Page 61 of Love Fire

My screams are landmine that started a chain reaction of shooting and yelling. Nate and I run up to the room, evading the bullets. He stops a few steps behind me.

“Go! I’ll hold them off!” he says.

I keep going. I get to the room and kick down the door. I’m confronted by Hank and his men.

“Step down,” I demand.

My eyes fall on Erin and my heart crumbles. Her head hangs forward with her mouth open. Saliva drips down her chin. Her eyes are half open. There’s an abysmal emptiness in them.

I contain myself from shifting and burning everything to the ground. Starting with Hank. The latter laughs out loud and mockingly.

“You picked the wrong day to come here,” he says.

He stops, then smirks. “Or maybe the best. Depending on how you look at it.”

As if on cue, there’s a large commotion outside. Lots of men are shouting and I can hear them running around. Hank took the opportunity to knock me to the floor. He runs to the other guards after, like a coward.

I stand up to look out the window. My SWAT team’s here, battling the guards. I almost let myself relax until I see a tall man walking in with two AR’s.

That must be Torres Vincent.

I run towards Erin, untying the rope. Her body becomes loose and she almost falls on me. I shake her by the shoulders.

“Erin, wake up!”

No response. Her head hangs back. Like a broken doll would. Her eyes close completely. My eyes widen at the sight of blood coming out her nose.

“Fuck! Erin!”

I shake her again. “Help! Somebody help me! Nate!”

No response. I can’t sit here and wait. I have to take drastic measures after all.

I place her carefully on the chair. I don’t want to leave her like that but I must for now. I kiss her forehead.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” I say before running outside.

I need to kill each and every one of them to get her out safely.

50

ERIN

Isuddenly wake up. Gasping for air. A switch went off inside my body. Like there was never even a speck of Iridescent inside me.

I look around me, expecting for Hank to come out with another vial. He’d be the first to eagerly come up with sick torture methods. To my utmost relief, even his men are gone.

I look down at my feet. My jaw almost breaks off with the loudness of my gasp. There’s no way what I’m seeing right now is true.

“L-Leanne?”

She kneels in front of me, screwing the top of a vial back on and shoving it in her pocket. She pats it, making sure it’s nice and snug. Then, she looks at me and smiles.

“Welcome back sis,” she says.

There’s a wave of emotions going through me. After missing for a year, that’s all she has to say to me? Unscathed too, by the looks of it.

Whatever. It’s Leanne. My dear sister stands before me alive and well. I don’t know how many times I wished for this to happen.

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