Page 113 of Wandering in Darkness
My hand tightens on my gun.
I hate killing people, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure he never hurts anyone again. To make sure Grayson is safe… and to avenge the brothers I lost.
So far, everything seems to be okay. The dog has stopped barking, likely having worn himself out, unless Felix has somehow whispered kindness into his soul.
And even though I’m doing a decent job of watching out for anything suspicious, all I can do is feel the tingling on the side of my head where Grayson kissed me. Like how can I possibly still feel it?
My face heats up while I try to chastise myself for not being focused, and instead, I’m over here seeing hearts everywhere.
The hearts are rather large and unstoppable as I bite my lip to keep myself from smiling. If any of the bad guys were to take this moment to look in and catch me, they would see a man grinning manically because of his first love.
So much so that when Grayson comes running in going, “They’re here!” I’m still smiling.
“What?” I ask.
“Let’s get out, quickly,” he says before rushing into the room where the others are. “Are you done? We need to move. They’re here.”
“Fuck, fuck,” Audrey says. “Just one minute.”
“Can you take the computer with you?” I ask.
“No, you know he’ll change everything if he thinks I’m able to get into it. Stall them for one minute.”
“Fuck,” I hiss, but I hurry back to the rear of the house where I see a dark car parked behind it. There’s a fence, but it’s mostly decorative and allows me to see them as they move between the panels.
I push the window open just enough to knock the screen out before lifting my gun. I watch them until they decide to peek around the fence before pulling the trigger. Honestly, I don’t want to shoot them, but I make sure the hit strikes the fence, driving them back and making them second-guess coming this way. Grayson fires off another shot, forcing more back, but I know this isn’t going to fix everything.
“There are more coming this way,” Felix calls from the other side of the house. “Lane! Lane, I need you!”
I hear Lane rapidly moving across the house while I question if I should leave this area and rush over to assist. “Antonio, make her hurry it up! We’re being surrounded on two sides,” I shout.
“She claims she’s almost done.”
I hear a window break on the far side of the house, an area we hadn’t been able to watch, and decide that we have to call it. Risking their lives isn’t worth this. “Let’s go. Now,” I say, wondering if I should begin shooting them to protect those I care for, but what if they’re not all bad people? What if they joined for the money? What if they joined because they had to?
I see someone running this way and I follow him with my gun as my indecision leads to hesitation. “Grayson…”
He pushes my gun down and shoots the man in the leg. The man falls forward before scrambling for cover with the rest of his team.
“We’re moving now,” Grayson barks.
“I’m done. I’m done,” Audrey says before she comes running out. She dashes right past us as we start after her.
Antonio slows enough to reach for Felix. “Let’s go!”
“Coming. Coming,” he says, tugging Lane after him. I keep them in front of me, knowing that someone’s in the house and I need to protect my people. I’m moving with my eyes focused behind me, waiting for them to come around the corner. I’m so fixated on our rear that I don’t notice the explosion until Grayson tears me back as debris rains down on me and I feel a flash of heat rise up around me.
I shield myself while Grayson wraps his arms around me, protecting me as smoke billows and debris settles. My hand tightens on his shoulder when I look around him to the kitchen that is currently ablaze.
“What the fuck just happened?” I ask, watching the others rush away from the flames. Thankfully, no one seems to be hurt… but what the hell caused it?
“Audrey threw a lighter at the stove,” Felix says. “She must have turned on the gas when we were in here earlier. She’s gone.”
“Fucking hell,” Grayson mutters.
“She sent out the information, I watched her,” Antonio says. “I also had her send it to an email we can access as well. I don’t think she’s working for them if she gave us all of that. I know it was legit; I watched her.”
“We’ll talk about it later. We need to get out,” Lane urges.
