“And he paid the price. Him and your bitch of a mother.”

“My dad?” I almost choked on the words.

“Gutted him like a fish. Had a little go-round with your mother before I killed her. You should’ve seen how she begged. Pathetic.”

I swallowed back the bile rising up my throat. Sirens cut through the air.

“Shit!” Darryl cried. “I’m out of here. I’m not going down for this.”

Without a second’s hesitation, Max pointed his gun at Darryl and pulled the trigger, the bullet landing in his leg. “Good luck running on that.” A second shot hit the hand holding the gun. “Just in case you were thinking of seeking retribution.”

I didn’t think, I simply jumped. I launched myself from the tree and towards Max. Maybe if I landed hard enough, I’d kill him. The only thing I knew for sure was that surprise was the only tool in my arsenal.

The force of my landing shocked all the air from my lungs. Pain flared in my ribs and cheek. My muscles from the dump of adrenaline. But the cursing and movement from the body below mine spurred me into motion. I struggled to grab hold of the gun, to point it away from me, towards Max.

“I’m going to kill you,” he growled. “And I’m going to make it hurt.”

“Caelyn!” The single word bellowed through the trees belonged to only one man. And hearing Griffin sent a rush of strength through me. I struggled harder, finally gaining purchase on the metal.

But it was too late. I heard a loud pop. Heat flared in my stomach, a burning pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced. My eyes widened as my body went limp. Too late.

49

Griffin

The world seemed to slow around me, almost as if I were moving through an invisible force field. A pressure keeping me from getting to Caelyn. Then a vicious pop. Her body going limp and rolling over, off the man who wanted to hurt her. To take her from me. The man raised his gun again, this time pointed at me. I didn’t even think. I simply fired. Two shots as close to between the eyes as I could get.

The other man was screaming, but I could barely hear the words. I picked up the gun at his side and he crawled away as best he could. “D-d-don’t shoot me.”

“Then don’t fucking move.” I shoved the extra gun into the back of my jeans, running for Caelyn without waiting to see if the man obeyed.

Her eyes fluttered in a staccato rhythm. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. I crouched next to her. Blood seeped through the t-shirt she wore, staining the blue cotton. I lifted the fabric and cursed. There was too much blood. I pulled off my flannel and pressed it to the wound. Caelyn let out a low moan.