Page 302 of Second Sets Omnibus

“Go,” Asher yells. “Get help, baby!”He urges her, throwing her toward the door with tears in his eyes. “Please!” He begs, stepping toward her, frantically hurrying her along and herding her toward the opening.

Tears stream down Lyric’s face when she stumbles away from us. Her eyes dart back and forth with uncertainty. Trembles roll through her tiny, frozen body, shaking every inch of her.

“Mommy,” she sniffles, taking a step toward me with wide eyes, staring straight at the barrel of the gun, pointing at her tiny chest.

“No!” I shout, gluing my eyes to Van and his movements. Something depraved brews behind his dark eyes as he calculates his next moves. Lyric was his leverage. And now, she’s out of his grasp. Will he harm her, too?

“If I can’t have her, then no one will,” he says, staring directly into my eyes. A void opens in his dark eyes. There are no emotions resting behind them. Just a black hole of nothingness. “No one touches what is mine, again,” he says with a deadly calm—the calm before the shit storm about to rain on all of us.

An ache pangs across my chest when he cocks the gun and fucking fires it. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Like this was all a part of his plan. A small smirk pulls at his lips when my body flinches back and my gaze darts to my helpless child, standing stock still.

The bullet careens in Lyric’s direction, like a fucking missile aiming straight at her little chest, which heaves out of control as sobs flow from her throat.

I can’t fucking move to protect her from harm’s way. I can’t stop the bullet from speeding toward her little body. Everything is spiraling out of fucking control, and I can’t stop any of it from happening.

“No!” I shout as the loud bang reverberates off the stone walls. My fucking ears ring as the noise from the blast blocks everything out. I cry out, covering my ears from the closeness of the sound, deafening everything.

My eyes dart to Lyric, checking her for injuries. I make a move to run to her, despite the gun still hanging in the air, but a strong grip grabs the back of my neck, halting my retreat. Helplessly, I watch from a distance, cataloging her body inch by inch. Her shrill, frantic screams fill the room, penetrating through the static in my ears.

“Go!” Asher shouts, jumping directly in front of her with a fierce expression, pushing her once again and knocking her back.

All the color drains from my face. With an umph, he gasps out, grabbing at his calf. Those wide, hazel eyes connect with mine, darkening as he shouts out in pain, and hops around.

“Again,” Van chuckles, pulling the hammer back and firing directly into Asher’s thigh.

The blast deafens me further, and I wince, trying to focus on Asher. I pull. I yank. I try to break free. I’m ten seconds away from kneeing Van in the nuts to flee, but he pulls me against him with a satisfied hum.

Asher’s eyes widen, rolling into the back of his head when the pain takes him down to his knees.

“I’m sorry,” he gasps out, barely audible for me to hear him.

“No!” I grasp Van’s forearm, trying to force the gun from his hands. If I could make it fall to the ground then he’d stop shooting Asher, and I could break free.

“Oops,” Van grins, firing one more shot into Asher’s upper leg.

All the color drains from Asher’s face when he falls over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He blinks several times, heaving desperate breaths, but the pain is too much. Every tight muscle uncoils in his body, falling limp until he’s carried away into unconsciousness. Dark red blood pushes through the fabric of his jeans, staining the fabric at an alarming rate. I don’t know much about anatomy, but getting shot isn’t good. Even if it’s just one leg.

“Asher!” I screech, trying to pull away from Van’s embrace again. My foot stomps into his but does nothing to loosen his hold. If anything, he clings on tighter with his painful grip. Digging his fingertips into my neck and holding me hostage.

“Stop fighting me!” he grits out in my ear, pulling me further into him. “You’ll never fucking fight me again after all these distractions are out of the way. You’re mine. For fucking ever, Rivey.”

Sobs wrack through my body as I helplessly watch my entire world fall apart. Tears roll down my cheeks. I can’t get away. I can’t save anyone in this room.

“Run,” I croak out, trying to gain Lyric’s attention.

Her saddened gaze locks on Asher lying lifeless on the cold ground with blood trickling out of his leg from the three wounds, no doubt ending his life. He doesn’t twitch or fucking react. His chest barely moves with his labored breaths. If we’re not careful and don’t get the help we need, he’ll be fucking dead.

Lyric is frozen, unable to move when she needs to run. Her soft whimpers spear through the room, infiltrating through the static clogging up my ears.

“Daddy!” she cries out, twisting her face in anguish at the sight of him. “Daddy,” she whimpers again.

“NO!” Van shouts, huffing against the side of my neck when he raises the gun yet again. “He’s not your daddy.”

Lyric’s eyes dart to mine, gliding over my tear-soaked face and onto Van. Her tiny head shakes at his statement, not understanding him.

“He is my daddy,” she says through a quivering lip, standing tall. “And you hurt him.” A fierce expression pulls at her face, narrowing her eyes at him. Her tiny fingers form fists at her sides, like she’s about to pounce on the asshole behind me.

“Get help,” I croak out again through my bubbling emotions. “Ly!” I shout, clinging to Van’s forearm and digging my nails into his flesh. He doesn’t budge, but the grunt in my ear lets me know I’m inflicting some sort of damage.