Page 1 of Double or Nothing
PROLOGUE
KIT
Taking two steps closer to Vulcan, I hold out my hand. “Give me the gun. I’ll shoot him in the leg. Why should you have all the fun? That’ll make him talk. I’ll blow his kneecap off. Just stop this stupid game.”
Vulcan snorts and steps back away from me. “Have you ever shot a gun in your life? You won’t shoot him in the leg or anywhere else. You can’t even eat meat, for fuck’s sake! I realize what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. Stop worrying, I’ll be fine.”
Vulcan is definitely not fine.
My heart is pounding so hard it’s threatening to burst out of my chest. How can I live if Vulcan kills himself right in front of me? How can I ever look Jade in the eye again? She will never forgive us if something happens to Vulcan. She cares deeply for him, for Seven, and even for me.
All our lives are ruined forever if he dies tonight.
I don’t dare glance over at Seven. I’m sure the same thoughts are running through his head. He probably figured out the game was real the same time I did. I’m afraid to make any sudden movements or do anything that will set Vulcan off and speed things up.
Somehow, someway, I need to end this.
But how?
There are three fucking bullets in the gun. The odds of Vulcan surviving the next trigger pull are fifty-fifty. Or less.
Hell, I’m not sure.
Statistics don’t mean a damn thing in a situation like this. Sweat is pouring down my back from the tension.
“You’re dead right about one thing,” Vulcan suddenly says. “We’re wasting too much fucking time with this bastard. Enough of that shit. I’m losing patience.” He suddenly points the gun at his head, puts his finger on the trigger and starts rapidly counting. “One…two…three.”
“No!” I yell and rush toward him.
The deafening explosion of the gun going off shatters my world.
God help me, I’m too late.
1
KIT
The next few seconds rush by in a hazy blur. “Grab the gun! Get the damn gun!” Seven shouts at me.
In the split-second I hesitated to act, Seven didn’t.
He tackled Vulcan from his blind side, right as Vulcan put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
They both went down hard when the gun went off. I can’t tell who was hit or if they both were. Seven is sprawled on top of Vulcan, covering his body with his own.
“Where’s the gun?” I yell, unable to spot Vulcan’s gun in the dark. “Dammit! I can’t find it! Was Vulcan shot? Fuck!”
With a loud roar, Vulcan throws Seven off his back and struggles to his knees. Relief floods over me to see he’s alive until I realize he’s going for the gun which is lying on the ground a few feet away. Seven must’ve knocked it out of his hand as the gun fired.
“No!” I shout, diving onto the dirt, throwing myself between Vulcan and the gun.
Seven grabs Vulcan’s neck in a tight chokehold, but it’s not slowing him down. Not in the slightest. Vulcan is moving like a powerful monster possessed with ten times his normal strength.
Jesus Christ! This isn’t over yet.
I grab the gun before Vulcan can and roll away from him, where he can’t reach me.
This fucking nightmare is ending now.
