Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“I see him.”
Slowly, they both reached for the window, gripping it on each side without moving into view. Inch by inch, it crept upward until it was halfway open, and a cool breeze flowed into the room.
“Can you make it?” Alice asked quietly.
“Only one way to find out,” Reese answered. Bracing the rifle against her shoulder, she changed position slightly.
I’d been around guns plenty of times, but for some reason, I jerked in shock when the sound crashed through the room the moment she fired.
“Good?” Alice asked.
“Lower mid-section,” Reese replied. “I didn’t account for the drop.”
“You will next time,” Alice ordered or consoled. I couldn’t tell. “He’s down?”
“Yes.” Reese’s hands began to shake as she lowered the rifle and stepped back from the window.
“It’s just adrenaline,” Alice told her, looking out again. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah,” Reese whispered.
“Well, get back here,” Alice ordered.
Once again, Reese raised the rifle and moved into position.
“What?” I asked.
Neither answered.
“What? What’s out there?”
“More,” Alice replied emotionlessly.
“How many more?” There was no way to look out the window without putting me in sight. Stumbling back, I flicked the light off.
“Thank you,” Alice said, her face barely illuminated by the moonlight. “Should’ve done that sooner.”
“How many more?” I asked again.
“Too many,” Reese gritted out, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Not too many,” Alice corrected. “Find the closest one, or whichever you’re sure you can hit.”
Reese nodded. A few seconds later, she fired again.
“Why aren’t you shooting?” I asked Alice.
“Bad shoulder,” she replied darkly. “Can’t hold a rifle. Can you shoot?”
“A pistol,” I replied, my voice rising with hysteria.
What the fuck was even happening?
Reese fired again and then reeled backward.
“Someone saw me,” she hissed.
Alice nodded. “Let’s go. Chance’s room is on the opposite side. We’ll run.”
I was first out the door, but I didn’t head for Chance’s room. Instead, I threw the door open to Ambrose’s room, tossed Zeke’s quilt on the couch, and grabbed my bat from where I’d left it against the wall.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alice called.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I called back.
I took a deep breath, sucking in Ambrose’s sent for good luck or something and then turned and hurried down the stairs. Alice and Reese had already disappeared up the opposite stairs, but I paused in the living area and looked at the front door.
Alice and Reese were picking off the men who headed to the front, but there were too many. Sven was covering the back door, and I thought he probably had better odds. Somewhere in the bowels of the house, Matilda was with Erik and a shotgun.
If I was going to do anything to help, the front door was where I needed to be. I was no good with a pistol for the kind of shots Reese was taking, but if they came through the front door, I could help with that. Maybe.
It was locked. I could see the way the dead bolt was pointing. That would give me a few extra seconds if someone made it onto the front porch.
Crouching, I hurried into the living room where a row of three windows with filmy curtains let the moonlight in. Pulling one back as slowly as I possibly could, I looked out. There was no one near the porch. Yet.
Praying that no one could see me, I reached through the curtains and slid open one of the windows a few inches. Then I moved to the next and the next. I didn’t open any of them much, just enough that I could shoot through the screen if I needed to. A rifle shot came from somewhere above me, and I jumped, backing away. All of them were opened exactly the same amount, so I hoped that at first glance, you wouldn’t even notice that any of them were open at all. It helped that all the lights in the house had been turned off. It was actually lighter in the yard because of the porch lights and the moon.
I looked around the room and rushed to the couch, sliding it across the floor so that I had a barrier between me and the front door. I moved a chair too, so the couch wouldn’t look out of place.
“What are you doing?” Matilda hissed from the darkness behind me. I nearly shit myself.
“Watching the front door,” I replied, my voice barely a whisper. “Go back with Erik.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I have a pistol,” I replied dumbly. I figured I shouldn’t mention the bat unless I wanted her to really think I’d lost my mind.
Gunfire sounded too close for comfort outside, followed by a rifle shot from above us.
“Go,” I whispered, making a shooing motion. “I’ve got this.”
I didn’t have it in any way, shape, or form, but I was determined to fake it until I made it, and at the very least, go down swinging. There was very little room for fear, probably because of the adrenaline racing through me, mixed with the burn of the mating heat. It hurt like hell, but it was also strangely comforting, like having Ambrose with me.