“They know! Cover your asses,” is all the warning he gives before a wave of bullets spray the ground at our feet and the walls surrounding us.
I grab Everly and wrap my body around her. Holding her against me with one arm, I raise my weapon and drop a man chargingtoward us with hatred in his eyes and a Vulture cut wrapped around his shoulders.
Chunks of cement, half frozen mud and dirty snow flies everywhere.
Acid gurgles in the pit of my stomach. Of all the rotten fucking times to reconnect with an ex. For God’s sake, this better not be karma coming back at me for that prick of a patch I dropped in the gator pit tonight. He deserved that wicked death and I’m glad I gave it to him.
As if he can read my mind, Venom comes up beside me and grunts as if to say look what you did. Before he moves off into the darkness, he shoves a fresh clip of bullets into my hand.
“Try not to end up dead before Christmas.”
Noted.
4
EVERLY
Dead before Christmas…
My head spins with the seriousness of the cluster fuck I have walked into. I let my rage blind me and I might die because of it. How stupid can you be, Everly?
I swear, with every day that passes, I question my decisions more and more.
Venom’s words to Phantom have me gasping into the snowy night. That can’t happen. It can’t. I refuse to let my father win after all I’ve sacrificed because of him.
I try to tell myself there’s no way I’m not walking out of here tonight, but my gut says the chaos is not over yet.
I suck in gasps of air.
“Let me go! Phantom, damn it!” I push against him and squirm in his arms, but his hold only grows tighter as the bullets fly faster.
“Phantom!”
I squeeze my eyes shut and all the fake bravado I mustered up to show my ex I didn’t need him vanishes. For a second I feel safe and like life can not touch me while I’m in his arms.
Every fiber in my being shakes with fear of dying. I can’t let that happen so I take the shield he offers with his body and hope neither of us takes a bullet tonight.
Anxiety starts to take over. I’m panting and frantic to get free of his hold. Air is hard to come by and I start to breathe heavily, but it feels like I’m not getting anything into my lungs. I get these attacks sometimes. Normally, they don’t come around unless I have to deal directly with my father, and I guess that is true here. It is his men who are trying to kill us. It’s like a panic attack, but this one feels more overwhelming.
Everything around me starts to spin and blur. Tears burn the back of my eyes before rolling down my cheeks.
A warm hand presses against my cheek and a deep voice next to my ear anchors me in place. “Hey, baby. Easy. Where are you going, there? Easy, baby. Easy.”
“Phantom, everything is spinning.” Bubbling acid washes against the sides of my stomach and up my throat. Oh, God, hurling issonot what I want to do right now.
I wiggle and squirm to try to get free. I just need space.
Huge arms hold me tight.
“Everly, baby. Stop fighting me. Hold still, for fuck’s sake, stop, baby.” His strong arms tighten around me to the point I can barely pull in air. I tuck my head into the space between his neck and shoulder and ride out the way my body wants to shut down.
And then suddenly I am free, and we are moving from our tiny spot behind the wooden crates.
The Savage crew surround us and then they are a blur of movement as empty guns drop and it turns into a fistfight. Savages take on the Vultures and it’s a bloody brawl of knuckles and blood. I can’t tell who is who.
In the distance, I catch a glimpse of my brother standing beside Veles. My gaze connects with my brother’s and then I watch Reaper walk up to a man and slug him across the face.
My mouth falls open as the fists fly. Another man wearing the Savage cut comes in and grabs someone from the railcar and pulls a thick black book out of his hands. My mind flies through all the details my brother mentioned, but I can’t focus on anything. Not when the bullets start flying again.
