His accent…he wasn’t from Ireland. America. Boston.
My hands balled into fists. I clenched them so hard, my muscles seemed to be shakin’. My entire body felt coiled, like it was waitin’ for the right time to spring.
“Leave my family out of this.” Da’s words were almost choked from the hold Spider had on him.
“You should have thought about that before you fucked with Oran Craig. You’re a traitor. A thief. And you know the punishment for those things.” Spider nodded to mam.
I looked up. Even though the room was warm, my mam looked like a cold ghost with no blood in her veins. She was pale, and her eyes were wide. She held me tighter, and I could feel her tremblin’.
“Let my son go,” she whispered.
Web smiled at her. “You’re too smart not to know the rules, Mona. Isn’t this what you wanted, though? You gave that bastard enough heartache that you drove him…to this. To where he stands now.” He nodded toward Spider and Da. “With a blade pressed against his throat. But you knew the consequences. When you doomed Conor, you doomed your entire family. Including…Cillian.”
“No.” Mam took a step back, bringin’ me with her.
Web didn’t move with us. I had a feelin’ it was because he knew we were trapped. I took a deep breath, and after it rushed out, Web rushed us. He was goin’ for my Mam, but I blocked him by rammin’ my head into his stomach.
“Cillian! No! Run!”
Mam’s voice seemed to echo inside of my head, but all I could concentrate on was fightin’ this big bastard. I was half his size, but I was goin’ to give him all I had. Maybe Da could get loose and help me. But I stopped fightin’ at the sound of Mam’s screech.
Da made a strangled noise before he fell to the floor. Blood poured from his neck and spread around him. It looked like his throat was smilin’ at me.
“Cillian!Runnn!”
The panic snapped my eyes away from my father’s fallen form and to Mam. She had her hands up, backin’ away from Web, but she kept screamin’ at me to run.
I started runnin’ toward them, but I slipped in my Da’s blood. I scrambled to get up, but it felt like I was swimmin’ in it. Spider hauled me up by the collar. He wasn’t givin’ me any slack. He was goin’ to kill me.
Instead of clawin’ at my throat like I wanted to, I reached in my pocket and pulled the knife Da gave me. Spider was too busy starin’ at the scene before him—Web had cornered my mam and had pulled out a knife. I flicked the blade of mine and squirmed some, just enough to stab him between the legs. I hit jeans, but used all my strength to pull up, hoping I’d hit his balls.
He roared and let me go. I’d hit somethin’. I rocked a bit on my feet, the entire place swayin’, about to help Mam.
“CILLIAN—RUN, SON!”
Web lifted the knife, put it to her throat, and…she fell to the floor, her blood rushin’ out and mixin’ with Da’s.
My feet seemed to have a mind of their own. I changed directions and started to run toward the door. I heard another man say somethin’, but I wasn’t stoppin’. I was fast and strong, and I raced up the hill like fear itself was chasin’ me.
Legs strainin’.
Chest tight.
Lungs burnin’.
Cramp startin’ in my side.
I pushed past it, not sure if I was feelin’ the wind on my neck or the breath of one of those killers.
Up head, rocks were stacked and set in a square shape, like a short stone fence around a Celtic graveyard.
I barely stopped when I got close enough. I used my arms and leapt over it. I fell to the ground, scramblin’ to get to what Da had helped me make.
A fort.
He’d cut a piece of grass from the ground and dug underneath it. It was a hole big enough for me and my dog, when I got one. He was goin’ to find me a piece of wood to wedge underneath the patch, so I could look out at the hills from my hidin’ spot.
I covered myself with the patch of grass like a blanket. The mud was hard and cold, and the earthy smell went straight up my nose. My heart was beatin’ so fast, I wondered if it was liftin’ the patch of grass.
