Page 100 of Runaway
My heart hammers so loudly I can hear it. I start toward the stairs, but as I do, Asher appears in the doorway. Fuck. I spin on my heel, my bare feet slapping against the plastic as I run in the opposite direction.
“Daisy,” Asher calls, sounding desperate, but I don’t look back.
I find a second stairwell right down the far end of the building and shove open the door and run right into Jagger’s six-pack. He pins my hands in front of me, his eyes narrowed, and glares down his nose. “You just love doing things the fucking hard way, don’t you?” He backs me until we’re out of the doorway.
Asher cages me in on the other side, his hands pressing to my waist.
A whimper escapes me because I know I’m screwed. Against one of them, I have a chance; two it’s impossible. “Get your hands off me,” I growl at Jagger and Asher with so much hate in my voice I hardly recognize it.
“Not going to happen till you’re safely back inside,” Jagger says, his eyes locking with mine, so intense they scare me. Not because I’m afraid of what he’s going to do to me when he gets me back into the apartment but because of the depths that they affect me. “If you know what’s good for you, you will do as you’re told from now on. You can’t escape us, so don’t fucking try it again.”
“Give my stuff back,” I cry, staring back up at the brutal man I was falling for, wondering how I ever let it happen.
“So you can call your brother and he can fill your head with lies. Don’t think so.” He stares back at me, the two of us locked in a silent stare-off that I’m not going to back down from.
“I hate you,” I whisper, my words filled with venom.
The elevator chimes behind us, and I glance toward it, wondering who else they called in for backup. Their sister? My heart nearly stops when two masked men step off the elevator.
“Get down!” Cruz calls from behind us.
Gunshots pierce the air. One. Two. Three. Vibrating through the mostly empty space.
I scream as Jagger and Asher shield my body, taking me down with them. I hit my head with a bang on something hard on my way to the carpet below, sudden dizziness coming over me. My vision blurs, and it all goes black.
“Little princess,” Asher’s voice rasps from over my shoulder. He sounds close, and I realize his body is wrapped protectively around mine from behind. We’re on the ground, and he cradles my head gently, but I wince, fresh pain rushing through me making me feel hot and clammy.
Jagger is just as close, his arm cushioning me, his solid chest at my front. I’m cocooned by their bodies. Protected and I think safe.
More gunshots go off, but this time they are closer, from one of the boys’ guns, I think. With them so close I can’t tell because I can't see anything other than them. I try to search past Asher, looking for Cruz, but I can’t find him. Goosebumps erupt over my skin, a terrible sinking feeling coming over me. He better be okay.
My head throbs as I fight to stop the room from spinning as I look into Jagger’s terrified eyes. “Are you okay, flower?” he rasps.
My body shivers as pain and fear wash over me. Wetness soaks my dress, making it stick uncomfortably to my skin. I press my fingertips to the damp mess, wondering where it’s coming from? Did a plumbing pipe break over us? When I hold my hand up, red coats my fingers, and my heart lurches out of my chest as the color drains from my face. “Who’s been shot?” My voice shakes as panic takes over.
The End
