And when the roar of motorcycles grows louder and louder, starting to shake the house, I knew why.
They were here.
SHOTGUN
We pulled up at the curb, the plan fucking simple.
Go in.
Get Avery and Thayleah out.
Remove Garrett Drake discretely if possible. If not, at least make it look like an accident.
Though, both those ideas soon flew out the window when the bastard stepped out the front doors on his own accord.
“You did this,” he screamed off the porch, several Beta Beta members behind him looking at each other as if maybe someone knew what the hell he was talking about. “An eye for an eye, right, Shotgun? You told my nephew if you ever came back, it would be to burn the house down with him inside.”
My brothers and I had moved in closer, but we stalled for a second when he stepped back inside, grabbing a large container and tipping it up, the liquid spilling out everywhere.
I wasn’t sure what hit me first.
The smell of gasoline or the flicker of the match as he struck and tossed it through the air before ducking back inside and slamming the front doors shut.
“Fuck!” I cursed, covering my face.
The ball of heat hit us, forcing us back. The flames instantly began to climb the house, the accelerant doing its fucking job. And while I was looking forward to hurting the bastard and causing him as much pain as possible, all he’d done was to make killing him more urgent.
“Go around the back. See if you can call out to the girls. Grab anyone who comes out and ask if they’ve seen them.”
Repo, Mix, and Kid rushed around the side of the house. We weren’t completely sure they were inside, but by Garrett’s reaction and his “eye for an eye” comment, I had bets on that being exactly the case.
I just needed to get them out and fast.
AVERY
“You’ve ruined my life,” Garrett called, his heavy footsteps rushing up the staircase. “I have fucking nothing left. So, you should be fucking scared. You should be petrified because if I go down, you come with me.”
The change was so quick.
So fast for him to go from confident and cocky to completely overcome with rage and determined to destroy whoever had wronged him.
Even my sister’s killer admitted to the court that if she hadn’t constantly been teasing him with her sexy clothing and sweet personality, he wouldn’t have gotten angry when he asked her out, and she turned him down.
He blamed Micah for saying no.
Because in his mind, he couldn’t understand the concept of her not wanting him.
Because in his mind, he was so fucking perfect, and saying no was an insult to him as a man.
“Do you smell that?” Thayleah whispered as the waft of smoke hit my nose. “Oh God, that’s fire.” Her hand squeezed mine tighter, her entire body beginning to shake.
“Come out, come out…”
He wasn’t moving anymore, not walking around, not bothering to look for us because we were on fire. The building was on fire. And he knew either we were going to die inside like he’d intended, or he was going to kill us as we tried to escape.
“Avery!” The sound of someone calling my name was quiet but it was there.
“Avery!” Another voice.
Kid.
My heart leaped up into my throat, and I started to wiggle out of the tight space.
“Avery, don’t leave me. Please. Please,” Thayleah whispered through tears, her hands reaching for me.
“Come on, it’s okay,” I urged, ignoring every pain in my body that screamed at me to give the hell up as I crawled to the window. Holding the ledge, I pulled myself up just enough to see out into the backyard. Smoke was already billowing into the air, and I could hear a fire truck siren screaming in the distance. But it was the sight of Kid below us that gave me that little bit of hope I desperately needed.
My fingers worked the latch on the old window with absolute precision, barely making a sound. If Garrett heard, we were done. The windows eased open, and I stuck my head out. Kid jumping almost out of his skin before he let out a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth to yell, but I pressed my finger to my lips, telling him so politely to shut the hell up.
Kid waved to someone, and Repo appeared below the window next to Kid.
Scanning 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.”