Page 68 of Tangled Past
Jonas straightened slowly, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Outside, boots thundered up onto the front porch.
The doorknob rattled.
“Asa,” Will’s voice bellowed. “Open the door!”
Jonas’s eyes flicked toward the door, then back to Asa. His uncle shifted his weight, ready to pounce again, when the crack of a gun lit up the kitchen like lightning. She realized Asa had the gun.
Maya flinched hard, hands flying up, and for one frozen second, she tasted defeat. Had Asa missed?
Then Jonas grunted. Not a scream. Not in shock. But in pain. He staggered back a half step, hand flying to his side. Dark oozed fast between his fingers, soaking into his jacket. His face twisted with fury, as if Asa had personally offended him.
Asa didn’t hesitate.
He kept the gun trained on him, breath ragged, blood still streaking down his temple. His voice was steady in a way that terrified Maya more than panic would have. “Get down,” Asa said. “Now.”
Jonas spewed out a laugh. “You finally chose. Took you long enough.”
Maya pushed herself up from the wall, her shoulder screaming in protest. Her vision swam, but she forced it to clear, eyes locking on Asa’s back, on the space between him and Jonas.
Jonas shifted again—subtle, almost lazy—but Maya saw it. Saw the way his weight rolled onto his back foot, the way his gaze flicked past Asa toward the hall.
Toward the back door.
“No!” Maya shouted.
Jonas moved.
Asa fired again.
This time, the bullet caught Jonas higher, clipping his shoulder, spinning him sideways. He slammed into the counter, knocking drawers open, silverware spilling onto the floor with a shriek of metal, but he didn’t fall. He shoved off the counter and ran. Not clumsy or panicked but fast. Jonas crashed through the back door shoulder-first, wood splintering outward, cold air and rain knifing into the house.
Maya stumbled forward, heart hammering so hard she thought it might break her ribs. “Asa!”
He was already gone.
She followed, her feet slipping on the wet kitchen tile as she ran for the doorway.
The night outside was chaotic. Rain poured down in sheets, wind whipping hard enough to sting. Flashing blue lights cut through the darkness, strobes reflecting off slick pavement and wet grass.
Asa was twenty feet ahead of her, sprinting after Jonas across the yard, gun raised, boots slipping in the mud.
Jonas vaulted the low stone wall at the edge of the property with terrifying ease.
“Asa, don’t!” Will’s voice thundered from somewhere behind her.
Asa fired once more into the darkness.
Nothing.
The forest swallowed Jonas whole.
Branches cracked. Footsteps faded, and then deafening silence.
Asa skidded to a stop at the edge of the trees, chest heaving, rain plastering his hair to his face. His shoulders fell as if gravity was pulling them down.
For a second, Maya was afraid he might follow anyway. That he might vanish after Jonas into the dark and not come back the same man.
