“Popeye,” Olive whimpered.
Jeffrey snickered, yanking her against his leg. “Change of plans.”
Gil’s face lost any sign of vulnerability. His eyes shuttered, his lips thinned. Aggression rippled over him. “Give her to me. I won’t ask again.”
My heart picked up, filtering the drug and granting a tiny trickle of strength to limbs tingling and tight from being tethered.
“I like how you think you’re in the position to threaten me.” Jeffrey snaked his arm around Olive’s shoulders, hugging her close. “Maybe I’ll keep both of them, tighten your leash a little more.”
Olive winced, curling into herself.
Jeffrey sighed dramatically. “And you used to be so obedient.”
Gil bared his teeth, his entire body vibrating with pure hatred. “A deal is a deal.”
I wanted him to win.
I wanted his daughter to be saved and no longer living with a madman.
But if he won, that meant I lost.
I would die in her place, and my survival instinct wouldn’t let that happen.
Flexing my fingers and toes, I willed more blood to circulate, to wash me clean, to give me power.
Slowly, my body shed the garment of lethargy, answering my commands.
Gil stormed forward, all negotiations and pleasantries over. He looked as if he’d tear Jeffrey’s head right off his shoulders.
I wanted him to.
Kill him.
Save us both.
But it only took Jeffrey the smallest move to halt Gil mid-step. His hand vanished behind him, whipping forward with a gun. “Decide. Here and now.” The black weapon glinted in the lamplight, morbid and menacing. He swung the muzzle to face me. “The woman you love?” Almost lazily, he tracked the weapon to wedge against Olive’s temple. “Or your daughter?”
She froze like a tiny rabbit. Teeth locked on her bottom lip. Her shivers pure fear.
Gil struggled to breathe. His eyes shot black, cursing Jeffrey to purgatory for even pointing a gun at his child. “I promise you, you motherfucker, if you shoot either of them, you’ll be dead a second after.”
The two men’s eyes locked.
A silent war passed between them.
Finally, Jeffrey nodded and waved the gun at the dense blackness just out of reach of the lamp. “I think I’ll keep both alive...for now. Higher incentive for you to pad my retirement a little more, don’t you think?”
“I’m not painting any more girls.”
“So you don’t agree with my little hobby?”
Gil couldn’t hide the growl in his chest. “Killing for sport is—”
“A recognised pastime,” Jeffrey sneered. “Hunters shoot deer. Humans eat animals. Anything with a heartbeat is killable.” He grinned darkly. “I just happen to like the two-legged variety.”
Gil spat on the ground. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch.”
“Perhaps.” He laughed, way too confident and assured. “But as long as I have your daughter, you’re my puppet. So...I expect you to keep dancing on your strings.” He waved the gun again. “Now, run along, Mr. Popeye, and don’t forget to eat some spinach. Olive Oyl is right; you aren’t looking so good.”
Gil didn’t move.
For the longest second, he stared at me, then Olive and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the trap he’d been caught in.
He hated himself.
His self-loathing permeated the air until he choked on it.
I waited for him to walk away.
To leave both of us to our fate.
But something triggered in him. Some base instinct that didn’t bow to rules or threats, not anymore. He couldn’t walk away. I knew that in my bones.
I didn’t know how long it’d been since he’d seen Olive.
I didn’t know anything about his life anymore.
But the building outrage on his face spoke of a man who’d reached his limit. A man who would no longer kneel to another—not when those he loved were in danger and within grabbing distance—ready to be saved if he could only kill the monster in the middle.
He stalked toward Jeffrey with his gaze locked on his daughter. “Olive, come here.”
Olive squirmed and fought, kicking and scratching at Jeffrey as he struggled to hold her.
I played my part in the distraction, kicking my tied legs and wriggling on the slippery bracken.
Jeffrey witnessed his carefully choreographed meeting dissolve into anarchy.
Gil leaped forward.
One hand reached for Olive, and the other punched Jeffrey in the jaw.
The three of them tumbled in a pile of body parts while Gil tried to murder his enemy with nothing more than fists and fury.
I tried to scream. To activate a voice that stayed dormant with drugs.
But then a gunshot rang out.
A swarm of crows exploded from the treetops. Pigeons and sparrows, finches and thrushes all soaring for the sky thanks to violence.
I squirmed and gasped, trying to sit up to see. To know if the bullet had missed or...
Tears pricked as Gil fell backward, his hands high above his head in surrender, his eyes frantic as he searched Olive for injury. “You okay?” His breath caught and voice scratched with gravel. “Please tell me you’re not hurt.”
Thank God, he wasn’t shot.
Fierce hope filled me that the rogue bullet had lodged inside Jeffrey.
Olive cried, crystal tears glittering on pretty cheeks. “I’m all right.” She stayed sitting in the dirt, shoulders rolled and grief overtaking, knowing that Gil’s attempt at rescue had failed, and she was about to pay the consequences.
Just like me.
With his gun high, Jeffrey clambered to his feet, brushing off leaf matter and curling his nose at the mud stain on his knee. The flutter of disgruntled birds still flapped around us.
He wasn’t shot.
He wasn’t defeated.
“That was stupid, Gilbert. Very, very stupid.” He aimed the gun directly at Gil’s heart. “I suggest you start walking before I change my mind.”
Gil shook his head, furious despair painting his features. “I can’t leave them.”
“But you will if you want to live another day.”
Gil looked at me, apology and uselessness blazing bright. He looked at Olive, desolation and failure crippling him.
He came to the same conclusion I did.
He didn’t have a choice.
Fight now.
Die now.
Or walk away and hope to save us later.
Olive cried harder, understanding that the family reunion was about to end. “No! Take me with you. Don’t—” She stood and tried to run to Gil, only to be cornered in Jeffrey’s arms. “Don’t go. Please!”
Gil squeezed his eyes shut, a tear licking down his cheek. “Olive. I love you. Forever and ever.” His gaze opened, locking onto his flesh and blood. A family he’d created not borrowed. A little girl who idolized him. A child who believed he could fix this when he couldn’t. “Please don’t hate me for failing you. I’m not leaving you, okay? I’ll never, ever leave you. I just...this is temporary. We’ll be together again soon. I promise.”
Olive cried harder. “When? When is soon?”
He shuddered. “As soon as I can. I promise we’ll be together. I promise.”