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Gulping in painful lungsful of air, I panic, my eyes darting for something, anything that can help.
On the ground in the glint of the moon is black metal. Orion’s weapons. I go to grab one of Orion’s guns when I stare at what I’m holding in my hand.
I forgot I grabbed the nail gun back in the house before we escaped out the door.
I’m clutching it like it’s my link to sanity, like it’s a security blanket.
And…
I know how to use a nail gun.
Orion grabs the man and pounds into him. He wants me to run. Orion took care of everyone else like a one-man killing machine and yet with this guy…
He’s buying me time to escape.
But I can’t leave him. I can’t.
Fear burns along my veins and my adrenaline spikes, making my heart throb and ears buzz. I grip the nail gun. The man manages to throw Orion off for a moment. He reaches for his gun as Orion goes for his at the same time.
A second is all I need. I dart in, jam the nail gun to the man’s temple, and set it off.
The man howls and starts to shake, his hand flying up to his head. Orion shoots him dead. I stare in shock at what I’ve done, but he doesn’t give me time to dwell.
Orion grabs my hand and runs, dragging me alongside him.
My legs burn and grow way too heavy. My knees buckle and my lungs are about to burst with the sheer agony of trying to suck in oxygen.
Orion streaks through the vegetation, half dragging, half carrying me as he runs. If my hand wasn’t welded to his, I’d be back on the ground, not far from the body. And not just from shock. This man is fast and he has stamina.
I run for exercise, and I’m pretty good at it. I keep fit. But this… it’s next-level shit.
“Stop!” I gasp out the word as somewhere a bird calls out.
He slows, lifts me, and tosses me over his shoulder, the nail gun still gripped tightly in my hand. I bang it against his back, bouncing as he covers the rough terrain.
“We can’t stop.” He holds me tight as I struggle.
“We can. Just for a few minutes,” I say. “Put me down. You’re bleeding.”
He runs a little farther, then sets me down. I stagger toward him. My mouth is desert-dry, my lungs aching, and I need some water. I scratch at my throat.
His mouth stretches into a straight line.
Like this, dressed for combat, for stealth, with all those weapons, he’s elemental. A deadly beast. Hot like a supernova. And he’s not happy we’ve stopped.
“Water?” He hands me a bottle from a few feet away on the ground, taking it back only after I get a few sips. He downs half of it, then lets me have a little more. “It must’ve fallen out of my pocket.”
“Orion… y-you?—”
“I’m fucking fine.” He looks at me and then at the nail gun. “Where the fuck did you get that?”
“The house.” I look around. I don’t think anyone’s coming, but I know we can’t just stand here. “I forgot I took it on the way out.”
He reaches for it but I shake my head, holding it tight. I need it. Just like I needed to call him Daddy, dive into our play to help me through the shock. Because when he turned up, I didn’t have to rely on just me. I could let something in me collapse.
But I’m not helpless. At least I don’t want to be, and I can’t undo everything he did to get me out. He takes my hand and still I don’t move.
Orion gives me a look of pure, dark irritation. “If they’re searching, it’ll be at the little settlement for their staff and the two marinas they have. The others are for fishing or whatever the hell else they do.”
