He closes his eyes and lets out one of those long, irritated exhales. “Fine.” He shoves his gun into the back of his jeans.Crouching, he yanks open his backpack and pulls out a few rags and several glass bottles of gasoline. “Just get her out of here. It’s gonna get real hot, real quick.”
With a nod, I grab the woman by the arm and drag her towards the door leading back into the alley. She stumbles as I pull her down the hallway, but I don’t slow. Not when I hear the bottles break, the glass smashing, the distinct sound of flames igniting, and not even when I hear a shout from a man who isn’t Decker.
We burst into the alleyway with Linc on our heels. When I turn, thick plumes of smoke are already pouring through the open door.
“You want the honours?” He hands me a silver lighter.
I smile as I take it. It shouldn’t feel good. It shouldn’t feel like the right thing. But it’s like Linc said. Justice.
He keeps talking about those scales, about how we need to balance them. But I know just like he knows. It will never be enough.
Decker presses his hand to the small of my back, encouraging me, sliding it under my jacket and finding skin, his thumb circling, fingers tapping. Like he can’t be still, can’t relax because it’s not over yet. Not until I light this last fire, burn everything to ash.
I flip open the lid, flick my thumb over the flint wheel. The flame holds steady as I toss it into the building. Fire instantly ignites. Shouts turn into screams. I want to stay, watch, feel the heat of the fire as everything burns, listen to the sounds of death. Of justice.
Linc kicks the door closed, then pulls a small drill from his bag and secures a two-by-four over it, effectively barring the door from opening. They’re all like this. Every door secured, every window sealed. Linc made sure they’d all die tonight.
I turn to the woman and yank the rag from her mouth. “Look at me.” I press my gun to her throat, ensuring she understands how serious I am, how dangerous I can be when someone fucks with my family.
“I-I won’t tell anyone,” she sobs. “I’ll… I’ll forget I saw you, okay? I?—”
“No. Youneverforget this face. It’ll be the one that comes for you if you even think about telling the cops what I look like. What he looks like. But you remember, because it’ll be the last thing you fucking see if you cross me. Understand?”
She nods, and I press the barrel harder into her throat. “I know they’re not all dead. That there are more of those Raider scumbags skulking around in the shadows of this shithole city. You tell them that the Sinners did this. That we will hunt them all down, one by one, until they pay for the lives they took. You understand? You tell them that.”
She’s shaking, from fear or from the frigid cold against her bare skin, I’m not sure, but when she nods, I toss her into the street. And then she’s gone.
Linc’s hard body presses into my back, his lips on my ear. “Beautifully ruthless, Gracie,” he whispers, his warm breath sending more of those pesky goose bumps rushing over my skin.
With one last look at the building, we dart across the street and back to the car. I jump in the driver’s seat, barely waiting for Linc to throw his seat belt on before slamming my foot down on the clutch and throwing the shifter into gear.
As I peel out of the parking lot, sirens blare in the distance, the dark sky illuminated in blues and reds as emergency vehicles rush across the city towards the flames.
“Gracie,” Linc warns as I take a corner too quickly.
I let off the gas, hit the clutch, then upshift as I accelerate. “I told you this car looked fun. Hang on, Officer Boy Scout, I’m taking you for a ride.”
Another sharp turn, our bodies swaying with the car. I kick into the next gear, amping up my speed. Adrenaline surges through my veins, licking at my insides, burning like the fire we just lit.
I blow a red light. Then another. I rip through the deserted city streets like I own them. And tonight, I do. Tonight this isn’t Raider territory. Tonight these streets are mine.
I approach the parking garage too fast.
“Shit.” Linc grabs the overhead bar as I crank the wheel all the way to the left.
The car slides across asphalt, turning sideways as I release my hold and drift through the entrance and onto the ramp leading to the next level.
I laugh as I catch the wheel, gaining control a heartbeat before we slam into the concrete wall lining the ramp. At the next turn, I slide back into a drift. Linc mutters unintelligibly, his muscles tense, eyes wide as I hit another level, and then another. I only slow when I reach the rooftop.
Linc’s chest is bouncing as I park. “Jesus fucking Christ, woman. You’re out of your damn mind.”
I grin. “So?”
“Get your crazy ass over here.” He rips off his seat belt, unclicks mine, and yanks me into his lap.
I straddle him, staring into his eyes. They’re almost golden as the raging fire flashes in them. It’s why I picked this spot. So we could see it. Watch it all burn.
But now, the only thing I want to focus on is him. He looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters, like he’ll burn the whole fucking world down before letting anything come between us.
