“Astoria,” I shouted at her, but she didn’t even acknowledge me, muffled words spilling from her lips as she pressed harder on the gas pedal. I began digging through my purse, not caring if Kaius found out who I truly was. “I am calling your brother.”
Before I could dial Kaius’s number, a text appeared on the car’s Bluetooth CarPlay.
“Josie says…” The robotic woman’s voice filled the cab of the car. My heart thudded in my chest. Josie had never texted me. I didn’t even think she had my number. “They know. Get out while you still can.”
The message sent shockwaves through my body. My eyes turned slowly to see Astoria’s tear-filled ones staring back at me. I could practically see the wheels in her head turning as she debated her options.
“I’m so sorry,” Astoria choked out. Her entire body was practically vibrating in fear. I knew there was nothing I could do the moment she made up her mind. “I can’t let you leave.”
The car lurched violently as Astoria jerked the wheel. Tires shrieked against asphalt. My body slammed sideways, the seat belt cutting into my collarbone like a razor blade. The horizon spun. Sky, sun, sand, and asphalt whirled end over end as the carflipped. Metal screamed. Glass exploded. Coffee and blood and dirt swirled together in a storm. My scream was ripped from me, swallowed by the thunder of destruction. Then everything went still.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
acelynn
Flames leapedacross the kitchen floor with ravenous hunger, consuming everything they touched. The fire hissed and roared as it spread, curling up the walls, catching on grease-stained dish rags and shelves cluttered with cooking oil. It was beautiful in a terrifying way, wild and merciless, like a living thing tearing its way through the legacy of Spade Manor.
The heat hit me in a wave, searing my skin. My eyes watered as I stumbled back, coughing, the flames growing faster than I had imagined. Within seconds, the house was alive with fire, every crack and crevice lit up with destruction.
Then came the sound that shattered me. A single gunshot cracked through the night outside, sharp and too close. My entire body jolted. My head whipped toward the kitchen door, panic surging in my veins. More shouts followed, muffled andviolent. I could hear boots on gravel and the clang of metal being tossed.
I didn’t think. I just ran.
My legs carried me through the smoke-filled kitchen and out the back door, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted to escape. My socked feet slipped on the slick tile, but I didn’t stop until I burst out into the desert night, gasping for air that was no longer poisoned with smoke.
The chill of the air bit at my damp skin, but I didn’t slow down until I was halfway across the yard. Only then did I turn, my chest heaving, to look back. The house was an inferno. Flames licked skyward, painting the night in shades of orange and red. The roof began to collapse in on itself.
And then I heard it—screaming.
Not the kind born of surprise or fright. This was agony. People were still inside. Trapped. My hands flew to my mouth, bile rising in my throat. I hadn’t thought. God, I hadn’t thought about who else might have been caught in Alec’s orders. My body trembled as the voices carried into the night, raw and broken. My fingers curled into fists, nails biting my palms as the truth settled into my bones. The Spade legacy wasn’t just burning.
I was burning with it.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
acelynn
When I finally came to,I hung suspended in the wreckage, the seat belt biting into my ribs. The world was upside down, blood dripping from my temple and sliding into my hair. I sucked in a ragged breath as my vision wavered in and out of focus. My forehead burned from where the airbag had hit me. The only thing I could focus on was the sound of the blood dripping from a cut in my hairline as it pinged against the roof of the car. Every part of me throbbed in pain, but at least I was awake and aware.
“Astoria,” I croaked out. My body tried to jerk forward to release the iron grip the seat belt had on me, but it was no use with how it was locked in place. Astoria groaned out in response to me. I turned my head to look at her. She was slumped motionless beside me, hair wet with blood, her chest barely moving. Panic surged, raw and consuming. “Astoria, wake up. Please, you can’t?—”
My voice cracked into a sob as I stretched my hand toward her. My fingers found hers, limp and cold, but I still gave them a squeeze to remind her that even if she had made a mistake, even if she hated my guts, I was still here. That I wasn’t going anywhere.
The crunch of boots against broken glass approaching caught my ears, and I ripped my hand out of hers. My fingers gripped either side of the seat belt as I yanked at the device. My eyes scanned the area around me until I caught sight of Astoria’s purse. I leaned forward, gritting my teeth against the pain shooting through me as I tried to get into the front zipper pocket. My hand yanked it to the side, and I dove down deep until the cool kiss of metal touched my skin.
Just as my fingers wrapped around the blade, a figure leaned in through the shattered driver’s side window. A masked figure crouched next to Astoria, knife flashing silver. Before I could react, he sliced her seat belt. Her body crashed hard onto the roof of the car in a heap on itself. The figure reached into the car, ripping her out effortlessly through the window. Astoria’s body scraped against twisted metal, blood streaking across the dirt as they went.
“No!” My scream tore through the silence, wild and raw. I clawed at my seat belt, blood-slick hands slipping against the button. The more I fought, the tighter it seemed to hold me—a restraint, a trap.
“I told you, doll,” Logan’s deep voice called out to me, but in my panic, I couldn’t pinpoint which side of the car he was on.
I placed one of my hands against the roof and reached down to the clicker, slamming my palm into the release over and over again until finally the device gave way with a snap. I tumbled down, glass biting into my palms and knees as I scrambled through the broken window. The desert sun burned overhead, blinding and merciless. Dust and blood coated mytongue. I could feel my body beginning to shut down with every movement, but I had to get out to Astoria. The black tar burned against my skin as I made it fully out of the passenger side.
Logan stood tall, the mask gone, his smile crooked and cruel, the kind of smile that always promised suffering. He had Astoria by the arm, her head lolling to the side, eyes half-shut and dazed. She looked broken.
My stomach dropped. Logan crouched low, his shadow falling across me as I pressed back against the wreck. He leaned close, his breath hot, his eyes glittering.
“I told you if you didn’t make yourself useful,” he murmured, his smile widening as he ran a finger along my jaw. “I’d make you useful.”
