AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bang!Another shot was fired, along with another beat of my heart skipping.
I glanced around, placing it on the other side of the house. I turned the corner, all sense of self draining into the floor. Logan laughed as he adjusted Audry’s stance. She aimed the gun toward a target set up along the tree line.
The fear morphed into anger as I watched her fire another shot. Hot anger pulsed through my veins. The shot echoed in the air, my ears ringing from its crackle. I flinched at the sound, but even more as I saw the smile twist on her face.
Audry buckled backward slightly, Logan bracing her. She was proud of herself as she stared down the way to the target. Why would she do this? The first thing she decides to do since learning about Angel is to fire a gun? My mind raced to come up with some reasons for her sudden insanity. Was I not clear enough on my stance?
Logan could have and carry all the guns he wanted. I was fine with Liam shooting whatever motherfucker crossed him. But how could we taint Audry with the gateway into a life of hell? Even if it wasn’t the Red Widows, if she had a gun, she might use it one day. If she used it, she would take a life.
Another life,the sinister voices in my mind reminded me. There was no protecting her from that, but I wanted her to be able to leave it behind and not be swallowed whole by the darker things in this world.
The dream had barely fallen away from me when I was on her. I grabbed the gun by the barrel, twisting it from her hands. I popped on the safety and unloaded it before tossing it away.
“What the fuck!” I yelled, my face heating with anger.
Logan stood at her side, amused, while Audry staggered away from me. She popped out her ear protection, coiling it into her tight fist.
“You could’ve gotten hurt, Kai!” she yelled, slamming her fist to her side.
“Hurt? Me?” I invaded her space, my chest pressed against hers when she didn’t back down. “You could’ve been hurt!”
She shook her head. “I had an instructor.” She motioned to Logan.
“Yeah, who I will have a word with in a moment. After you explain to me what form of insanity got into your head.”
“It’s just a gun.” She shrugged. “I only wanted to help.”
“Help?” I screamed, running my hand through my hair. “Listen to me closely. They don’t help, Audry! They never help! Didn’t you learn anything from what I told you last night?”
She narrowed her eyes, and a fire lit behind them. “I learned a whole lot last night,Kai. And one thing was that youloveputting yourself in harm’s way for others. That is proven over and over again…with every small sliver of information, youdecideI amallowedto know. I don’t want to be a—” She clamped her mouth shut with an audible click of her teeth.
“Don’t wanna be what, Audry? Alive?” I yelled, frustrated.
“A burden,” she whispered. “I don’t wanna be a burden. I don’t want to be this coddled little lamb that you have to protect from everything. I want to…to…"
Tears gathered along her waterline, threatening to spill over. Their very existence stabbed me in the heart.
“Fuck it, you wouldn’t understand,” she said, fighting her emotions. Her lips curled into a tight, unforgiving line as she stared.
Logan shuffled behind her, his gaze cast down in sadness. I glared at him for a brief moment before he shrugged and disappeared back toward the house.
I sighed, watching Audry, a strong woman, crumble and morph into a small, anxiety-ridden shell of herself. Her shoulders rounded, and she chewed on her thumb. Her nails on her opposite hand scratched at her bicep as she stared into the woods.
I ran my fingers along her cheek, resting my palm against her warm face.
“Make me understand,” I said.
She glanced up at me, her dark eyes wide and rounded. Her bottom lip pouted and her brows furrowed. “I want to be able to protect myself,” she whispered.
“I can protect?—”
Audry pushed me away, a frustrated groan escaping her lips. “You said you wanted to understand.”
“I do.” I held my hands up.
“Then shut up and fucking act like it.” Her disobedient spark flared back up in her posture as her shoulders rounded back.
I rolled my lips into my mouth. “As you wish, M’lady.” I dragged my finger across my mouth and twisted it in the corner as if locking it shut.
