Page 108 of Capturing Sin

“Stay down, Jayce. I mean it. They’re children, for fuck’s sake. Innocents. I will not stand by while they’re hurt.” I aimed steadily at his head, despite the adrenaline coursing through me. “Not again.”

I didn’t want to kill him, but I would if I had to.

He hissed through gritted teeth, pressing one hand to the ragged hole above his knee, the other raised in surrender.

I kept my gun on his prone form, stepping close enough to snatch his weapon and pocket it. I gestured for the demons to move.

They slipped past, the mother and teenager clawing through the wooden table to free the metal restraints on the bloodied male and hauling him up, supporting him between them as the young girl held on to her mother’s tail, following closely.

The one good thing about the cabin was that gunshots and pained screams were the norm. Nobody would come to investigate. Not yet, anyway.

The mother peeked out through the door. “It’s empty.”

I edged around Jayce, leading the way into the corridor and quickly locking the door, leaving Leo and Jayce trapped inside.

“We don’t have long.” I urged the family behind me as I raced down the corridor, turning at the end to speed through the mud room littered with hanging coats and dusty boxes and out the back door.

“Go!” I hissed, pushing them out into the waiting forest. I grabbed the adult female by the wrist, halting her.

She turned, a snarl on her lips.

I ignored her rage, meeting her feral eyes. “Run straight for about a mile and you’ll hit a stream, wade through it to the far side and then head right until you hit a road. If you can get into a vehicle from there, you’ll be safe.”

“Thanks, human. I can—” Her eyes widened, catching on something over my shoulder.

I spun.

A boom sounded, and the demon staggered aside, but I was already surging forward. Cries blared out behind me as I slammed my palm into the side of Leo’s gun, knocking it askew as it spat another bullet. This one finding a home in the wall rather than flesh.

I risked a glance over my shoulder. “Run!”

The mother staggered, blood pouring from her arm, but managed to drag the rest of her family along as they stumbled towards the tree-line.

“You dumb bitch,” Leo roared. “I’m going to take them apart in front of you, then help your uncle beat some damn sense into you.”

His gun swung back towards me, but I was ready. I ducked under and surged up, knocking the weapon from his hands.

I slid a knife from my holster, fisted his shirt, and yanked him forwards onto the waiting blade.

Navy eyes met mine, widening in shock. “Liliana,” he gasped, clutching my hands and the knife I’d buried in his stomach. “How could you?”

The betrayal in his expression sliced into me, and I released the handle, pulling from his touch like it burned. He groaned in pain, hurt creasing his familiar features.

Everything we’d been through hit me at once.

We’d fought side-by-side for years. Joking with each other after battle. Pushing each other during training.

Him kissing me. Holding me at night. Asking me to marry him. Planning a future together. A home. A family.

He’d been my lifeline in an endless sea of violence. Even if it turned out he’d been betraying me all along. I’d thought I loved him.

Victory suffused his features in a malicious grin. “Pathetic.”

His fist slammed into my temple before I could move.

Everything went black.

Chapter 43

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