Page 83 of Out for Blood
“T-that’s not my?—”
I hurl him into the container with brutal force, denting the metal on impact.
“You watched.”
Rainwater mixes with blood as it runs down his face.
All of a sudden, a warm weight clamps onto my shoulder, Tyler holding me to the here and now.
“We don’t have time.”
For one dangerous moment, I almost shove him away.
Not Tyler, never Tyler, but the thing clawing around inside my chest right now craves destruction.
Tyler sees it happening in real time.
His voice lowers cautiously. “Look at me.”
I do.
The sky erupts in white behind him, reducing him to a stark silhouette against the storm.
“You lose control in there, those women die,” he states evenly.
His words tear through the mist in my head, destroying the darkness that tried to take me under.
The women. The cages. The rescue crew nearby. The objective.
A shaky breath rips through my mouth as I take a step back.
The guard falls to the pavement sobbing.
Tyler ends him without hesitation.
One final shot.
Then silence blankets everything again.
More dark clouds form over us.
My body thrums with adrenaline.
Tyler observes me like he’s trying to figure out how close I am to breaking, before reaching into the dead guard’s jacket and pulling out a keycard attached to a lanyard.
“There’s our way in.”
I wipe rain and sweat from my face with the back of my hand.
Another bolt of lightning streaks across the sky.
Tyler hears my breathing change.
“Reap.”
“I’m fine.”
The lie leaves my tongue like broken glass.
