Page 58 of Secret Revenge

I stared at Kurt in confusion as Travis yanked me out of the room. I’d been too close for him to miss. Was he such a bad shot? Or, had he let me go? If he had, why would he have done that? Why would he have gone against his father?

There was no time to think about the answer to those questions, and I didn’t intend on sticking around to find out.

“What next?” Travis hissed, glancing around.

I waved the keys I lifted from Jonathan. “This way.” I could hear voices ringing through the entire compound and the sound of multiple footsteps. Someone had heard the blast from Kurt’s gun.

We made it to the parking lot without being detected, but starting a car without being noticed would be harder. I tried tospot Jonathan’s car in the darkness, but there were too many vehicles that looked the same. The voices grew louder and I could see silhouettes headed towards the parking lot.

“Well?” Travis asked impatiently.

There was nothing else to do. I pulled out the keys again, and beeped the ”find my car” button. “Damn it, we have no choice.” The sound of a honking horn came from the end of the lot and the light seemed to shine brighter than the sun.

Shouts filled the air immediately and I could make out at least half a dozen men sprinting towards the lot. We ran for the car. Once there, I threw myself into the driver’s seat and jammed the keys into the ignition. Travis threw himself into the back seat on the driver’s side.

The tires screamed as I reversed out of the spot, smashing through the wire fence, before jumping into the empty road.

Gunshots rang out behind us, and when I looked into the rear-view mirror, I could see two cars flying after us in reckless pursuit.

I stepped on the gas and gunned the motor. In the side mirror I could see an SUV getting closer despite my speed.

I took a sharp right and veered onto another road that was wider, but still deserted. I fought to keep control of the vehicle as the back tires squealed and burned with the speed of the turn.

Someone poked a head out of the pursuing SUV. Kurt. He extended his arm, a gun in his hand, and fired. The rear window exploded into a web of cracks as bullets whistled past, showering us with glass shards. Instinctively, we ducked, the world outside blurring into a frenzy of lights and shadows.

I swerved to throw Kurt off my tail, but he was a skilled driver. Suddenly I noticed a hot, white pain blossoming in my shoulder. In front of me, spiderweb cracks formed around the telltale roundness of a bullet hole.

I looked down and saw that my shirt was soaked through with blood. My vision swam as I looked at the injury, but I maintained my grip on the steering.

I heard Travis yell in horror. “Let me drive! You’re hurt!”

“No…no time,” I replied, blinking away the hot tears that gathered in my eyes. Shots rang out again and this time, I heard a tire explode. The car swerved wildly off the road, despite my effort to keep it under control.

Wow, it seems like he is a good shot after all, I thought, right before the car rammed into a tree, throwing me into darkness.

28

TRAVIS

My heart jumped into my throat as blood blossomed from Emily’s chest.

“Let me drive!” I shouted. “You’re hurt!”

I didn’t want to drive; Iwantedto stop the car and kill every man in the cars that had shot at her with my bare hands. But under the circumstances, driving was the best thing I could do for Emily.

Emily gripped the steering wheel resiliently, even as it became clear that she was losing consciousness. “Move over, Emily—” I grunted, half-climbing into the front seat before bullets ripped into the back tires. The car skidded off the road and careened into a tree as I braced myself as best I could between the seats.

The impact of the crash slammed my head against the car's ceiling, dazing me. As my vision cleared, my eyes found Emily, unconscious and slumped against the inflated airbag.

I blinked slowly, the noise of grinding metal loud in my head. Sharp pain pulsed through my head, yet it was Emily's stillness that filled me with a bone-deep dread.”

“Emily,’ I croaked out, my voice barely audible even to me. “Emily…”

She didn’t move. I said a silent prayer as fear swallowed me. I wanted to go help her, but I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t feel anything. I shut my eyes, pushed back fear, and fought for control.

At first it sounded like another noise in my head, an after effect of the crash. But the sound grew. I opened my eyes as relief flooded me.

Those were sirens.