AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nik stepped forward, prepared to meet his fate. He would die if it meant freeing Ali.
Behind him, he heard Eli pushing the others back to find a different escape route.
The hidden figures in the background made no move to follow them. They were clearly confident enough they could track them down. If the group had a head start, they didn’t care. They were simply waiting for their leader to make the command, but he was having too much fun torturing Nik.
The man had spun Ali to face Nik now, one arm around her neck. A moment away from choking her if Nik tried anything. Her hands gripped at him, trying to loosen his hold.
“Now, what are we going to do with you?”
“Please, take me instead,” he begged.
“Oh, I think we’ll be taking you both.”
Ali’s breaths came in ragged gasps, and her terrified gaze met Nik’s.
The man’s chuckle was sinister as he pulled her forward, stepping closer toward Nik.
It happened so quickly. A dark object—a bird?---flew over their heads, sinking into the middle of their enemies. And then a flash of light blinded Nik, followed by searing heat.
Not a bird. A bomb.
***
Chapter Thirty-Three
The earth quaked beneath Eli’s feet so horrifically that he thought the ground might split in half. He’d never seen a light so bright. It burned his eyes and left him seeing white far longer than the initial blast. His ears rang and he cupped his hands to them. It felt like they were bleeding but when he pulled his hands back there was nothing on them.
He felt powerful. And mad. It was the first chance he had to release all the pent-up anger he’d been holding onto for months and he couldn’t think of a more deserving target. Something in him turned malicious red when he saw the man with a scarred face lay his hands on Ali.
He wobbled and slumped into a tree trunk. He blinked to clear the haze and saw Ali standing in front of the massive fire that had erupted. The man had dropped his hold on her in the commotion, turning with anger to see more than half of his men turned to ash.
Ali took a step away from him but he grabbed for her neck. Her hand reached up just as her necklace snapped in his hands and she tumbled forward out of his grasp.
Nik reached out as Ali fell into his arms. Both of them had looks of shock and terror. The Coyote hesitated to attack now that he was outnumbered. With a wicked blaze in his eyes, Eli jogged over to meet them.
“You crazy son of a bitch,” Nik shouted at him with a wild grin on his face.
Eli had to laugh. It was the first genuine smile he’d seen from Nik. Not a sneer or a smirk. Ali just gaped at him in awe. She didn’t think he had it in him.
He turned to the man that had grabbed Ali and roughly took him by the shoulder, slinging a hard fist into his chin. It felt amazing, unleashing his anger. He let it all out. His knuckles cracked and blood ran between his fingers. He swung three, four times before Ali screamed for him to stop, beckoning him to follow.
He looked up and saw shadows coming out of the fire. Survivors. The few that had stood through the initial blast were starting to make their way through the flames and smoke, right in their direction. They were like demons, risen from the dead, and headed straight toward them.
“Let’s go,” he urged Ali and Nik onwards and together they left the light of the inferno.
They weaved in and out of trees, the survivors chasing them through the dark. It was hard work, keeping a quick pace while not stumbling over roots.
At least the others can escape, Eli thought. They had left in the opposite direction and his antics had drawn all attention to their trio instead. They could lead them away from town and give everyone else a fighting chance.
Nik knew these woods better than any of them and so he led the way. He could tell the ground was sloping downwards but had no other way to orient himself. He hadn’t seen much beyond the prison walls these last few months so he blindly followed in Nik’s footsteps.
Nik led them to a dirt path, now turned to mud. His boots slid and it became difficult to keep his footing. They turned right along the road and ran for several minutes before he took a sharp left into the woods again. Eli had no choice but to trust that he knew what he was doing.
He dared to take a look back down the road and no fewer than five men were hot on their tail. They looked enraged. Furious that he’d killed so many of their men. Furious that they’d escaped their grasp. Fire and smoke rose from the forest behind them.
The ground sloped steeper now and he thought he could hear water running over the sound of their footsteps. It grew louder as they stumbled down the side of the hill. Ali and Nik reached the shore of a river where the ground bottomed out.
This was it. They were almost out. If they could just cross the river, they’d have a chance at freedom. He had the feeling the Coyotes wouldn’t follow them to the other side. It would waste too much time and effort when the fight at the city was still raging on. They’d have to abandon their chase.
