AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ellie…kitten.” He presses his lips against my forehead, the lightest of caresses, and warmth radiates through my body, accompanied by a kaleidoscope of emotions. Love, for one. Fear for the future. Anger. Helplessness.
And hope.
“I don’t know what will happen,” he continues, his mouth set in a grim line. “But we’ll get through it together. Now…” He attempts to offer me a sly grin, but it appears a little forced. I can still see the tension evident in the wrinkles around his eyes. Still, I appreciate the effort more than I care to admit. “How about I distract you?”
“Are you propositioning me, Landon?” I ask in mock outrage, placing a hand over my chest. “Why, I never!”
“Head out of the gutter, kitty cat.” He chuckles and raps his knuckles against my forehead. “I obviously meant we should play a game of leapfrog.”
“With our clothes off?”
“When did you get such a dirty mind?” He feigns shock. “I’d never disrespect your virtue like that!”
“How about we play duck-duck-goose?” I tease.
“With only two people? No way. Hmmm. Tag?”
“Now you’re looking for an excuse to chase me down and have your wicked way with me, aren’t you?”
His eyes simmer with heat. “I wouldn’t?—”
He stops talking abruptly.
Shock splays across his face, and his mouth opens. He slowly lowers his gaze to his chest…
Where a dagger is embedded, having been shoved through his back.
“Landon?” I ask fearfully as blood wells in his mouth and then cascades down his chin. His eyes are wide with terror and pain.
He collapses to his knees, and his attacker wastes no time kicking him aside with barely a passing glance.
“Landon!” I screech, but he doesn’t seem to be awake.
Please let him just be unconscious. Please.
I open my mouth to scream for help when my attacker grabs a gun out of his jacket and aims it at Landon’s head.
“If you scream, I’ll shoot him,” he warns as fear grabs me in a chokehold.
The man before me is tall and broad, though those are the only distinguishing features I can see. He wears a dark green coat over a gray hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans.
And he also has on a mask.
Not a POP mask, but…
A clown one.
Pure white plastic. Bulbous red nose. Glimmering, painted-on eyes. Red eyebrows. And two triangles surrounding each eye—one above it pointed toward the eyebrows and one beneath it aimed at the lips.
“You have quite the bounty on your head, little girl.” The man has a deep voice with a slight rasp to it. “I got so fucking lucky I chose to follow your little friends today…led me straight to you just in time.” A cruel chuckle escapes him. “Your friend here,” he jerks the gun, “killed a lot of my friends. I wanted to repay the favor. But then I got a notification saying I’ll be paid one mil if I deliver you unharmed to your new buyer.”
What the fuck is he talking about?
Think, Ellie. Think.
I slowly lift my hands and approach him the way one would a vicious dog, one that’s foaming at the mouth and straining against its chain.
“I’ll come with you, okay?” I keep my voice low and soothing. “Just leave Landon alone.”
