Page 135 of End Game

“All we intended to do was check out Sybil’s guesthouse, then ask her a few questions.”

“But all hell broke loose?” Phin supplied.

Ash nodded.

“What’s wrong with your shoulder?” Zeke asked, eyeing his bloody sleeve.

“Flesh wound, same as you.”

“You look like you’ve been on a bender for a week.”

“And you look like Mt. Vesuvius on the verge of eruption.”

“Boys, now isn’t the time to get into a pissing match,” Phin said. “What can you tell us?”

Ash summarized the events of the last two hours, starting with his and Kayla’s decision to confront Sybil about Victoria’s death, Elsie’s shocking revelation about her part in the governor’s assassination, his death walk, and Elsie’s endgame.

“Elsie intends to kill Kayla and her mother, then frame Sybil for everything.” Ash used his sleeve to wipe sweat and grit from his eyes. “I have to get back to Sybil’s before it’s too late.” He didn’t voice the fear that Elsie had already put her plan in action. He couldn’t face that possible truth.

Zeke grabbed something off the ground, then used Rohan’s shoulder to leverage himself up. “You’re not going anywhere alone.” He tossed the object from the ground to him. “You dropped this.”

With one hand, Ash caught the rifle he’d taken from the dead guard.

“Let Rohan take a look at your shoulder.”

“No need. The bastards stuffed the wound with combat gauze to staunch the blood. Shot was through and through.”

“It appears you lost a significant amount of blood before they plugged the holes,” Cruz said, a warning in his voice. “And from the way you’re squinting your eyes, I’m guessing you sustained a head injury, too.”

“I’ll be fine.” He started up the ridge. The pressure in his head pulsed with each sluggish beat of his heart. “A little lost blood and a bump on the head are nothing compared to the fate awaiting Kayla and her mother.”

He sniffed the air and caught the acrid scent of smoke.

71

Kayla was burning.

Flames licked at her stockinged feet and seared her wet cheeks.

Wet cheeks?

Had she been crying?

She tried to lift her hand, but it wouldn’t budge from her side.

She attempted to sit up, but a hippo sat on her chest.

She made to raise her knees, but they remained locked in place.

Her head wouldn’t turn.

The only thing she could move were her eyes. And she didn’t like the view.

She lay prone on the sofa in the guest house’s great room, a blanket of sweat covering her body. Fire consumed the area by the back sliding doors. Flames crept up the walls and slithered across the ceiling. Soon the inferno would be overhead and burning detritus would rain down on her, setting her hair and clothes aflame.

With extreme effort, she lifted her head a few inches and turned it just enough to spot Jillian, where she still lay sprawled on the floor by the broken planter.

The sight opened the gates to more memories. Marco holding her head immobile while Elsie poured tainted wine into Kayla’s mouth. Some of the brew slipped down her throat before she delivered a vicious kick to Elsie’s stomach, sending her aunt and wine flying.

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