Page 36 of Heathens (Badlands 4)

The word died on my tongue.

He made it less than halfway there when a fucking arrow zipped through the air.

“Fuck!” I yelled, watching it find its mark.

“Sonofabitch,” he groaned, and stumbled off the path. He wisely turned to come back, grabbing for the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

I jumped off the step and ran towards him, hearing the yells of his employees that lived on the property coming over the hill as they made a run for the barn.

They were a bunch of dumb fucks that weren’t thinking clearly.

The barn wouldn’t spontaneously burst into flame.

I reached Luther and grabbed hold of his good arm, propelling him to the house.

“You’re not the brightest crayon in the box, are ya?” I asked.

“Fuck you. This shit hurts,” he laughed, unable to pull the arrow out.

“Motherfuckers,” I muttered when I barely missed taking a hit myself. “Who the fuck shoots arrows?”

Over the yelling and pandemonium behind me, I could hear the sound of approaching vehicles.

“You need to go get Blue and—”

There was a wet splat, and a spray of blood hit the side of my face as a second arrow found a home in his left eye.

Chapter Thirteen

BLUE

I jack-knifed into a sitting position, goose-bumps erupting across my flesh.

A quick survey of the room told me I was alone.

Hearing yelling from outside, I climbed out of bed and went to the sole window in the bedroom.

I pulled back a corner of the curtain and peeked out. Seeing the barn going up in flames, an unmoving body a few feet in front of it, and all the people rushing around had me jerking backward.

I needed to get out of the house.

Rushing to the stool, I hurriedly dressed in the clothes that had been placed on it, a dress and a pair of combat boots a size too small.

There was no underwear or bra, but I could worry about that later. All I could think about was Cobra. I had no idea where he was or if he was okay.

Leaving the room, I froze in the hall when a gun went off.

My palms clammed up as I forced myself to keep walking.

Before I could reach the end of the hallway where the stairs began, I heard heavy footsteps slowly ascending them.

Walking backward, I ducked into the first room on my right and quietly shut the door.

It had one of those knobs with a simple lock, but that was better than nothing. I pushed it in and took a second to figure out my best option.

This was a man’s room.

The masculinity of it made that apparent.

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