Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
“Where?” Kai grits.
“Don’t look at me,” I reply with a smug smile. “Unless you wanna start a fight with your nephew.”
He releases me again and homes in on Silas. “Tell me where he is!”
“You think she’d tell me?” Silas growls back.
Lana roars out loud and fishes out another knife. “That’s it. This ends now.”
Xavier, Heath, and Ivy stand in front of Silas, while Nathan and Milo back up Kai and Lana, pulling out their knives and guns.
“I’ve let this shit go on for far too long. You think you can just hurt my family without repercussions?” Kai growls.
“Motherfucker, try to hurt him, and I’ll gut you like a fish,” Heath growls back.
“Stay out of this, Heath,” Nathan growls at him.
“No. Ivy loves him, and I won’t let you fucking harm anyone she loves,” he replies.
“Max, get out of here, now,” Milo tells him.
“Nuh-uh,” Max says, blocking access to Silas too. “I’m with them.”
This thing is going to go sour real quick.
Right as Lana attempts an attack, more cars race up the mountain with screeching tires. Too late, because the fight has already broken out. They’re tearing each other from limb to limb.
“Motherfuckers,” I growl, watching them fight it out like animals, and I jump in just to keep them from cutting each other to pieces. I love a good brawl, but this isn't one of them.
I snatch a knife out of Nathan’s hand and chuck it away, and he punches me in the face for it.
“Don’t fucking interfere, Torres!” he growls.
“Then stop trying to fucking destroy each other!” I retort, before I grab his head and shove him so hard he falls back onto his ass.
“Fuck,” he groans.
“C’mon then!” Silas screams, as he grabs Lana’s knife with his bare hands. “Try to kill me!”
The cars come to a stop, and Silas’s mom, Penelope, rushes out with a gun.
BANG!
The bullet ricochets from the ground into a tree nearby, but the sound is enough to make everyone scramble.
“Stay away from my son, bitch!” she screams.
Alistair and Dylan jump out of the cars too, while Penelope approaches the group, her gun still aimed at Lana.
Behind us, more than a dozen vans all come up the mountain.
“What the …” Cecelia mutters.
Xavier’s eyes widen. “Mom brought her men?”
“I came prepared,” Aspen’s mom yells.
“I’m not staying for this,” Grey mutters, and he jumps on Max’s motorcycle.
“Hey, that’s mine!” Max screams, but Grey’s already raced off.
I blink once, then bolt to my car. Grey is right. Whatever is gonna storm out of those vans, I gotta get ahead of them.
“Follow that boy!” Lana screams.
But I’ve already jumped into my car and raced off.
Aspen
I drive as fast as I can up the hill, realizing there’s no way out. I don’t know where I’m going. All I know is that I have to get away from there.
Silas nearly killed him.
I can’t let him die. I fucking won’t.
So I hit the gas and drive up the mountain, but the groaning in the back of the seat makes me turn my head in shock.
Thank God, he’s still alive.
“Uhnn…” he murmurs. “What happened?”
“Shhh, don’t talk,” I say, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Where am I?” He crawls up to sit and leans against the back window. “Silas hit me with the bat, didn’t he?”
“Just try not to move too much,” I reply. “I’m gonna get you to safety.”
If only I knew how.
Suddenly, a motorcycle bumps into me from the side, and I screech and pull the steering wheel too harshly, and the car begins to veer…
Straight into a tree.
Stars fill my sight as the airbag explodes, and I try to breathe.
One. Two. Three seconds.
Just breathe.
Keep going.
I push the airbags down and open the door, sucking in a breath as I stumble out of the car. I’m not hurt, but the engine is destroyed. There’s no way it’s gonna drive.
Shit.
The motorcycle stops nearby, and my eyes widen.
Two more cars drive around the corner, bumping into the other cars like they’re in a fight who gets to be there first.
Did Silas alert the entire fucking family?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
I run to the passenger’s door, which is still open, and I grab Levi’s hand and drag him out with me. “C’mon! Run!”
As the cars drive up to us, I can hear Grey shouting from a stolen motorcycle behind us. “Aspen, here!”
BANG! BANG!
The person who came in on the motorcycle shoots at Grey, who ducks and crashes the motorcycle on the road.
“Grey!” I shriek.
“Go to him,” Levi says, releasing my hand. “Leave me.”
“No, I can’t.”
He pushes me away and falls to one knee. “Do it.”
I hesitate, just one second, before I dart toward Grey to pull him out of the active fire that’s engulfed his motorcycle.
Apollo’s car drives up to us from the distance, carrying Heath and Cecelia, whose heads peek out the open windows to see what’s going on. Another car races right behind it, with Max and Ivy sticking their heads out their respective windows.