Page 137 of Avenging Azalea

I stood frozen as that shady old car I’d seen months ago came flying into the parking lot, the tires screeching as it stopped.

Three men wearing black ski masks jumped out and ran towards me. My brain kicked into gear, and I turned for the back door as Sheba bolted toward the attackers. A loud whimper caught my attention as Winston was kicked in the side and rolled away. Sheba had clamped down on the arm of one of the men and had him on the ground, shaking him violently. He was screaming to get the dog off.

As soon as I saw the gun, I screamed and forgot about escaping. Dropping my bag, I sprinted as fast as I could to put myself between the weapon and Sheba. It was a horror movie, playing in slow motion as he fired.

A blood-curdling scream was torn from my throat as she yelped and fell to her side.

“No! No! No!”

Before I could reach her, an arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me back.

“Let me go! You bastards,” I roared and fought like I never had before.

It was no use. The asshole on the ground got up, while the other two dragged me toward the car. I kicked and scratched at any body part I could reach, trying to break their hold. My eyes were trained on Sheba, and Winston, who was sniffing her. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks.

I tossed a hard elbow back, and the man grunted. His grip loosened just enough that I wiggled free, but the man who had been bitten stepped in front of me and pulled up his mask. A fresh wave of terror rippled through my body, and I was paralyzed as I stared into Neil’s eyes.

“Hello, Peanut. My, you have grown up. You look so beautiful,” he said, and vomit rose in the back of my throat as he tried to touch my face.

I jerked my head away before he could lay a finger on me. Neil smirked.

“Get her in the car.”

The frozen spell was broken as I was dragged backward. I began fighting and yelling again. I hadn’t expected the hard blow across the face, or for my head to hit the open car door, stunning me into silence. A hand clamped firmly over my mouth as I was pulled into the bowels of their disgusting car that reeked of smoke and fast food.

With the door closed, I could see Sheba lying on the ground. My fight returned as I pounded my feet on the glass.

“Knock her the fuck out already,” Neil yelled.

The hand over my mouth moved to wrap around my throat. I clawed at the arm holding me, fighting to get away before everything went dark. All I hoped for was that Sheba would live.

A part of me always knew that Neil would come for me. The dream-like time with Titus gone in an instant. The other part of me…had hoped for something more.

Chapter

Forty-Five

TITUS

I was reaching for my phone to call Fawn and let her know that I was running a few minutes late when it rang. I smiled at her name.

“Hello, beautiful. I was just about to call you,” I said.

“Titus? It’s Matt.”

What the fuck! I sat up straighter. Not only because it wasn’t Fawn, but because Matt sounded panicked, putting me on high alert. Something was wrong.

“Matt? What’s going on? Why are you on Fawn’s phone?”

“How far are you from the clinic?”

“Less than five minutes, why?”

“As soon as you get here, come inside. Fawn was taken. Sheba has been shot, and I need to get her into surgery. I have to go.”

The line went dead. “Matt? Taylor? Fuck!”

My foot hit the gas as I flew down the street and weaved in between cars. Horns rang out as I cut people off, but I didn’t give a fuck.