Hers (Blood Ties Book 2)
Hers: Chapter 42

“Ryth!” I screamed and lunged forward. Agony roared through my thigh as my leg buckled. I looked down, to see my black jeans darkening. I didn’t need to reach down to know it was blood…I felt it, warm and wet. I slapped my hand against my thigh and screamed through clenched teeth, then drove myself forward again.

She was fast…too fucking fast.

I limped and ran, driving my boots against the asphalt. Each step was agony.

“Get her back, T!” Nick roared.

I risked a glance over my shoulder as a guttural snarl that wasn’t my brother came behind me. One asshole from the SUV stumbled toward him, gun raised, before he squeezed off a shot. I waited for a second, watching Nick dive to the ground.

He’d be okay…even with his hand over the wound on his side, he’d be okay. I had to keep moving. I turned my attention to Ryth as she raced for the gates of the Order. “Ryth, for Christ’s sake, STOP!” 

She was slipping away, second by second…she was slipping away. 

I unleashed a savage sound and pulled my hand from my thigh. Agony collided with rage. I used it all to drive myself forward. My body responded as adrenaline took over. My muscles clenched, settling into the momentum they knew. My strides lengthened and my breathing deepened. I focused on Ryth as she raced through the open gates, heading for the trees.

It was so dark there…too dark. “Ryth, stop!” I roared and pushed myself harder.

She was slowing…and I was gaining. That pushed me even harder. She ducked under a low branch, sinking into the shadows for a second. I lost sight of her, so I kept on moving, hitting the same branch a few seconds later. But I couldn’t see her…

“Ryth?” I risked calling her name.

Movement came from the corner of my eye. For a second, relief hit me as I turned my head. “Jesus, you scared the—”

Thump. The fist came out of nowhere, blindsiding me. I stumbled backwards as the white-haired guard from the Order charged forward and, with a roar, tackled me to the ground. Fear slammed into me harder than his fists. I shoved sideways, rolling as his blow slammed into the ground inches beside my head.

 Ryth…

 I tried to scan the trees and shoved up from the ground, then stumbled sideways and dragged my gun upwards.

Boom!

I flinched as pain tore across my shoulder. The bastard took aim again. I couldn’t do anything except lunge for the trees. Agony blazed through my thigh, clenching my stomach. Warmth seeped, slipping down my thigh to tickle my knee. I could feel it. feel it in my movements, feel it in my thoughts.

Boom!

I flinched and dove behind a tree as a bullet slammed into the trunk. One frantic glance behind me, and I leaped backwards, racing to the next one, trying to put as much distance between us as I could…and I looked for Ryth. She was all I thought about, all I ran to because without her, I was nothing. 

“Where are you, you fucking punk?”

The yell came from behind me. I kept running, searching the trees for the faint flicker of lights from the Order. I’d have heard her scream…I would’ve if they’d taken her, right? I would’ve…

Desperation drove me forward. I rounded a tree trunk and stepped out.

“There you are.”

I spun around, lifting my gun. I squeezed off a round and was rewarded with a grunt as the bastard staggered. My hand went to the base of the grip, steadying my aim. “Come on, you ugly motherfucker.”

A low chuckle spilled out of the dark. “Ugly, huh? I guess looks don’t matter to the cunt you call a stepsister, do they, Banks?”

I stiffened…watching as he stepped into sight. “She didn’t mind my looks then, when I cupped her pussy and made her feel good.”

Cold. Hard. Rage tore through me. “You what?”

Even in the gloom, I caught the smirk. “She didn’t tell you?”

In my head, all I saw was her sad, broken smile, the one she’d fought so hard to shake. She had…she’d come back to us.

“She screamed a little,” he added as he stepped closer. “I’m sure she’s gonna scream again by the time I’m done with her.”

“You fucking piece of shit!” I growled, and stepped out into the open myself. “You lay one fucking hand on her and I’ll cut it off and shove it so far up your ass you’ll choke on it.”

He smirked. That sickening sight grew bolder the closer he came. “How ‘bout I assfuck her instead?”

I sucked in a hard breath and lifted the gun, aiming it at the bastard’s face.

“She’ll scream,” he took another step. “But I like it when she does that. I like it a whole fucking lot.”

His words slammed into me, driving me forward, until the darkness shifted beside me…and a guard came from nowhere. The blow came from the side, hitting my head with a thud! I was thrown sideways and hit the ground hard. The guard was on me in an instant.

Fists drove into my face, over and over…and in the blinding blows, the image of the asshole from my father’s office came back to me. His screams. His blood. My vengeance. I felt it now. She’ll scream…but I like it when she does that.

Vengeance.

Rage.

Love. 

Love made me savage. Love made me dangerous.

My head snapped to the side. The pain and thoughts of Ryth brought him into focus. When his fist came again…I moved. My head snapped to the side and his fist met my forehead with a crunch. His scream followed, and it was like music to my ears.

I drove my fist into his ribs, then shoved, slipped around him, and gripped my gun, lifting it to squeeze the trigger point-blank against his chest. Bang! 

Our bodies muffled the sound as he went still. I shoved, trying to force him off me.

Boom! 

The asshole on top of me jerked as the bullet hit. I kicked out and shoved the body from me as I lifted my gun to the white-haired fucker who took aim once more.

Boom!

Boom!

Gunshots cracked through the night. I rolled to a stand and drove myself toward the trees as he came for me. My head was booming, my thoughts too goddamn slow. I sucked in the icy night air and moved sideways. It wasn’t about finding Ryth right now.

I had to leave that for Nick…praying he fucking found her, and turned my focus on the bastard in front of me.

“Gotta be hurting,” the fucker called. “I know I got you at least once.”

I glanced at the sting in my arm. But it was nothing compared to the one in my thigh. I ground my teeth, scanned the darkness, and moved again. All I needed was one clean shot…

I lunged for the next tree.

Boom! 

Bark flew from the trunk in front of me and peppered my face. I winced and ducked, then fired back, and was rewarded with a snarl of frustration. It was now or never…no, or lose Ryth. 

I tightened on the biting pattern of the grip and forced my body to give me just a little more. The night closed in around me as I raced forward once more, lunging toward a bank of trees just ahead.

Boom! Boom!

His shots went wide as I ran. My boots skidded on damp fallen leaves. I windmilled my arms, trying to keep my balance, and heard the thunder of steps behind me. Move…MOVE! 

I ran like it wasn’t my life that depended on it…I ran like it was Ryth’s. Agony carved deeper, slicing like a hot knife all the way to the bone in my thigh, making my leg tremble. I knew the moment I wasn’t going to make it. My leg went numb, and I lost control. The thunder of boots behind me grew louder.

“Fucking punk,” the bastard roared, and tackled me to the ground.

I attacked with brutality, unleashing the rage inside me. And that empty part of me took over, the one that lived in hate, that seethed with desperation. I lashed out, cracking the bastard in the jaw, and he stumbled backwards.

That’s all I needed. That second where I stole a breath and gathered my senses was all it took. I drove forward and into him, grabbed him around the throat, and shoved him backwards until his head slammed against a tree. My other fist was already cocked, and it plowed through the air and into his face over and over again.

His head rocked sideways and his eyes turned glazed.

She’ll scream…

But I like it when she does that.

Thud!

My fist found his jaw, once…twice, until I heard a sickening crack. He stayed there, hard against the tree, held there by my fist alone. I looked down, searched the ground for my gun, and found the glint of steel near my feet.

“No.” The word was a gurgle.

But there was no stopping this. I shoved him aside and bent. The gun was in my hand in an instant. “You touched what belonged to me.” I lifted the muzzle. “You caused her pain.” My finger wrapped around the trigger. “There is no universe where I’d allow that to happen again. She is mine. She is ours. And we are…hers.” 

Boom!

The gun kicked in my hand. But he was already moving, charging through the gloom toward me. I squeezed the trigger again as he slammed into me, driving me backwards…

I flew through the air, falling backwards into the darkness. Icy air rushed all around me. I hit something with a brutal thud that stole the breath from my lungs. Still, I kept on falling, down an embankment until I slammed against the ground…and stopped.

The white-haired bastard was on top of me again, his weight crushing me into the dirt. But my hand was empty, and cold against the ground. My thoughts spun. I reached out, searching…

The piece of shit on top of me gave a grunt and shoved against me trying to get away. How the fuck was he still alive? Panic kicked in my chest. I reached out further, searching for steel amongst the cold, wet leaves. But the bastard gave a groan and slumped back down, his weight a blow once more. I shoved, punched, and drove my boot against the ground as I titled my hips.

He rolled and fell off me, then was still. My breaths were so hard and heavy. I sucked in the cold air, and stilled for a second. My pulse boomed in my ears, the sound deafening until the tiny crack of a snapping twig drew my attention to the gloom.

Out of the shadows, movement came, but I didn’t have my gun, and my movements were slow and weak. The shadow sharpened, and as my eyes adjusted in the faded light, I caught sight of a familiar face. For a second, I thought it was Nick. My brother had found me, and relief washed through me. But he didn’t move like Nick, and he didn’t sound like Nick…

“Tobias.”

I scowled. “Dad?”

He moved closer, until I saw him clearly enough to see the shine in his eyes…and in his hand. He lifted the gun, taking aim. But it wasn’t at the white-haired bastard at my side. It was at me.

My breaths stilled. Fear trembled through me…real fear. Our relationship had been strained since mom died. There was always that seething undercurrent of anger between us.

But not this…

Never this.

I lifted my hand, my fingers trembling as I whispered, “No.”

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