His breath was scalding me. I flinched and bent away, but he pulled me right back. My nails cut into his arm, but I couldn't find a grip. “Let me go and just die!” I screamed furiously.
“I won't be the one to die tonight. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone to the wake, though. I was worried about Frank's family trying to cap me, I didn't expect an anomaly like you.” Running the tip of the gun down my cheek, he smiled. “I like to tie up loose ends.”
I saw nothing but the opening of the suppressor. My death would be quiet, snuffed out on a darkened road to be found by scavengers. At least Kite and Jacob wouldn't have to see my cold body.
Their faces entered my mind.
Revenge had kept me going. With it escaping me by the second, my heart yearned for something more. A life that lay beyond this moment, a place I could maybe reach if I just lived. That was all it would take... living.
I had to find a way.
Lars was speaking, but I didn't listen. I thought back to the steps I had taken to prepare for this moment. The metal of the gun was warm now, my blood alight. I burned with something besides fear.
Eyeing the mouth of the Ruger, I felt hope.
That monster pulled the trigger, and I felt fucking hope.
The click popped in my ear drum. I knew what would happen before he did.
Lars had been ready for my brains to splatter.
No bullet came out to pierce my skull.
I'd already fired all three of them.
He couldn't react fast enough to the fact I wasn't dead. I was a coiled spring; summoning all my speed, I jammed my elbow into his jaw.
Lars shouted in pain, shoving me away as the gun bounced out of reach. I wasn't going for it, though. It was useless without ammo.
As Lars groaned, covering his face with his hands, I sprinted across the road. The hatchet was in the leaves, I skidded to grab it.
He must have realized what I was thinking, because he started yelling, rushing my way. Spinning, I swung just as he got in range. The blade cut his forearm, blood pouring down his sleeve. The pain didn't stop him, he shoved me into the road.
Lars was bigger, stronger; my adrenaline and lust for survival couldn't match for long.
Screaming, my arms vibrated as I worked to keep him from shoving the axe handle into my throat. Lars crouched over me, eyes so wide they could have fallen from his head. “I'm going to make this hurt,” he hissed. “I'm going to cut your tongue out, and then I'll fuck you like I did your sister. How's that sound?”
Grunting, I worked my knee up towards his balls; he blocked me, kept bearing down. “Get off of me!” I growled. Spitting in his eye, I got goosebumps from how he cackled.
Smooth wood touched my neck, my muscles failing.
Above me, Lars' silver filling glinted like the last star I'd ever see.
I can't give up, I thought numbly. Not now, not here. I've come so far, I...
The air was split by a whistling bullet.
Lars fell off of me sideways, shouting in shock and pain. Breathing in raggedly, I coughed and sat up. Hands grabbed me, pulling me away and getting me on my feet. “Are you alright?” Kite asked.
Kite? I thought in my daze. My brain was working slowly from depleted oxygen.
“Keep her back,” Jacob said, his shade falling over us. “This man is unpredictable.”
I couldn't believe these voices. Seeing their faces hardly made it real. Curling my fingers around Kite's wrist, I squeezed. He wasn't a phantom.
He looked down at me, his arm curling around my shoulders as if to save me from the world itself. Here, with these two, I was safe.
“How did you guys find me?” I asked in disbelief.
Jacob was bent over Lars, his gun at the ready. That broke me from my fog. “Don't shoot him!” I snapped, shoving away from Kite and hurrying to the hitman's side.
Jacob froze, looking down at me with such a range of emotions I could name none of them. “Did he hurt you?” he growled. His rage was plain as day; Jacob was ready to destroy the man who had dared to harm me.
“Who the fuck are you assholes?” Lars groaned, cupping his right shoulder. Blood was dripping onto the asphalt in a steady stream.
Kite laughed, every word mocking and sweet. “We're the guys you hired to kill your old buddy. Isn't it kind of funny, us running into you like this?”
The heavy-set man was speechless, gawking up at all of us. I had questions, so did he, but neither of us was going to get answers right now.
I aimed to make sure he'd never get any.
Opening my hand, I stared Jacob in the eye. “Give me your gun.”
Those ice-blue centers threatened to overwhelm me. They wanted to inflict pain on this man. I loved him for that desire, was grateful he had saved me, but this moment was mine.
They couldn't take it away.