Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
It takes all of my attention, so I don’t realize when he jerks my hands behind my back, and cuffs me to the pole.
Standing in front of me, his eyes fill with delight when he understands that he has won.
“I’ve never done anything to you?” I cry, my voice shaky with pain.
“It’s because of you she’s dead.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“We’ve been over this. I don’t owe you any further explanation. I never thought I’d get the chance to fight for her life, but here I am. You deserve this. She didn’t deserve to die.”
“She couldn’t fucking stand you, you creep,” I scream, letting my legs fly out from beneath me to try and kick him once more.
He laughs.
“I’ll enjoy watching you burn.”
No.
Please.
Spike. Help.
21 – Spike
Flames roar from the ceiling of the barn as I skid the truck to a halt.
I don’t think, I don’t breathe, I launch out of that fucking truck so fast I stumble over my own feet as I charge in the direction of the roaring inferno.
I know she’s here.
I know it the second I see the barn on fire, and that insane fucker standing outside, watching.
He doesn’t expect us.
I know it the moment we arrive because he turns and he fucking runs.
He meets my eyes, and offers me a slow, sick smile before disappearing into the thick trees surrounding us.
I don’t have time for him. I don’t have a fucking second to think. I need to get Ciara out of there.
The fear gripping my chest is crippling, and I can think of nothing but diving into those flames to get her out. With every passing second, her life is getting closer and closer to being snuffed out.
I can’t let that happen.
“Spike, it’s too fuckin’ dangerous,” Jackson barks as he pulls up beside me and launches out, Serenity by his side.
“I don’t fucking care,” I bellow. “I’ll die saving her. Do not fuckin’ stop me.”
Trucks continue to pull in, and I lose focus on anything else but getting her out alive. I run towards the burning barn and with every step closer, I feel the scorching heat blowing off it. The roof creaks as flames lick up the walls and catch on, forcing its structure to grow weak.
I have seconds if I’m lucky.
“Ciara!” I roar.
Nothing but eerie silence.
“Ciara, fuck,” I bellow, louder as I kick a piece of flaming wood out of my way.
“Spike?”
It’s barely there, just a whisper, but I hear it.
I hear her.
She’s alive.
I have never felt so much relief in a single fucking moment then I do in this one.
“I’m comin’.”
Her coughing intensifies and I know she must gather all of her strength to yell out the next words.
“I’m cuffed to a pole,” she cries out, then chokes again on the smoke that is no doubt filling her lungs.
Fuck.
Turning, I run back to the truck and rip open the back, pulling out a large set of bolt cutters. Without pausing, I charge back toward the barn and find a spot on the side I can kick in. It’s already buckling, so with one hard kick, the entire wall creaks and then falls, causing the roof to begin falling in large chunks.
I’m nearly out of time.
Taking a deep breath, I shove through the gap I created by kicking the wall in. Thick black smoke fills the run-down old barn, and the creaking sounds tell me the roof is about to go completely. If the roof goes, we’ll both die in here. There will be no way out.
“Where are you?” I roar, the inferno roaring around me.
“Here.”
Her voice is weak and broken, but I run toward it, coughing as the smoke fills my lungs, and it becomes difficult to breathe. I reach her and my hands go to her face. I don’t have long; I can’t tell her how much I fucking love her right now. I just need to get her out. I move to her hands, feeling in the darkness until the cold metal of the cuffs grazes my fingertips.
I cut them.
Then, I scoop her into my arms and turn, charging back towards the entrance I just came in.
A large pole falls in front of us, forcing me to leap backwards as flames roar to life in front of me.
The only exit.
No.
Fuck.
No.
“Spike,” Cade’s voice roars at me from the outside. “Fuck man. Are you good?”
“Truck,” I gasp through the smoke. “Fire blanket. Move.”
A minute later, he has the blanket and steps in, throwing it over the raging log. It snuffs it out just long enough for me to leap over with Ciara in my arms. The second my boots hit the ground on the other side, I collapse, no air getting into my lungs. Landing on the ground with a thump, I hear Ciara’s moan of pain as she goes down with me.
It feels like a fucking eternity before we can focus on the situation we’re in.