Page 131 of Tempt Me (Dark Odyssey 4)

That was supposed to kill me.

It’s the least of my worries though. Tires screech on the road ahead, and a motorcyclist tears down the corner. He pulls a gun from his back and aims it at us.

Another comes.

Vincent leaps into action, shoves me behind him, and pulls two guns from his back pocket. Two shots are fired, and the first cyclist is dead before he can pull his trigger. The next doesn’t make it to us. Their bikes crash into the wall.

Vincent takes my hand and runs with me down the road. We get to a midnight black Kawasaki, and he hands me the helmet that was hooked to the handlebar.

He takes my shoulders and holds them firm.

“Do not let go of me. You fucking hold on and don’t let go. Do you hear me?” he warns.

I stare at him, my eyes so wide they’re dry and hurt. His eyes bore into me with that mixture of what I always see, but deep within them, I see for the first time how much he cares about me.

“I hear you,” I answer and put the helmet on.

He gets on the bike, and I get on behind him, slipping my arms around him tightly. I hold him and press my face into his back as I will the sounds around me away from my mind, and the images of Dad.

I will them all away because it’s all I can do.

The nightmare world has spilled over into reality indeed, and it’s brought hell with it.

We are being followed, chased.

Vincent speeds down the road as two motorcyclists follow us. I chance looking to my left and see them. Two are on that side. Another on the right I can hear.

They try to shoot at us but miss.

Vincent leads them to Main Street, where the roads get bigger. That’s when I see six mean-looking motorcycles leap down from the car park complex. I recognize those moves. One of the bikers I know is Salvatore, although he’s wearing a helmet. There’s another guy without a helmet that has long black hair billowing out in the wind and a cross on his cheek. He and Salvatore take out the two bikers chasing us, and Vincent speeds along with me down the road.

More bikes come, and cars come from the corners while bullets fly all around me.

I hold on tight. Holding on so tight it’s like I’m holding on to him and holding on to life.

The noises lessen, and I assume we’ve lost them, then a car pulls out from the road up ahead and stops.

It stops in our path.

I gaze on and see the people in the car.

Dmitri is the driver, and Yuri is sitting next to him. In the back is the devil. My uncle Ilya.

“Hold on tight, doll! Hold on!” Vincent shouts and pushes past the speed barrier. These bikes were designed to go lightning fast. It does.

They thought he was going to stop. The other cars that pulled out to join them thought the same, so did I. The only thing you can do in a standoff like this is stop.

But Vincent doesn’t. He goes faster, and it’s too late for anybody to scatter when he drives the bike right up onto the car with Dmitri, Yuri, and Ilya and practically leaps over it.

Shock flies through me at the formidable force he is and his determination to protect me.

More bullets echo behind us, but they fade. Then I hear them no more.

All there is in my ear is the hum of the engine and the hammering of my heart.

The tears never stopped falling.

They continue as we ride on and ride hard.

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