Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
We can use two windows on each side of the mansion for a surprise attack. I throw Silas a glance and say, “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
He nods. “You take the left. I’ll take the right. Meet up in the hallway.”
Behind us, Max approaches steadfast, pausing every other second to take aim.
“Max, front door! We’ll flank,” I yell.
Silas disappears from view as we each go to our side of the mansion, and I start searching for the way in. There’s a half-open window on the second floor that I can reach by climbing up the vines. No problem.
I grasp the ledge and swing myself up, taking hold on the vines with my feet to keep myself steady as I pull myself up on the balcony. I drop down, pull out my knives, and kick in the window, jumping inside.
There’s no one here, it seems, but the moment I step one foot inside, the door slams open, and three dudes with guns open fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I roll to the side and hide behind a bed, waiting for them to waste their ammo before I chuck one of the knives at the first fucker, piercing his skull.
The two others reload, and I throw another knife at the right guy’s chest, knocking him backward. He tumbles down on the floor, bleeding profusely, right when the third one finishes.
I swiftly pull out my gun, and we fire at the same time.
BANG, BANG!
The guy drops to the floor, and I move ahead. In the hallway, Silas is fighting with two guards. One of them has him in a dead-lock, while the other attempts to cut his throat, so I aim and shoot.
BANG!
The knife falls out of his hand before he drops like a sack of potatoes, and Silas elbows the guy holding him in the stomach. The fucker releases him, and Silas rams his knife straight into his eye, twisting and turning until the guard flops down, dead.
“Thanks,” Silas says, pulling his knife from the guard’s skull.
“Don’t mention it.”
BANG!
More gunshots downstairs draw our attention as the front door is slammed open by two bodies dropping down to the floor. Max steps inside and waves. “I’m here!”
I lean over the banister and yell down, “Max, have you seen Ivy yet?”
He shrugs, but then something is thrown at him and explodes.
“MAX!” I scream and jump down the stairs to get to him.
He’s coughing wildly, and I pull him out of the smoke.
“Do I have my fingers? Please, Heath, you gotta tell me. Do I have all my toes? I can’t feel them,” he says, but when I look him up and down, he seems perfectly okay.
“You’re fine,” I reply.
He breathes out a sigh of relief. “Phew. Anxiety got the best of me there.”
I roll my eyes. What a drama queen.
BANG!
Max drops from my arms and immediately reaches for my knife in my pocket, then chucks it at the guy who shot at me.
“Nice throw, twink,” I muse.
He blushes. “I learned from the best.”
“Who, me?” Silas says smugly as he rushes down the stairs only to jump on a guard I didn’t even notice hiding out in a crevice beside the stairs. Silas climbs on top of his shoulders and slits his throat from the top. The body drops to the floor while Silas is still on top of him, and he uses it as a stair to get off.
“No, my mother,” Max replies. “But thanks for the save.”
“Where the fuck is Ivy?” Silas growls.
“If you’re looking for us … we’re in here.”
We all look up at the sound of that ominous, low voice.
That came from the kitchen.
Silas immediately raises his knives at eye level, so I do the same with my gun, while Max clutches his sniper rifle close as we home in on the room.
Only two entryways lead into the kitchen, at least from this hallway, and no more guards appear to be blocking our way through either door. But it feels like a trap. Still, we move forward, determined to save Ivy and Cora.
Even if she is a liar and a thief.
Even if she felt betrayed because I knew Ivan.
Even if the girl is not her kid.
I want them to be safe … no matter the cost.
Silas
We head inside the kitchen, where Ivy lies passed out on the floor near the gas stove with bruises all over her skin and some blinking object tightly strapped to her chest. Rage takes hold of my savage heart.
“Ivy!” Max yells with pain in his voice as he steps forward.
I hold him back from getting closer because we’re definitely not alone.
A man steps out from the kitchen, casually chewing on half a piece of apple while holding a pocket knife. The other half he holds between his fingers, and he hands it to someone out of sight behind a wall.