Page 157 of Kings & Corruption

Okay, now I knew who — what — I was dealing with.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “You’re right. You’re in control here. You’re going to kill me and bury me in the woods and no one will ever find me. I get it.” Fear galloped through my body as I said the words. It was so powerful, my vision started to recede, a buzzing coming from inside my brain like I was going to pass out.

No. I wouldnotfaint like some weak-ass heroine. I would not.

I thought of Emma, saw her face, the way it lit up when she laughed, and then, the last face I thought I‘d conjure in a moment like this one — my mom. I saw her the way she’d looked when I’d been little, when she’d been happy and full of laughter, telling jokes to make me giggle on the way to school, lying next to me in bed when I was sick.

I was not going to let her lose another daughter. I just had to keep this fucker talking long enough to figure something out.

“I just… I’m begging you to tell me what happened to my sister,” I continued. “I accept that you’re going to kill me, okay? I just want to die knowing what happened to her.”

I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t the bitter laughter that erupted from his mouth. “You don’t get it, do you? We want you to suffer. All of you. That’s thepoint.” He was pacing again, walking back and forth in front of me while he ranted like some kind of fucked-up preacher in some kind of fucked-up church. I slowly — so slowly — slipped my hand into the pocket of my jacket and wrapped my hand around the gun. I’d never fired one before, but I’d seen it in movies and stuff. I’d figure it out. “It’s the only way you’ll learn. It’s for your own good. That’s how things change, that’s how — ”

I pulled the gun out and fumbled with what I thought was the safety and his head spun up to look at me.

Time seemed to slow down as my brain tried to process what was happening.

The safety clicking off on the gun in my hand.

The man in front of me raising his weapon.

The feel of the trigger giving way under my finger as I fired, the force of my arm jerking back, the sound exploding in my ears.

The man grabbing his thigh, a scream pulled from his lips as blood darkened his pant leg, blood dripping onto the floor.

The realization that I’d hit him, not enough to drop him, but enough to wound him.

Enough to buy me time.

And then, the crack of gunfire just outside the door before it burst open, Neo filling its frame.

Chapter72

Willa

The masked man turned toward the door, his eyes wide with shock as Neo burst into the room, Rock and Oscar on his heels like avenging angels, all of them with weapons drawn.

I didn’t have time to wonder how they’d found me. A round of gunfire exploded, the sound overwhelming in the confines of the cabin. It was impossible to tell who was firing where as wood splintered from the cabin’s walls, jars and glasses shattering on the makeshift shelves.

I ducked instinctively, the gun still in my hands, and watched as the man swayed on his feet, then went crashing to the floor, knocking over the table and one of the chairs on his way down.

The old-fashioned lamp went flying, and a second later an ominouswhooshsounded through the cabin as the fire spread from the lamp to the wood floor, which was dry enough to act as kindling.

The fire was between me and the Kings, its flames licking higher as it reached for more fuel.

“Stay there, Willa!” Oscar had to yell the command, and I was aware as if from a distance that I hadn’t expected fire to be so loud. “I’m coming!”

I was still holding the gun, the metal welded to my hand as I tried to take in the scene. My gaze landed on the man I’d shot in the thigh, still and sprawled across the floor in front of the fire.

I should have been happy he was dead, but all I could think about was Emma.

Now I’d never know what had happened to her.

The fire grew louder as it consumed more fuel, smoke filling the room. I coughed, remembering a statistic I’d heard somewhere along the way, that more people died in fires from smoke inhalation than from the actual flames.

Glass shattered from all sides, the heat blowing out what was left of the cabin’s windows.

Then Oscar was there, crouched in front of me, his expression so still he might have been made of stone. It was only his eyes that gave away his worry.

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