Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Grizzly shakes his head. “You never knew when to shut your big mouth, Road. But go ahead, speak while you still can,” he says in a light tone but gestures at Harlow, who drags Brigid closer, lifting her off the ground, and then pulls the gag out of her mouth.
Road snorts, once again failing with the lock. “We sound like an old married couple now.”
“I’m losing my fucking patience! Want me to shoot that lock off?”
The padlock clicks and Road makes a show of opening it. “There we go. No need to get your panties in a bunch. Now get Brigid here,” he adds swinging the gate open.
When I look into her dark eyes she starts… chanting. I don’t know the language, and neither does Harlow, but he’s definitely freaked out.
“Jesus, keep that bullshit to yourself,” he says, pushing her at Road. My heart breaks a little when I see him pull her close, as if saying goodbye, but my uncle needs to ruin the moment again.
“Was his dick worth it, Clyde?” he asks, sneering at me from behind the fence that’s still keeping me safe from him. My stomach drops at the mocking laughter coming from people I used to consider brothers, but Road speaks up before I can drown in self-pity.
“It’s getting good reviews. Why? Wanna try?”
Harlow lunges at him, and Road must have anticipated it, because he shoves Brigid at me just before a fist to the gut folds him in half.
“There’s more where that came from!” Grizzly says, his gun pointed at us.
Brigid’s an older woman who always carries herself with so much confidence, but in my arms, she seems so frail.
All the hair on my body bristles, but trying to protect Road now would only embolden the rabid dogs around him. They’d enjoy seeing me suffer at his beating.
“You will regret this!” Brigid yells, even though I sense her tremble under my hands. Maybe she’s shaking with fury. “The ghosts of this land will follow you home, and you will never know peace. The dread will choke you in your sleep, then come for your children!”
Grizzly rolls his eyes. “Let’s go, Clyde. Leave the madwoman. Or are you hiding behind her now?”
I straighten with a scowl and whisper into Brigid’s ear. “Go on, we have a plan.”
She stalls, and I hear her breath catch, as if her throat is too tight to let air pass. She pulls away, her dark gaze settling on mine. I get to see her for who she really is. The big hair, the dark clothes and tattoos remain, but beneath them is only a person, who can die and suffer like anyone else.
I’m so struck by it that the sudden bang coming from behind my back doesn’t feel quite real. The Butchers all raise their guns, as my uncle drops to his knees, hand pressed to one side of his face. Something—a bullet—swished right next to his cheek, but didn’t blow his head open.
Just one glance back tells me the shot came from the roof of the clubhouse where someone is crouching, but all I can think of is Road.
Above his back I see my uncle point his gun at Brigid. Everyone is moving so fast, yet it feels like I’m stuck in slow motion. I act on instinct just as Grizzly pulls the trigger. I press Brigid close and turn us both so I cover her. This wasn’t the plan, but I hardly have time to think about that when I become a human shield and my arm explodes with pain.
Chapter 48
Road
I’m a rabid dog ready to protect its family whatever the cost.
My fur bristles. My gums itch with the need for blood. Each muscle is tense and ready for launch.
That crazy fucker Grizzly pulls the trigger.
I don’t know if he’s aiming at me, or the two people behind me, but it doesn’t matter now, because there are several more bullets where the one that just swished over my head came from. A hand stretches toward me, no doubt about to punch or grab me, but I duck and slide my thumb under my belt, where a small throwing knife is waiting for opportunities like this one.
I send it flying, and as it hits the target—Grizzly’s gun hand—and makes the bastard drop the weapon, I throw myself at him with my whole body weight.
Shouting and chaos.
I taste dirt in my mouth when Grizzly’s bike collapses with us, but my arms are already around Grizzly’s head. By the time multiple hands grab at my clothes, I gain momentum by stomping on the ground with one foot and twist.
I can’t hear the creak of a breaking spine in all this noise, but the body in my arms goes limp. Never again will he fucking shoot at me, Brigid, or my man.
I’m high on adrenaline when I turn back, desperate to see if Clyde is okay. One of the Butchers is in my way, gun in hand, but this time Creep’s bullet (because I’m sure it’s Creep sniping from our roof) doesn’t miss its target. The guy falls on top of me in time to shelter me from someone else’s shot. Thank fuck the Butchers can afford Kevlar.