Page 9 of When Kings Fall

He came at us in the next second.

The hell I was going to let him stop us from finally making our escape from this nightmare.

Despite the fact that every step was causing me significant pain, focusing on the adrenaline of it all was managing to mute it enough where I could function.

And this asshole coming at us added a whole other powerful element.

Rage.

Levi was obviously right there with me on that, because he roared, then slammed the guy back into the wall with a brutal shove—especially for somebody so young and unaccustomed to this down and dirty life. For the most part, anyway.

Until this.

Until these monsters had taken that innocence and shattered it to pieces.

As soon as the guard jarred against the wall, I was there, driving my snake into his throat and twisting it for good measure.

He let out an awful gurgled scream that went right through me in a way that I knew would haunt me for a long time to come.

As well as the sight of blood spurting from his throat because I’d hit his carotid artery dead-on.

I couldn’t take the chance of just injuring him and him being able to fight on, or get back up later just as we were on the verge of escaping this place.

Blood splattered over my fingers and Levi’s neck and face.

I wrenched the snake out and wiped it on my pants.

“Let’s keep going,” I told Levi as he stared at the guy sinking down the wall to his ass and dying right before us. “Look away,” I said, grasping Levi’s arm and steering him away.

Fortunately, he managed to focus and we hurried down the corridor.

We shoved open the heavy emergency exit door together.

We’d just stepped outside when a guard lunged at us from the left.

There was no time to react as he was suddenly wrenched back.

What the hell?

The two of us watched in shock as the roided-out guy with slicked back hair, Kyle Trass, one of the main three here, laid into the ski mask and then smashed his head into the exterior wall, knocking him out cold.

In the next second, Kyle was stepping up to us and holding out a gun.

“The safety’s off, so just point and shoot. There’s three guards over by the east side exit, the way you’re headed. I can’t be seen helping you, all right?”

“I… yes,” I said, taking the gun from him. “Why do this? Why go against your boss?”

He looked between us, grimacing. “Because what he’s doing is demented. Now I sent them off to a fake meeting, this is your chance.”

“Fake meeting?” Levi asked. “You set all that up?”

“Yeah, now go. And hurry.”

Levi and I took off, running around the side of the building, prepared to make the sharp turn that would lead us toward the cover of the trees.

“There!” I called out, panting from the exertion on my injured body, as I located our path through and away from all of this.

Levi’s eyes sparked with hope.

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