“I can’t . . . I, I don’t like heights.”
“All the shit you’ve been through and you’re afraid of heights?”
Sirens wail in the background, and more glass shatters beneath us.
“But . . .”
I don’t let her finish. I swing the garbage bag and vault it out of the window, praying it clears the flames. Then I scoop her up and climb out onto the platform. The rotted metal shudders under our weight.
“Deuce!” She clutches my shoulders.
I lean my forehead against hers, smoke stinging my eyes. “Hold on to me and don’t let go, no matter what happens.”
I climb down, each stair groaning under our weight. Heat chases us from behind. Flames and smoke burst through the window below us, black and violent.
Halfway down, the metal screams, and I jog down the remaining stairs as the fire escape tears loose from the wall.
The stairs under my feet shift. I jump, twisting in midair, taking the eight-foot drop hard as we slam to the ground.
I roll, shielding her as debris rains down on us.
“You all right?” I grunt.
She nods, coughing, hands shaking as she grips my shirt like she might never let go again.
The End burns behind us, windows vomiting flames, everything we fought over turning to ash.
Sammie stares at it, tears cutting clean lines through soot on her face.
“My father’s,” she whispers. “Everything—gone.”
I pull her into my chest, holding her tight as the heat washes over us.
I look at the fire. At the destruction.
I tighten my grip on her, jaw set, heart cold and clear. “This ends now.”
The roar of the flames convinces me of one thing with absolute certainty—The Rabid Dogs started this war, but the Kings will finish it.
Chapter Thirty
Two Days Later
DEUCE
“Could’ve been a lot worse.” I stare up at the charred wood, small areas still smoldering under the blazing morning sun.
“Still can’t believe you and Sammie made it out alive.” Ace shakes his head.“Fire department said they only found two incendiary devices.”
“Fuckin’ Dogs can’t even do a torch job right.”
“Sneaky bastards. They pulled up in a beat-to-shit Toyota. Shady and me got a few shots off, but they already threw the bombs.”
Explained the popping sounds Sammie and I heard.
Miraculously, the right side of the building is still pretty much intact. Some smoke and water damage but nothing that can’t be salvaged. It’s like they targeted the back and the second floor.
“Typical Viper. Probably more interested in killing us in our sleep than getting the job done right.”
