Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
The sharpshooters take their shots only a second before we step onto the property, and we have no way of knowing what's going on in the house.
"Five down, four to go," Lark says into the mic. "We have—"
Aro, the guy I'm teamed up with jerks to the side a second before he hisses.
"Fuck."
"What's fuck?" Hemlock growls into the mic.
"Aro is hit," I say, dragging him behind a tree by his vest.
"Why is it always fucking me?" he growls, holding his arm to his chest.
"Unlucky fucking bastard," someone else mutters into the mic.
"How bad is it?" Hound asks. I know he isn't here, but he must be on a motorcycle outside of the house.
"Forearm," I say, helping Aro pull a bandage from his utility pants. "Shot came from the southeast."
"Got him," someone else says a few breaths later.
"You can go," he says to me.
"You're sure?" I ask, not wanting to leave a man down.
"Go get your son, man," he says after I help him get the bandage wrapped around his arm.
"How are you doing, Aro?" Hound asks through the mic.
"A lot less pain than getting my fucking leg blown off," he mutters, but despite what he's saying, I can see the pain in his eyes. "Slick is gonna kill me."
Laughter comes through the mics but it only lasts a second.
"Keep moving, Jericho," Hemlock says.
"Three left," Lark says. "Keep your eyes open. Two more and Gaines."
"Thanks, man," I say to Aro before keeping in a crouch and continuing my trek across the yard.
"Two left," someone else says.
My blood is pumping, and at this point, it's more than fear. It's the realization that the man who has haunted me every time I've looked in the mirror for the last eight years is soon going to die. It's almost like that feeling of waking up on Christmas morning. You don't want to get out of bed because you're too excited but there's also a part of you that understands it may not live up to the expectations.
"It's okay, son."
My feet carry me faster.
"Where the fuck is he?" Damien growls.
I hear his voice through someone's mic.
"We're missing one," someone else says.
"I've got Gaines in the basement with the boy. He's got a device and the boy has what appears to be explosives strapped to his body."
"Be careful," Jersey says. "The bomb at location one was very fucking volatile."
"Where is he?" Damien growls again.
"He's on his way, motherfucker," Lark snaps. "Why don't you let the kid go?"
"The last one other than Gaines is down," Nyx says. "On my way to the basement."
Knowing I'm safe from gunfire right now, I lower my rifle and haul ass through the house.
Nyx and I meet right at the top of the basement stairs, but he doesn't hesitate to let me go ahead of him.
I lift the nose of my rifle as I inch lower on the staircase.
The basement is huge, the center of the room boasting a rather nice in-ground swimming pool.
I see my son in person for the first time, and I register all of it, the bruise on his cheek and the tear stains accompanying it. His eyes are the exact same color as mine.
"I see your ugly face every time I look in his eyes," Damien says, and I swear the man staggers as he takes a step closer to Eli.
He's holding what I have to assume is the detonator in his hand, his thumb poised over the switch.
"Where's that whore of yours?" he spits. "This is actually better. Killing the two of you will hurt her more than dying along with you."
"Doing that kills you too," Lark says, but I know there's no reasoning with the man.
There will never be a day when he will give up and go to prison. He knew when he staged this whole damn thing that the day we laid eyes on each other was going to be our last.
Grief strikes me for my loss. I'll never get the chance to know my son. I regret spending time with Aspen in silence, rather than making her tell me about every single day of his life since he was born, knowing I would've committed it all to memory so I could take it into the afterlife with me.
"I guess I'll see you all in hell," Damien says, and he pushes the button without hesitation.
I stand a little taller in that moment, knowing this isn't something I want to survive, but there's no boom. There's no rattling of the house above us before it comes crashing down. There's no explosion.
The second Damien looks at the device in his hand, I pull the trigger.
Eli screams as Damien lists to the side, falling into the pool. Red blooms in the water all around him.
"No!" Nyx yells when I rush toward my son. "We got fucking lucky. Let me handle it."