Bang.
I flinch as she crumples against the ground, her body lifeless.
“Go!” Joel snaps at Monique from behind me and I whip around as they take off, sprinting across the rubble, like the jagged pieces of stone and debris don’t hurt the bare soles of their feet.
Adrenaline spills through my veins and I look over my shoulder as Skull aims his gun in their direction.
“No!” I shout, twisting my body and shooting forward.
He squeezes the trigger and I grit my teeth, my whole world slowing down.
Click. Skull’s volcanic eyes go wide.
Click. His face pinches in rage.
He’s out of bullets. I dive at him, slamming my body into his without a second thought. Air is audibly knocked from his lungs as we crash to the ground, my elbows catching on the concrete underneath us, tearing my skin to shreds.
Skull thrashes underneath me, losing his empty gun in the process. He’s not a small man, nor is he weak, not by any means, but he’s no match for me. I’m bigger. I’m stronger. I’m full of rage and revenge, seeking retribution that can only be paid with his blood, with his death.
I’ll make him regret ever fucking with mine.
I pin him flat on his back, my thighs straddling his hips. Grunting, he pushes at me, his arms tangling with mine before I’m able to pull free long enough to get a clean shot in. My fist connects with his face, tossing his head to the side. Pleasure ripples across the surface of my knuckles as his face absorbs my anger, my punishment. I cock my arm back again and let it fly, wanting more, wanting to smash him into tiny pieces, but he blocks the hit with his forearms. Growling, he throws me off his hips, clipping my jaw with a fist I didn’t see coming. I catch myself on my hands and scramble to my feet. With the space Skull forced from me, he’s able to stand too.
I hate fighting like this. I hate being full of emotion. It leaves too much room for mistakes. I normally go in cold and callous. Switched off. But it’s impossible with him. I hate him too much.
Puckering his lips, he spits blood on his dusty, patent leather shoes. “That it?”
“You’re giving up already?”
I lift my fists and they buzz with anticipation, adding to the flurry of vengeance in my chest.
Skull lifts his chin and, in the light of the flames that engulf half of his home, sweat glistens on its bald surface, his forehead, and his temples. I can’t waste time like this. I need to get back to Emily before she assumes the worst. I lash out, swinging full force. Skull takes a couple quick, panicked steps back as I rain my fists down on him, working his body and his head. Grunting every time my hands collide with his body, he lifts his arms to protect his head and pulls his elbows in to safeguard his ribs. Unfortunately for him, there’s nothing he can do to stop me from completely decimating him, to stop me from unleashing all of my pent-up fury.
I punch through his guard and block whatever fists come for me, but it doesn’t take long for my energy to get zapped and my breathing to turn ragged. I’m exhausted in every sense of the word, but I have to end this. I have to push myself through this agony of burning muscles and aching bones. I throw a heavy punch to the side of Skull’s head, but he catches my wrist and punches me in the ribs. Air explodes from my lungs with a groan and I hunch as he shoves me backward. I stumble two steps and Skull misses his opportunity to advance on me. I snatch it out from underneath him and shoot forward. He swings at me, and I duck out of the way, cursing as I swing around and grab him by the back of the neck. I force him to hunch over and meet my fists as I slam them into his stomach over and over.
Just when I think I have it in the bag, Skull wraps his thick arms around my legs and drives me backward. I move my feet quickly, desperately trying to keep my balance, but I trip over large chunks of debris. My heartrate surges as I freefall and crash to the ground. I land on scattered stones and pain screams through my body, a shout tearing from my throat along with all the air from my lungs. My whole body stiffens and I’m unable to relax it. A strangled yell squeezes out of me and I pinch my eyes shut. I’m certain my spine is broken, my ribs shattered.
I…I can’t move.
Skull pries himself from my grip, his chest heaving. I blink away the water in my eyes and watch as he pointlessly straightens out a suit that cannot be salvaged. Does he think he’s won? Does he think he can beat me?
“If you were smart, you’d give up,” he pants, cutting his eyes at me. “Hand her over and I might spare the rest of them.”
I wiggle my toes and I feel them against the leather of my shoes. I exhale in relief, closing my eyes with a hard swallow. Thank God. My spine might be damaged, but it’s not broken. I shift and hiss loudly, pressing my hands against my ribs. Fuck. They’re definitely busted.
Skull steps to the side to pick something off the ground. “Did you hear me?”
Jesus. “Why are you so damn obsessed with her?” I demand, my voice a pained whisper. “Your wife is dead. Emily’s not her.”
Skull plants his shoe on my chest and the sensation is horrible, feeling like a hundred knives being thrust through my body at once. I moan in agony, forcing myself not to close my eyes against the pain.
“Tell me where she is.”
I look into his eyes—I really look into his eyes—and what started out as a vindictive plot to get back at me has morphed into something else. He wants Emily—and not to torment. He wants her romantically. He wants her to return his affection, so he can fill the empty hole deep inside him that has been vacant since his wife’s murder.
My lips pull into a smile, teased by the thought of being the bearer of bad news and spoiling his twisted fantasy.
“You think she’d ever want you?” I seethe. “She’s never hated anyone as much as she hates you. You make her sick.”
Whatever he picked up, he tucks it into the back of his waistband before leaning forward, applying more pressure to my chest, making my breath hitch. “You’re going to tell me where she is.”
Doesn’t he get it? I’d sooner die than give her over to him. She’s a woman—a human—not an object.
And she loves me.
Not him. Never him.
“You’ll never lay another finger on her again,” I tell him. “Not a single one.”
Skull yanks my tie and I grunt right before he slams his fist into my face. My flesh swells immediately, my right eye rapidly closing as blood leaks into it.
From his waistband, he produces the item he picked up from the ground. I stare at it through one eye, admiring its straight edges and absorbing its lethal impression.
Damn it.
“I’m not going to hurt her, Stone. I’m going to keep her alive, take real good care of her,” he simpers, shoving his gun into my mouth. “Maybe I’ll fix her up and put a few babies in her. Make her my wife for real.”
I try to pull away from the gun, only to freeze when he pulls the hammer back. I breathe heavily through my nose, desperately wishing I could chew through metal and bite his gun in half.
I flatten my palms against the ground, looking for anything I can use to kill him.
“You know what I find funny, Jai? That you willingly fought a losing battle. Don’t hate me because I’ve won. You should hate her. She’s the reason you lost the fight before it began. She was your downfall.”
He can taunt me all he wants. She was his downfall too. He kept her alive just to rub her in my face and that was his biggest mistake.
I stare at him, my face a placid deadpan. I don’t want him to see just how sick I feel about being so close to death—and by his hands no less.
The side of my hand brushes a pointy fragment of stone and I wrap my fingers around it without taking my attention off Skull.
“I hope she’s worth dying for,” he mutters, the corner of his lips twitching into an evil grin.
Click.
I flinch and my heart lurches.
His gun doesn’t fire. The heavy metal of it hits my teeth as I pull away and snap
forward with a groan. Pain zaps down my spine and into my legs, but I push forward, shoving Skull off balance and jamming the stone shard into his side as he crashes to the ground with a thud.
“You are—”
Booom!
I don’t have time to curl my body away from the blast, and something hard and heavy collides with the back of my head. Agony is hot and sharp, and I’m certain my skull has been split. My vision goes, then my legs fail. Emily’s face flashes through my mind before I’m swallowed up by darkness and my body hits the ground…
We were so damn close.
Continued in:
DEATH & DUST
NEW YORK CRIME KINGS
Round Seven
BEFORE YOU GO…
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About the Author
Skyla Madi is an Australian writer from Brisbane, Queensland.
Skyla started her writing career fresh out of high school and at 21 she is a giver of both real and fictional life.
She is an aquarian, lover of the written word and author of the #1 BESTSELLING Consumed trilogy.
Contact the Author
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Skyla Madi, Guts & Glass
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