Page 108 of Sully

A cardigan full of bright, happy colors.

It was like the fucking universe needed to remind me of Bonnie, of why I was here, of what I wanted to go home to.

I grabbed it before starting up the stairs.

I was almost to the top when there was a slam upstairs, followed by grunts and more pounding sounds.

Someone was fighting.

“Don’t,” I called, running the rest of the way up, but the door didn’t give.

I lifted a hand, ready to pound, before remembering the goddamn explosives.

“Don’t fucking fight!” I yelled through the door.

The lock on the door slid, then the door was opening. And there was Perish.

“Don’t shoot. Don’t knock anything over. And for fuck’s sake, stop—“ I started to bark out orders.

But it was right then that Will broke away from Rune.

I had a split second to see the wild look in his eyes. And just below it, the dark sort of glee as he ran toward the basement door.

I didn’t try to stop him.

“Out!” I roared to Rune and Perish.

To their credit, they didn’t ask questions. They didn’t even hesitate.

They turned and ran toward the front door, flying out and down the front path with me on their heels.

“Go, go, go,” I yelled as Rune jumped into the driver’s seat and turned the SUV over.

Perish climbed in.

“Go!” I screamed at Rune even before I was fully inside the SUV.

He reversed down the drive as I dropped my ass into the seat, my door still wide open.

And it was right then that the entire fucking house exploded.

The sound was as deafening as I remembered, and all three of us ducked at the sound, at the way the whole fucking ground shook below the car.

But to Rune’s credit, even that didn’t slow him down as he flew down the street.

I could see Perish’s lips moving, but I couldn’t make out the words, hearing nothing but my own blood pounding in my ears, that strange high-pitched screaming sound that came from the pressure of the explosion.

For a moment, my mind flashed back.

And suddenly, I was somewhere overseas.

I was flying on my back. I was being covered with rubble.

It was the material in my hand when my fingers curled into fists that had the memory slipping away again, leaving me back in the present.

With Bonnie’s cardigan in my hand.

Bonnie.

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