Page 73 of Ruthless Commander

My ears rang with the stabbing pain inside my head. Damien just turned his gaze toward the doorway. “We’re in the eye of it now. The eye of the cyclone, and of my wrath.”

The roar of the wind was gone, leaving a deathly, painful silence behind.

“Now move.” He yanked me from the wall and shoved me forward.

I stumbled, unable to do a damn thing but obey him as my mind raced. Get him talking…get him saying anything. “Your family…” I started as I fumbled my way deeper into the gloom.

“The family yours killed.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“Of course you don’t. In there.” He raised his gun and pointed to a doorway.

I reached out, my fingers shaking as I clawed the air, and felt nothing.

“You need to get closer, Xael.” He pressed the gun to my back, the bite of the muzzle making me wince.

I stepped closer, swallowing the panic inside me, and tried again. My finger smacked a handle. I gripped it, turned it, and yanked the door open. Faint light hit me, enough to see it was a storeroom of some kind. Under the door at the end of the room, a little more light spilled in.

“Move,” Damien commanded.

I moved between the racks filled with chemicals and cleaning equipment to the door at the end, yanked the handle, and stepped out into one of the lower floor hallways of the building. “What are we doing here, Damien?”

“You’ll see.”

I moved ahead, then stopped, waiting as he motioned me forward again. I watched him in the corner of my eye, stepping slowly as that panic raced through my head. “What are you going to do with me?”

“Less than you deserve,” he muttered, and motioned me toward one of the classrooms at the end of the hall.

I knew this place, knew the classrooms, it’s where we'd had weapons training. My pulse picked up at the thought as he gestured toward the end of the hall.

Boom!

The faint sound of an explosion resounded in the hallway, drawing his focus over his shoulder. The second was all I had…so I took it.

I lunged, hurling my body toward the end of the hall, slammed my hand against the wall, and shoved myself around the corner.

“Xael!” Damien shouted.

But I didn’t stop, just willed my knees not to buckle as I ran for my life.

Crack!A gunshot exploded, hitting the wall behind me as I screamed.

Don’t hit me…

Don’t hit me…

Don’t…

“I’ll fucking kill you!”Damien roared.

But the hallway was ending and there was no way out to the foyer from here, a dead end…with only two classrooms to possibly save me. I lunged for the closest door, grabbed the handle, and yanked.

But it was locked. I tried again, straining as I twisted and pulled. Desperation screamed inside me as I tore toward the other door.

Crack!The shot hit the glass panel of the locked door, sending shards flying through the air to shower me. The stings were instant, making me cry out and stumble sideways before I rushed forward again, throwing myself toward the only other door at the end of the hallway.

Please…please...PLEASE.I grabbed the handle, twisted it, and pulled as Damien came charging toward me, roaring like a bull. The handle sank and the door opened outward. I was through in a blur, yanking the door closed behind me and hitting the lock.