Page 109 of Out for Blood
Outside, the storm continues tearing through Keytown.
Bodies surround us.
The smell of blood and rain cling to the air.
Cassidy’s eyes meet mine and she really looks at me. Pressure clamps behind my ribs at the expression on her face.
She looks exhausted from carrying this kind of rage.
I reach for her and when my hand touches her jaw, her eyes flutter closed.
Clawing her way back to where I am.
I know the nightmares she wakes up from.
And I know she would’ve burned the entire world down tonight if it meant saving even one girl from becoming what they tried to turn her into.
“Are you still with me?” I ask her.
Her eyes open slowly.
“Partly.”
I brush my thumb under her eye, wiping away rainwater mixed with someone else’s blood.
“We’re leaving,” I tell her tactfully. “Before this place turns into a crime scene.”
She lets out a humorless laugh
“I’m pretty sure it already is.”
Despite everything, my mouth almost twitches.
The actualization that tonight uncovered something far bigger than one livestream and house hidden in Keytown.
Cassidy glances toward the dead trafficker one final time.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?”
“About being afraid?” I ask.
She inclines her head.
I stare off through the broken window and exhale.
“Yeah. I do.”
Thunder rolls through the house again.
Cassidy takes another breath before securing the knife back into place under her jacket and then removes the other two from his calves.
Then she reaches for my hand, not because she needs saving but because after everything tonight, she still chooses me to stand beside her in the dark.
I lace my fingers through hers.
Together we step over shattered glass and bodies as we head to the front door.
Rain drenches us and the property looks even more haunted now.
