AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
Shay Tenley
2023
“Everyone away from the house! Take cover! Away from the house!”
“Fucking run!”
“Out of the pool!”
“What the fuck is happening—” Frozen by shock and confusion, I didn’t know what was going on, not even when River suddenly hauled me off the pool lounger and dragged me away from everyone.
“Run!” he growled.
His voice was almost drowned out by the sound of an explosion, and then the whole fucking patio burst into flames.Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. Not fire, not fire—Ihatedfire.Oh God. The smell of black smoke and something…other…invaded my nostrils. A loud crack followed, a sound I associated so exclusively with shooting ranges.Gunfire. What thefuckwas going on here?! Everybody was scattering and screaming, and I couldn’t fix my stare on a single person without flipping my overwhelmed lid, so I just focused on River.Where’s Reese? Get to Reese!Bullets were flying rapidly, filling the air with ear-deafening, roaring pops. I ran away from the pool area with River by my side as my heart started pounding furiously—until I heard him grit out a loud curse drenched in pain.
My heart almost stopped, and I spun around to see him hunched over and clutching his side.
“River!” I rushed over to him—
“Keep going!” he yelled hoarsely. “I’m fine, baby. Justrun!”
Fuck that!
In the corner of my eye, I spotted vans driving down the hill, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. People I’d never seen before came out from every direction, most of them armed, and I acted on instinct when two of them grabbed at Piper, Elliott’s sister.
“Help me!”
“Get Dante and Reese!”
“Tariq! Somebody pull him out of there!”
I sprinted over to the woman as more shots were fired, and I body checked the first motherfucker before I punched the other one and managed to steal his handgun. I yelled for Piper to run away from the house. My brain bolted, spitting out questions and worries at a pace I couldn’t keep up with; Reese had to be inside the house, and he couldn’t fucking come out this way with the patio on fire. I had to get back to River—he’d been shot. Where was Gray? Holy fuck, there were too many guys attacking us. I found myself in another fight seconds later, and I barely paid attention.Fightingwas as easy as breathing for me. I kicked, punched, and shoved, all while trying to locate Crew, Javier—there—Elliott, Toby, and the little girl…? Where was she?
At some point, I realized I’d lost the gun, but River appeared next to me, and he was holding it. I watched the split second it took him to lift the gun and fire two quick rounds, causing two men to drop dead on the lawn.
I swallowed dryly.
Adrenaline blazed through me like a wildfire.
“Get him!”
“Wake up!”
“Elliott!”
“Get Gray!”
“Run, Madison!”
I flew back all of a sudden, and my back hit the grass.Son of a bitch!I groaned in pain—but it came from my arm. Searing fucking pain in my arm, unlike anything I’d ever felt. The evening sky was blocked out by four men looming over me, and the gunfire rained heavy around us. I flinched and tried to defend myself, but they had fucking knives, and I screamed out my rage and pain and…fuck, all of it, as they stabbed me in the thigh and shoulder.
* * *
River Tenley
“We need more weapons!” I yelled.
