Page 141 of Restitution

“Oh God,” she cries quietly, limping towards me and taking in the demolished surroundings of her home. “What happened?”

So many memories burned away. Kade’s room doesn’t even exist anymore. The box I stored in his cupboard will be gone – the princess dress, the booties, the photographs and everything else he kept to remind him of us.

All gone.

I’m so weak that the gunshots I can hear from somewhere in the manor don’t faze me. There’s yelling, and something falls from the ceiling and causes embers to float towards us with a bang. There’s crackling in my ears, and I don’t know if it’s from my head injury or the wood burning around us.

Luciella uses the shredded material of her top to cover her mouth. Pretty soon, the smoke will grow thicker, poisonous, and we’ll probably die in here.

Every nerve in my body is aware of the pain I’m in, and everything burns from the polluted air. I pull my sweater up and over my mouth to try to filter some of the smoke filling my lungs.

I’m not sure how long I was knocked out, but one minute, Luciella and I were rehearsing how she’ll tell Base she’s pregnant, me hyping her up when she started to panic because he hates children, then the next, chaos. Something happened when we were walking down Kade’s spiral staircase to go find Base and tell him the news. There was a bang, then we were catapulted down and everything turned black.

The smoke is getting thicker, and the flames are closer. I have sweat all over me, stinging the wounds on my skin. “Tylar,” I say. “She went to your room. Can you phone her?”

Luciella pulls out her phone from her back pocket, but the screen is smashed. I have no idea where mine is.

My heart twists at the thought of whoever is attacking us getting to Kade, and I silently pray he’s not too stoned to defend himself.

We freeze when gunshots sound louder at the end of Kade’s corridor, two heavily armoured figures running past with gas masks on, torches attached to their guns and shining through the smoke. They’re aiming and firing at someone.

We need to get out of here – and fast. Whoever attacked the manor is also storming the place.

Oh God. Where are the dogs? Kade? Tylar? Everyone?

My eyes sting from the smoke and pressure of the pain in my head, but I manage to push my palms into the floor beneath me and sit up. “I can feel my toes,” I croak, coughing as relief courses through me – my legs aren’t broken from being trapped under the beam. “Help me lift this off.”

When she reaches forward, realisation hits, and I grab her wrist. “Wait. No. You can’t lift it – you’re pregnant.”

“I’m helping you,” she demands, freeing herself from my grip. “The fire is spreading, and I’m not leaving you here to either be shot or burned alive.”

Three attempts, and we fail to move the beam trapping my legs. It sits just above my knees, but if I try to pull my legs out, my kneecaps feel like they’re going to snap. I give up, coughing enough to make my throat hurt.

“You need to go, Luciella.”

“Shut up. No.”

“Lu, please. You’re pregnant, and I’m stuck here. The smoke’s getting worse.” I take deep breaths that sting my throat. “Please go.”

“No.”

I go to groan, but the sight of two more figures pushing their way into the destroyed corridor has me pausing. Relief fills me as Kade snatches someone by the throat and repeatedly punches them in the face, so hard the gas mask drops to the ground. Base is strangling the other, a manic expression on his face.

“Motherfuckers chose the wrong family to fuck with,” Base growls, kicking the person between the legs before they drop. “Pieces of shit.”

Kade snaps the man’s neck so easily, and I hear it popping.

They’re both drenched in blood.

Kade’s gaze clashes with mine, and I feel all the air vanish as he instantly runs to me, my name on his lips, Base just behind him, yelling for Luciella. They stop when another beam drops from the ceiling, missing them by an inch.

They bolt over the beam and run towards us, dodging debris. Kade reaches me first with wide eyes. “Fuck,” he blurts, grabbing my face to check my injuries. Then he glances down at my trapped limbs.

He effortlessly lifts the beam, and I shuffle back to free my legs. He yanks me into his chest before I can say a word. His face buries into my shoulder as his hold tightens around me. “I can’t ever lose you. I… I can’t. Ever. I thought I lost you… I couldn’t find you… couldn’t fucking think straight.”

I lean back and cup his stained cheek, his eyes wild. “It’s okay. You found me.”

“I killed a lot of people tonight,” he admits, his eyes taking inall my cuts and bruises. “Don’t hate me.”