Page 33 of Midnight Torment

“Because you can only shoot fish in a barrel when you have them all herded into the barrel,” Jordan replied. “I’m going to stop this car, so stay low in your seat and cover your head. Understand?”

“Jordan,” I whimpered.

“Everything is going to be fine, Megan. I promised you a happy ending and that probably includes rings and frilly dresses since every other fucker in this group is saying I do.”

He hit the brakes and swung the car around suddenly so my door was against the wall of the first warehouse. Even though we were in danger, all my focus remained on the last words he’d spoken. Had Jordan just proposed to me?

I silently watched as he retrieved several guns from under his chair. His hand landed on top of my head to push me down. He winked at me, excitement bright in his eyes.

“Stay here. I’ll be back soon.” He leaned over to press a hard kiss to my lips before he opened his door and kicked it wide, using it as a shield.

Guns were louder than anyone ever told you, and films lied. That was what I learnt in my first firearms lesson. My second highlighted the power of the recoil and the horrible smell firing a gun left in your hair. I lost interest by my third lesson because I didn’t want to be that close to something so small that could kill you.

I unbuckled my seatbelts and slid into the footwell, peering up to watch Jordan take on this new enemy at our door. From our time in the Twilight Rooms, I knew his expressions and reactions. Then we moved in together and I found a deeper connection, something real and visceral that allowed me to see what made him who he is. I watched the man I loved stand and face men who wanted to kill us. The same man who held me with tenderness wielded a gun with lethal force. He was a paradox that left me confused and breathless.

The car vibrated with the power of the bullets hitting it, Jordan ducking behind the door and pulling out another gun. For a moment, his eyes met mine and fear exploded inside my chest like a bird trapped in a cage desperate for escape.

He slammed a magazine in his gun and returned to shooting. A car screeched to a halt beside us, forming a barrier for Jordan to crouch behind. Ash emerged from the passenger side with Xavier crawling over the front seat to follow him.

“Gates are closed,” Ash shouted.

“How many?” Jordan asked, taking aim again and emptying a magazine before reloading.

“Five cars, each with multiple targets in them,” Xavier replied.

“Want me to go out and talk to them?” Jordan asked, slipping a gun into the back of his belt.

That spurred me into action and I slithered across the seat to tug the leg of his jeans. “I don’t think we need to be polite. Just shoot them,” I hissed.

Jordan threw me an exasperated look. “I thought you were a pacifist.”

“Today I’m an activist. Fucking shoot them!”

His eyebrows shot up, and a dark and deadly grin touched his lips as his teeth bit into his full bottom lip. “If you insist.”

I pressed myself into the seat as another round of bullets hit our car. I thanked whoever was watching over us that this vehicle was like a tank since none of those bullets had found their way inside yet.

Jordan moved behind me to open the back door. I crept back into the passenger footwell and watched through the gap between the seats as he flipped the base of the back seat up. My eyes widened because there was an arsenal of weapons in there.

“Jordan!” His eyes snapped to mine. “We were sitting in this car with all those?” I pointed to the huge guns and other items of mass destruction in there.

He shrugged one shoulder. “I like to be prepared. Get you head down!”

I stared in abject horror as he lifted a rocket propellor grenade out and set it into position where the door met the car. Xavier and Ash ducked up and down behind their car to fire at our enemies.

I covered my ears too late, the boom echoing in the car and making my ears ring and my teeth grind together. There was shouting and the scent of smoke, my eyes were itchy, and my head began to throb. Ash ran to the back of the car and I saw him lift hand grenades.

All I could do was press myself deeper into the car and pray that Jordan survived this battle. I was so terrified that all my muscles spasmed and I squeezed my eyes shut as I began to recite a prayer I learnt in the children’s home so long ago. Today was not a good day to die. I finally had a life worth living.

***

Chapter Twelve

Jordan

Fury blossomed in my chest and radiated out into my body to pulse with deadly intent. Following me was one thing, but the fact that Megan was in the car was something else entirely. She was mine to protect, mine to love, and the fact they had turned their evil eye in her direction had sealed their fate.

I fucking hated the man these assholes made me become.

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