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Without waiting for him to acknowledge me, I continued on, making sure everyone we came to got out safely. We were getting closer and closer to the gunfire. It happened in sporadic bursts. Every time the big Magnum went off, I grew more and more angry.
“This fucker is rapidly losing any sympathy I had for him.”
“Don’t think about it,” Cyrus cautioned. “I’m not.” The other man had changed somewhat since finding Odette. I was happy for him. Of all the men in Iron Tzars, Cyrus probably understood me best.
We continued on. The area we were currently in had mostly evacuated, but now the gunfire was getting closer. I glanced at Cyrus as we approached a corner. He nodded back to me. I pulled out my phone and turned on the video recorder then carefully moved it around the corner to get an idea of what I was dealing with. I gave it a few seconds before easing it back and taking a look at the video.
Sure enough, the gunman was there. His back was to us, and he appeared to be walking away from us. There was a long expanse of hall ahead of him and he appeared in no hurry. I tucked my phone back in my pocket and caught Blaze’s gaze. He shook his head, indicating I needed to back off. Like that was going to happen. I’d been told to find Lemon and get her out, but if I took out the gunman before I found Lemon, the problem would take care of itself. The bloodcurdling battle cry wasn’t something I was expecting.
“Bloody hell,” Blaze muttered.
“Fuck me.” Cyrus’s eyes widened, an uncharacteristic show of emotion on his part. Well, other than irritation. He was good at irritation.
I sighed, fear threatening to take over. “That’s Lemon.”
All three of us dashed around the corner, guns drawn, charging full speed. I yelled just as the gunmen raised that fucking Magnum in Lemon’s direction.
“Move!” I yelled, trying to get the gunman to turn to me. I had no intention of letting him hurt Lemon, and I didn’t mind shooting him if I had to, but I had no desire to shoot a man in the back.
Just as I hoped, the guy turned to look over his shoulder. Sure enough, Leo Winston looked back at me. His features were more scared than angry, as if he were doing something he wasn’t sure he was fully committed to, yet couldn’t seem to stop himself. Until he saw me. Then unadulterated rage filled his expression.
“Fucker!” he yelled. “This is all your fault! Why couldn’t you just leave her alone!”
I figured he was talking about Dani, but I wasn’t sure and didn’t much care. His attention was on me and not on the small figure of Lemon… charging him from the back?
“What the fuck?”
“Lemon!”
“Don’t!”
All of us spoke over top of each other. For all the good it did.
Lemon charged a man, armed to the teeth, with a bigass trophy from one of the cases along the front of the school. Instead of a repeat of the battle cry she’d given earlier, she charged him silently until she was close enough to swing. She hit him with the marble base in the back of the head with all her might. He fell, but Lemon wasn’t done. She took one more swing, this time yelling at the top of her lungs, and hit him again in the back of the head. This time, the base broke and clattered to the floor, leaving Lemon standing over her prey like an Amazon warrior.
“Fucker,” she muttered before throwing the remainder of the trophy to the ground. She kicked the gun that had fallen from his hand across the hall before bending to pick up the rifle in his other hand. She raised her head and met my gaze as I neared. The girl was as calm as any seasoned warrior, but angry as fuck. Glancing back down at Leo, she spat before stepping over him and marching toward us. Shoving the rifle at me, she stared me down.
“Get her out of here,” Blaze ordered. “I’ll deal with the cops.”
“They just pulled up outside.” Cyrus looked out the window. “There anyone else, Lemon?”
“Yeah. That fucking Jordan bitch. But she didn’t stay long. She dropped off this fucker before she left.”
“How do you know that?” I tilted my head as I looked at her. This girl was a fucking handful and then some.
She rolled her eyes. “Why the fuck do you think I was out of class in the first Goddamned place? I saw her. I saw Leo. Neither of them are supposed to be here, so,” she shrugged, “I went to investigate.” She sobered. “I thought I saw Deacon carrying Apple out. I tried to keep this guy’s attention focused on me at this end of the school so she had time to get out, but I didn’t know if she’d be able to leave. The lockdown…”
“Yeah, Lemon. She’s safe.”
When I first met Lemon, I knew she was tough as nails. The girl was gonna make one hell of an old lady to some poor bastard. But now, right before my eyes, she seemed to… crack. Her breathing sped up, then she heaved, vomiting violently. I knelt beside her, holding her hair out of her face, which seemed to piss her off even more. Or maybe it was her defense mechanism, because she was trembling almost violently.
“Get off me, Wylde!”
“Hey. I’m just tryin’ to help, honey. You know I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Don’t need help.” She spat again, then wiped her mouth with her arm.
“Everyone needs help, Lemon.” Blaze knelt beside her and handed her a bottle of water. “Even tough chicks like you.”
