Page 113 of Golden Burn

The lights spring back to life, foiling my opportunity to find her.

Two of Cerbera’s men appear out of a doorway down the hall and spot me instantly.

I shoot.

The first one grunts and goes down with a bullet to the neck.

The second uses his fallen comrade as a shield as he pulls out his own gun and starts firing back.

I throw myself into the booth that acts as a formal dining area. Shots ring out above my head, glass shatters. Someone loses their life out on the deck thanks to Ford’s efficient work ethic.

The man firing at me starts to come closer. The booth acts as my cover, but my only vantage point is from underneath the table. I position my gun in front of me and wait until I see a pair of legs come into view.Bang!My bullet lodges into his thigh. He screams and falls to the side, clutching his leg with his free hand.

I pop up, barely missing a bullet to the forehead as he tries his luck with a shot. I fix my aim on his chest and fire. His arms slacken, his weapon clatters to the floor.

Ford appears then, a spray of blood on his face. My ears are ringing so badly I almost don’t hear him. “Six down, a few to go.”

“Etta’s downstairs,” I say.

“Get her. I’ll find Cerbera.”

We separate. Ford climbs up to the bridge, while I descend the stairs to the few rooms tucked away.

The first door I open reveals a bedroom with claustrophobic bunks, empty of the men now dead above me. The second door I open is some sort of stock cupboard, piled high with food, cash and weapons.

The third door is the last. Knowing Etta might be in there ruins whatever focus I previously had. “Etta?” I call, uncaring that someone might find me. I just need to hear her voice. I need to know she’s alive.

I reach for the handle and turn it.

Through the gap, I see a bed that’s stained red with blood. My chest explodes with panic. I open it fully, my gaze scanning the room for any sign of life, my heart a frenzied, messy thing.

When my eyes land on her, relief washes over me, but it’s swiftly replaced by a torrent of fury.

She’s bound by her hands and wrists, her mouth sealed with tape. Her forehead is covered in blood. There’s a cut so deep above her eye I can see bone. I’m bursting at the seams wanting to touch her, to hold her, to help her.

“Etta,” I breathe.

She jerks beneath her binds, her gaze on something behind me.

Her warning scream stays locked in her throat, but I know she said my name.

I reach for her.

“Predictable,” Cerbera says from behind me and slams the butt of the gun into the back of my skull.

42

Etta

‘Wolf At Your Door’ - Chloe and Halle

Odin’s face blooms inside my head every second or so. He’s sitting opposite me on the deck in Mykonos, the sun highlighting his features. I used to think of them as cruel, but now I see them as anything but. They may not be perfect, but mother nature never is. I think about every touch, every kiss, every reassuring word. I think about how right it feels to call him husband and how sacred he must be for me. How he’ll be ripping himself apart from guilt and blame. I think about how much I miss him, and how much I really love him, and how a future with him is the greatest gift I could have received. I think about—

The lights flick off, ripping me from my mind.

Something vibrates above my head. It happens again. Like a heavy object hitting the ground.

The darkness is alive around me, thumping in time with my heart. I wait and listen, listen, listen. A gunshot, clear as day, rings outsomewhere on deck. My muscles tense, my chest swells with hope. More gun shots. More thumping.

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