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“Holly, can you shoot? Open the window and scare him. Get him to take cover so we can get out and run.” The palace looms closer. I know if we stop, Vance will catch up to us. He’ll chase us inside. We can only get so far. A pack like Platinum Shores might not be alone. They could have members waiting outside. I don’t know how much more I can handle. The drugs wear off, but I feel like shit with the ups and downs of my adrenaline. I could crash the car. Make a lethal mistake. I just need to get out and run to safety. I need my pack.
“I don’t know if I can take the shot. My vision is blurry.” Holly groans, sitting up and coming into view in my mirror. Her painfully slow movements try to steal my hope. If she can’t scare Vance, we’ll never make it.
“Just shoot. Pull the trigger and shoot.” I slow the vehicle to maneuver the road, flicking my attention out the back every few seconds. The driveway curves around the side of the building, heading toward the back. That’s where we have to enter to get to the corridors leading to the panic room.
I hit the switch to open all the windows, and a gust of air blows my hair from my face. Another gunshot rings through the air, shattering the side mirror. I scream and jerk the wheel, running over a couple of yard lights.
“Holly, now! Now!” I shout, coming up to the door, still seeing Vance chasing us. The fucker can run fast as hell, but it’s not like I could speed with the short distance.
Holly hangs out the window and pulls the trigger, the action enough to get Vance to drop and scramble toward a decorative wall separating the path from a garden. We have maybe two hundred feet. Two hundred feet before he can run and overpower us.
Jerking to a stop, I park the car, hopping out. I rush to grab Holly from the backseat and swing my arm around her, dragging her with me. She stumbles, her legs shaking and weak, her head still spinning, but my adrenaline helps me see clearly. My body knows that if I don’t hustle, they will catch us. There’s nothing like a game of cat and mouse to get me to flee. I’m not the type to fight when I can just run.
“The best access door is just over there. There’s a latch that’ll let us downstairs into the basement corridor.” Holly waves her hand toward an immaculately landscaped area with hanging ivy and hydrangeas blooming in beautiful purple and blue colors. I would’ve never found the hatch had she not pointed it out, the secret door resembling a yard statue. Except it isn’t made of heavy marble or stone. It’s some sort of lighter material. Most likely hollow metal.
I mess with the statue, managing to pull it up to reveal a second door with a security lock. Holly enters the code, but it only turns red instead of opening.
“Maybe I typed it wrong. Try 5-7-8-2-0-1-1-3-4.” Holly chants the code as if she has spent her entire life memorizing it. Maybe she has.
I type in exactly what she says, moving quickly but accurately, my hands steady. Again, the light flashes red. We’re denied access and can’t get in.
“They might’ve put the palace on lockdown. If that’s the case, no one can get in.” Holly chokes up with the words, her fear hitting her hard in this moment. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. They’re going to get us. They’re going to fucking get us. I’d rather die.”
I grab her arm and force her to her feet, spinning to look at the property. We could try running toward the line of trees leading to an orchard, or we could just go to the backdoor and hope someone sees us.
“Don’t think I won’t shoot you, Kinsey. I wanted to keep you alive, but you’re not worth it. We only need one omega.” Brock’s voice booms in my ears, his words stabbing into me, stealing my breath. It triggers my fear instincts, and I whip around to face him.
Holly grabs me, shielding me protectively. “Stay back. I’ll shoot you.” Holly’s hands tremble as she aims the gun at Brock.
“It’s over, princess. You’re coming with us.” This comes from behind me, and Holly pushes me back, using the wall to block us, giving us a view of Vance as he comes around the other side.
“Shoot him,” I whisper, clinging to Holly’s sides. “Shoot him.”
Vance chuckles, shaking his head. “She’s not gonna do it.”
It’s enough to get Holly to swivel, aim the gun, and pull the trigger. The bullet grazes Vance’s shoulder, startling him. He hollers and runs forward, charging us. Brock does the same, now determined to trap and disarm us. I’m a dead woman. I know it. They’ve already declared that I’m not worth the trouble when they have Holly.
Holly shoots at Vance again, this time getting him in the gut. He trips and falls, face-planting on the ground. Holly doesn’t have a chance to turn to Brock. His hand locks around her wrist, squeezing tightly. She screams as she drops the gun, and he shoves her hard into me. Pain explodes in my head as I clunk it against the wall, the force enough to send stars peppering through my vision. I fall forward, throwing my weight at Holly, hoping that I can just hold onto her enough that Brock can’t do anything.
He drags the two of us, but Holly joins my deadweight, and he has no choice but to let us go.
He growls and pins Holly on top of me with his boot, bowing to press the barrel of his gun to my forehead. Sobs rack my chest, and I stare at him, refusing to close my eyes. He will see what a monster he is. I want him to live with looking into my eyes as he pulls the trigger.
A gunshot resonates through the air, ringing in my ears. I startle as blood and flesh splatter over me, the side of Brock’s head disintegrating under a bullet. The light vanishes from his eyes, and he falls forward, crushing us beneath him. Holly shrieks and shoves against him, his heavy weight suffocating us, squishing us to the ground.
“Fuck! Fuck!” Wilder’s voice twists around me, squeezing me as tightly as the weight of both Holly and Brock. But it doesn’t steal my breath. It fills me with the strength I had forgotten I had. Wrapping my arms around Holly and Brock’s body, I shove as hard as I can, rolling Brock’s body off us.
“Holly, it’s over.” My hoarse voice burns my throat with my words. I squeeze her from behind, holding her tightly, trying my best to keep her together as she loses her shit and falls apart.
“Kinsey, Holly. Fuck. Are you hurt? Did he injure you?” Wilder grabs Holly off me, and she clings to his side, sobbing into his throat. With his other arm, he manages to scoop me up and balances me on his other side. His muscular arms flex as he holds our weight, letting us hug him as the adrenaline wears off. “Arsenio, help me. Desmond, make sure those fuckers are dead.”
I open and close my mouth in shock. “Enzo?” All I can think about is not hearing Wilder say his name. My chest tightens. What if something happened to him? What if Brock or Vance shot him like they shot the king?
“He’s inside. He’s fine. I’ll take you to him.” Wilder hands Holly to Arsenio, readjusting me in his arms so that I hug him with my entire body.
“The king? He drugged us. This is his doing.” My teeth chatter as my body turns cold despite the warm air outside. I can’t focus. My mind just whirls through the events over and over again. The breakfast and feeling sick. Realizing that we had been drugged. Knowing how the king betrayed us and offered us as restitution to the Platinum Shores Pack. How they nearly kidnapped us. How I stabbed Brock and how Holly shot Vance. It’s too much. Everything is too much.
“I suspected as much, Kinsey. Don’t worry. We’re going to handle him.” Wilder strides forward, taking me inside through a glass door that leads to a sitting area.
