Page 70 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

“Well, it isn’t here,” Kitty remarked. “I don’t know where it is, and I’m not helping you!”

“You will,” Anton barked. “Or I’ll?—”

“What?” Kitty yelled. “What more can you do, huh?”

Flesh struck flesh, and Kitty yelped, then she cried out as the sound of furniture scraped across the floor. I threw myself at the door as rage flooded up me like an exploding volcano, but the doors were locked from the inside.

With a roar of rage, I kicked at the door near the lock. Wood cracked and splintered under the force of the blow, and I briefly heard Anton voice confusion inside. I kicked again and again. On the fourth kick, the door finally splintered free of the lock and crashed open, causing both Anton and Kitty to jump.

Anton had Kitty down on the desk, a hand on her throat and a palm strike blooming red on her cheek. Anton leaned up slightly, paling when he saw me.

“The fuck?” Anton gaped at me, but my distraction was enough because Kitty used that window to grab the large ornate clock from her father’s desk and smash it right over Anton’s head.

Anton yelled out in pain and stumbled backward away from Kitty, raising a hand to his skull. I charged forward with a yell,and when I was a foot away, I leaped and raised my leg. My knee slammed hard into Anton’s chest, and he fell flat, taking the brunt of my weight as I landed on him and likely broke a few ribs in the process.

He gasped and wheezed, his eyes bulging up at me.

“Remember me, you little fuck?” I snarled, then I punched him as hard as I could in the face, knocking him clean out.

“Rook?”

Kitty’s voice brought me to my feet instantly, and I turned to where she stood on shaky legs, watching me through tear-filled eyes.

“Kitty!”

“Oh, my God,” Kitty sobbed, and she staggered toward me. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

“Of course I am.” I caught her within half a second and swept her up against my chest. “I’ll always come and find you, Kitty. Always. The blood. Did he hurt you?”

“No, no, I fell in the kitchen and then… oh, God, I–I was… oh, my God. I didn’t know what I was doing, I was just trying to get him to leave, to go to Dad’s office in town, but he just wouldn’t…”

“You did amazing, okay?” I hugged her as tightly as I dared, and then I stepped back and cupped her damp cheek. “You did absolutely fantastic.”

“What about the others?” Kitty asked, just as the sound of a broken door and loud yelling rose up from below.

“The cops are here,” I assured her. “Fuck, I’m so glad I found you.”

I surged forward and kissed her hard, claiming her lips and absorbing her warmth, her sweetness, and even the salty taste of her tears.

She clutched at me tightly with her fingernails cutting into the flesh of my arms, but I didn’t care.

She was safe.

“Fuck,” Kitty gasped against my lips. “I was so scared.”

“You’re safe now,” I murmured back. “I’m here. You’re safe. I promise.”

29

KITTY

The police were here for hours. I had to repeat everything I knew about Anton at least five times before the woman I was talking to was satisfied. There was a moment when my connection to Anton aroused the suspicion that I was part of the terrible things that happened here tonight, but my parents were quick to stamp that out.

Through every question, every answer, and every detail squeezed out of me, Rook stayed by my side. He held my hand and refused to let go even when they started to interrogate him about how he got in here and how he knew there was a situation in the first place.

If it hadn’t been for Melanie, there was a chance none of us would have made it to Christmas in the first place.

And one of the most important revelations was that Paul was alive. He was tended to by the medics almost immediately and wheeled away with assurances that they would do everything they could to save him. It would be a tense wait, but knowing he had clung on this long gave me hope.

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