Page 193 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
Hatred curled through my being as I hissed in his ear, “You’ll never touch her again.”
And I barely caught the disturbance in my periphery as I dragged my blade across the scum’s throat. A garbled cry erupted from him as blood gushed from the wound.
I held him there as he bled out, and that was when my attention lifted to the energy that suddenly hit me like a slingshot.
Arctic eyes stared at me from across the road.
Both hands covering her mouth to trap the scream as Pierce’s body crumpled to the ground.
For two beats, she stood there staring at me in horror.
Unable to move.
Frozen to the spot.
Right before the sound of River’s bike came tearing up the road, knocking Piper from the shock.
And my soul crumbled out of me when she turned and ran.
THIRTY-EIGHT
PIPER
Terror ricocheted through my being.My pulse erratic as I turned and started to run. My heart manic and my mind trying to process through what I had just witnessed.
Theo had killed two men.
Killed them as if it were an act he committed every day.
Hatred boiling in his aura and violence oozing from his flesh.
Sickness churned in my stomach, nearly making me stumble as I fled.
I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do.
The only thing I knew was I had to get away. That I couldn’t stomach this. That I couldn’t wrap my head around what Theo had just done.
I’d known he was dangerous, hadn’t I? I had known it from the beginning, and I chose to turn a blind eye.
But I could neverunseethis.
Panic careened through my veins, and I fumbled in the direction of the cabin that had come to feel like a home. A cabin he instructed me to stay locked behind the doors, but when I heard the glass shatter and Alicia’s scream, I had to try to help her.
I couldn’t sit idle when I was sure she was in trouble.
And that trouble was something I couldn’t handle.
I felt like a fool who’d fallen into a false security. Like peace could ever really be meant for me. As if running wouldn’t be a permanent fixture of my life.
Running was the only thing I could do.
I had to get out of here.
Get my son and grandmother to safety.
“Piper!” Theo’s voice cut through the air. Not quite a shout but a command that hit me like a blade to my back.
A whimper of fear raked out of me, and I pushed myself harder. I didn’t take the time to make it back to the path that led to the cabin.
