Page 15 of Burn it Down

The smoke curls out of the windows and flames lick the roofline, gorging themselves on wood, lace, silk, and the lies that built Castlebrook Falls.

I don’t wait to watch it all come down. While I want my mother to pay for her part in all of this, the only thing I really care about is Lakynn and making sure she’s safe. I can’t do that if she’s not within sight. I knew she’d be upset with me, at least until she knows the full story, but I didn’t have her bolting on my radar.

I’m already sliding behind the wheel of the pickup truck I hotwired outside a dive bar two towns over. Tucked low in the seat, ball cap pulled down to hide the sharp lines of my face.

They’ll talk about the explosion for weeks.

Two women inside. No survivors.

And I’ll be far, far away, rebuilding my life with my girl.

They never understood what they took from me when they ripped Lakynn away. They never understood that she wasn’t just some girl I grew up with. She was my every breath. She was the only thing in this rotting world that made me human.

And they tried to sever that bond.

So I took their lives.

The propane tank in the back alley had been leaking. I cut the line myself when I first returned, when I was still deciding who needed to die and when. A single spark was all it took.

Now they’re ash.

And it still isn’t enough.

Not until every single person who touched her, who looked at her like she was anything less than mine joins them.

Not until I take her away from this place.

I drive toward the Kozlov farmhouse because in my gut I know that’s where she’s headed. She’s on foot, and it’s freezing. I can feel myself getting angry at the thought of her being cold. The truck rattles over gravel roads as I head toward my entire reason for being. I need to get to her before our father does. I need to keep him alive a little while longer so he can speak to Lakynn. I want him to look her in the eyes and tell her the things he did to me to turn me into the monster I am today. I want him to tell her that she’s my only humanity and that the promise of a life with her as my wife was the only way he persuaded me to do his dirty work.

And then he’s a dead man. I’d like to say I’ll take my time torturing him, but the truth is I’m losing steam. I was ready to bulldoze the entire town, but that was before I had her in my hands. That was before I felt her breath hitch when my fingers traced over her nipple.

I need her. I need to get her out of this fucking hell hole and under me instead. I want her long legs spread wide and I need her taking my cock like the good girl I know she’ll be for me.

I’m about to lose my goddamn mind over the fact that I let her slip away when I see a flash of her sun-kissed hair. She’s cutting through Old Man Miller’s field and I know exactly the shortcut she’s trying to take.

My girl can run. She can hide wherever she chooses, but I will always find her.

She’s about to find out just how important she is to me.

LAKYNN

Icut through the back of Farmer Miller’s field. I know Riven is going to catch me, and to be honest, I don’t know what I’d do if he didn’t. For right now, though? I need to run. I trip twice on old irrigation lines and slam my shoulder into a rusted fence post. That should have knocked me down, I should be in pain, but I’m not. I’m working off of pure adrenaline but I keep moving. I dip through a dry creek bed, mud caking my white sneakers, and scramble over a wire fence into the old Carrow property, the one with the collapsed barn and the gravel path no truck can manage without bottoming out. I go where I know Riven can’t follow me in a vehicle, even though I know deep down he’s going to find me anyway.

The wind whips at my face, tangling my hair, but I keep running.

And I can’t stop thinking about the last time he chased me. The night I realized Riven reallylikesto hunt.

It was six months ago. Just before he left.

We’d been arguing…eh, no, not even that. It started when one of the bull riders, I don’t even remember which one. Wyatt, maybe? He asked if I wanted to hang out, and I was smart enough to know that he was just trying to get a rise out of Riven.He already knew the answer before the question left his lips. I said no, clear as day, but Riven had already heard the question.

He walked over like a storm and got in Wyatt’s face, jaw clenched. Told him if he didn’t get the fuck away from me, he’d make sure he never rode another bull again. His voice was so calm it was terrifying.

Wyatt backed off, muttering something, and Riven turned to walk away without even looking me in the eye.

I’d had enough. I wanted him, and I wanted him to admit he wanted me too. Fuck the rules. Fuck our current status as adopted siblings. Literally fuck everything.

“You run everybody off,” I called after him. “But you don’t want me for yourself. Make that make sense.”

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