Page 61 of Darling Wildfire
I called her name as I patted her face repeatedly. Her eyes fluttered, and she moaned.
“You’re gonna be fine! Please…Whit, hold on—” Fear clutched me and my vision blurred as I felt my heart seize in my chest at the thought of losing her. Shadows loomed over us, and then I was being dragged away from her.
“No!” I fought viciously to get back to her.
“Enough!” Vetticus roared.
“Daddy!”
I froze.
Another set of hands joined the first and dragged me to the edge of the family room where Vetticus once again had Cole in his clutches.
“Touching. It really is. But I’m tired of this game. I have a better one in store for you,” he said. “It’s time to go.”
The world slowed and I watched in horror as Vetticus brought the knife in his hand up to Cole’s neck. Panic gripped every fiber of my soul.
I was lunging for him, fighting with everything I had.
The knife moved across Cole’s neck.
“NO!” I roared. “No! Cole!”
All I saw was blood.
“I’m going to kill you!” I screamed at Vetticus.
Cole. My boy.
So much blood.
Chaos took over.
Everyone was moving and screaming at once.
Pressure slammed into my head and the ground rushed up to meet me as I watched Cole fall. The coppery scent of blood assaulted me as a knee drove into the back of my neck, holding my head down as my son’s blood pooled across the wood towards me.
I scrambled in it, my hands clawing the floor as I attempted to get to him. Unhinged sounds came from me as my body shook with grief and rage and the overwhelming urge to take him into my arms.
His little hand reached out and I just barely grasped the tips of his fingers as I watched the life drain from his eyes, still open wide in surprise.
No. No. No. Please god,no.
He couldn’t be dead.
But as vacant eyes stared back at me, I had to face the horrifying truth. Bile rose in my throat as the growing pool of his blood touched my cheek. I was sobbing now, with no idea what words were coming out of my mouth.
Someone was screaming. It might have been me.
My ears were ringing and I heard a cry of distress as I was hauled to my feet. I fought savagely, my attention shifting to Whit still laying on the kitchen floor. Her eyes were open in horror, tears pouring down her face. She stretched out a bloody hand towards me, her mouth forming my name and then I was being dragged outside towards one of the SUVs.
Panic set in and I fought viciously to get back into the house. The sting of a needle bit into my neck and everything grew hazy. Sounds receded and before the world went dark I smelled gasoline and realized this couldn’t be heaven—I wasn’t blessed like I thought—this was hell and I was finally being called home.
29
THERON
Awareness swept through me slowly. I thought the pain would come with it, but there was only a deep numbness as though the pain was so deep and vast I simply couldn’t wrap my consciousness around it. I was naked, restrained with my arms above my head, only able to support myself on the balls of my feet. My hands were already numb, but I felt something trickle down my arms and looked up to see blood running from my wrists rubbed raw by the metal.
