Page 214 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two
“Run!” I shout, but when I look out the side of my eye, I know better than to expect her to listen.
“I’m gonna kill youandthat cunt!” Lakeland shouts, blood streaming down his face.
He charges for Shae, probably the weaker target in his eyes, but I tackle him. His head hits the concrete with a satisfying crack.
“Say goodbye, Lakeland,” I growl, my hands going to his neck as I straddle him, choking the life out of him. I’m focused, so focused, that I don’t protect my side.
The blade in his hand sinks straight between my ribs.
He pushes me off him right as Shae shrieks, “Storm!”
Lakeland looks at me, then at Shae, and I watch him waffle with who to kill first.
Run, Shae. Please fucking run.
I tense my muscles, running on adrenaline, but then, the world stops.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.” A tiny voice.
And then, blood splatters across my body as a bullet goes through Lakeland’s skull.
When he falls to the ground with a thud, I don’t stay to assess him. Instead, I rush to Shae, limping to the studio entrance.
“Storm! You’re hurt,” she shouts, but I turn when Skai wails, standing over her father.
The father she killed.
The sound cuts off as quickly as it starts, then, with the hand still holding the pistol, she looks at me and Shae.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”
The gun clatters to the floor, and she sprints out of the space and into the night.
Shae starts, “Should?—”
A sharp hiss turns into a squeal, and thenboom.
The entire right side of the art barn goes up in flames, the small propane cylinder having exploded under the pressure and heat.
Shae and I fall back at the impact, sliding on the dewy grass near the entrance. I stare open-mouthed as the flames race up the wall closest to the ignition point.
“Get back!” I scream, but then, there’s the most horrifying sound of the night.
The most horrifying sound of my life.
“No,” Shae says on a breath, her knees buckling.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Tempest and Raiden’s little fists bang on the window on the second floor, their terrified faces pressed to the glass.
They must have hidden in here.
“Storm! The babies!” she yells, lunging forward and rushing toward the fire. I pull her back.
“Stay here,” I command, and even though there’s no space to argue, she does so anyway.
“You’rehurt!”
“There isn’t time, Shae!” I say, pushing her further away from the fire. And then I run into the building.
