died, she might not ever find out the truth.
The thought made her pause. If Sundown hadn't killed them, who did?
And why?
There's more to all of this. She could feel it with every heightened instinct she possessed.
I've never been an unreasonable person. She prided herself on that fact. When others panicked and freaked, she was always calm and rational. Methodical.
More gunshots sounded.
Unable to leave him to the scorpions until she knew more, she reversed course toward the hole in the floor. She knelt down so that she could see him below. Sure enough, the area around the bed was crawling with the arthropods. "Give me your hand."
Sundown looked up at her with a shocked expression that would have been comical if they weren't in such a bad situation.
She leaned down and held her hand out to him.
"Get back," he snapped.
"I can help you."
He grinned at her, flashing his fangs. "I'm a little wider than you are, sweetheart. I won't fit through that."
She started tearing at the floor to widen it.
Jess arched a brow as he realized what she was doing. Damned if she wasn't trying to help him. Who'd have thought? Amazed, he turned the gun around and started pounding at the ceiling on the other side with the stock again.
Within a few minutes, they had the hole bigger.
And the scorpions were already on the bed.
Jess kicked at them before he handed her the shotgun. "Back up and I'll jump."
She took the gun and vanished.
Cursing as a couple of the scorpions stung his leg, he launched himself at the ceiling. He caught it barely and hung above the bed that was now completely swimming in those nasty little buggers. He kicked his legs until he was sure they were free of scorpions. His arms bulged as he pulled himself up, through the hole and onto the wooden floor. He made it, but his skin was stinging from the scrapes of wedging himself through. Not to mention his leg that was on fire from the scorpions.
Abigail was crouched by a wall, aiming the gun at him.
Jess ignored her as he moved to the bookshelf against the wall and slammed it down to cover the hole. Hopefully, that would delay them a bit longer.
Abigail cocked the gun.
Now, that amused him. "You can't kill me with a bullet, darling. You'll just piss me off."
"Maybe, but shooting you might be fun." She lowered the barrel to his groin. "And while I might not be able to kill you, I sure could ruin your social life."
He laughed at her conviction. "There's only one problem with that."