She had the right to make her own damn bad decisions. And I would follow along behind her like a fucking puppy dog. I was going with her. Obviously. No matter where she walked, I would follow her footsteps.
Violet nodded her head at me, my heart squeezing, then left the room. I was seconds behind, scooping up a pair of leggings for her, ready to take on the world with her. She raced down the stairs, finding Amy at the bottom of them, twisting her hands in anxiety.
“She said she had a plan, Vi,” Amy said as I tromped down the stairs, too, feeling a tiny bit more put together. Connor was walking back into the foyer too, a phone in hand and a frown on his face. “She said she had a plan, and she had to go.”
Violet looked at our sister with assessing eyes. When Amy’s gaze met hers, they both softened. Violet’s harder edge dulled, and Amy’s anxiety lessened. It really was a travesty they didn’t get to grow up as proper sisters.
“I’ll find her and bring her right back, Amy,” Violet said, grasping Amy’s hands to calm their panicked twisting. “I promise.”
Amy nodded, but her expression remained grave, disbelieving. “I don’t know if there is any saving her,” she whispered.
“I’ll try.” Violet kissed Amy’s hand and dropped it, grabbing a knife from the pocket of a coat hanging on the doorway, and reaching for the door handle.
But that bad fucking feeling.
It raged in me. Boiled up in my blood.
Something wasn’t right.
Something was very, very wrong.
“Violet, no!” I yelled as she pulled the door open.
Chaos.
A scream.
Swarms of men, with their guns raised and their voices harsh, pushed into the house. Bullets zipped over my head, and Violet’s body disappeared amongst the hoard. Fuck. No. Fuck no.
It took me just a glance to recognize them as Rafael’s men. No. No no no. I needed to move. My mind zeroed in on Violet. Only Violet. I barged, shoved and fought to get to her.
“Get the fuck off her!” Connor shouted, yanking my attention to him when one of the fuckers blocked my way. Connor punched one of the men in the nose, pulled out a gun from fuck knows where and pointed it, pressed the trigger and shot the intruder in the shoulder. Amy screamed as Connor began dragging her back.
Seconds. Only seconds since Violet had wrapped her hand around that door handle, and the obstacles between us were only growing. Needed to get to her. I punched and kicked, used every limb and muscle, every breath I had.
A gun pointed in my face. My fists and feet connecting with any body part I could reach as they tried to subdue me, but I was manic. I needed to get to her. Needed to find Violet. She was gone. Fuck! If only I’d…
“Violet!” I screamed her name, begged the universe to give her back to me.
Someone punched me in the back of the head and kicked my knees out from behind me, three men held me still, buckled, and dragged me toward the door. I fought with everything I had, my muscles straining, my jaw aching and my eyesight blurring as I battled against these huge assholes, too strong. They were too fucking strong. Still, I landed kicks and elbows whenever possible. Made it as fucking hard as possible.
Through the bodies, I saw Connor still fighting, Amy at his back, her wide eyes so terrified. She wasn’t built for this life. She was only a kid, and she was pale. Too pale.
My knees hit the floor with a crunch; more men grappled with me, yelling things at each other, talking into radios. I fought them, screamed at them, but there were just too many. Rafael wasn’t fucking about when he sent these men after us. They were prepared, vicious as they swept through.
Connor was almost overwhelmed too, surrounded by men in the same black uniforms, he spat at them, swore every profanity under the sun as he tried to get Amy behind him. Then Amy pounced in the air, flying past him, a knife wielded above her head and her expression crazed, determined.
And the last thing I heard was another gunshot.
The last thing I saw was my sister go down with a spray of blood from her chest.
Then the world went black with a thump on the back of my head.
The last thing I saw as unconsciousness washed over me was a vision of Violet, covered in strawberries and cream and chocolate, smiling and laughing. My beautiful sister.
Twenty-Six
Violet
