AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want your crown,” the leader said, pacing around Manny with his hands clasped behind his back. “Gavin Pyre needs to be taken down a peg. Killing his cousin was just the beginning. It’s a bonus to find his little fiancé here today. Now I get to kill two birds with one stone.”
His men chuckled while Lyla tried to figure out a way to get out of this.
“But I think some payback is in order first,”
The leader’s leg flashed out and a moment later Manny’s head snapped back. Manny fell backwards, head hitting the marble floor with a horrible smacking sound. Lyla screamed and tried to move forward, but a man grabbed her arm in a bone crushing grip. When she continued to fight him, he shoved her to her knees and held her at gunpoint.
“I’m doing the unthinkable—scaling an all out attack on the Pyres, the crime lords of Las Vegas. No one thought it was possible, but here we are.”
The monster spread his arms wide and the men around him chuckled. Lyla fought back the urge to vomit. This couldn’t be happening. The leader stomped his foot on Manny’s chest. Lyla heard bones break as Manny gasped and tried to get away.
“No!” Lyla screamed, past the point of caring that a gun was being pointed at her until her captor used the butt of his gun to stun her into silence. The impact made her ears ring and her vision blurred. She blinked hastily, unable to rip her eyes from Manny who was being beat to death. Other men joined their leader and broke every bone in Manny’s body. Lyla fought against her captor and didn’t stop until he slammed her on the ground and sat on top of her. Lyla could barely breathe. The leader with the sweet voice used the butt of his gun to crush Manny’s features, as if he wasn’t a human being but a clay sculpture that needed to be remade. Bone crunched and the horrible sound of Manny’s screams faded into an ominous silence.
“Please, I’ll do anything! Please stop,” Lyla pleaded, heart shredding and terror eclipsing all rational thought. “Take me instead.”
The monster paused in his torture to look at her. “Don’t worry. We haven’t forgotten about you.”
“He’s old. He can’t take this,” Lyla said, still straining at the guard’s hold.
“Do you know what this man has done?”
The man jerked Manny’s head back, which flopped lifelessly. Lyla screamed and reached out for him even though she knew the gesture was useless.
“Please, please.” She was past pride or fear. She needed to get to Manny to touch and reassure herself that the man she considered her father was still breathing.
“This man has killed more innocents than a serial killer. The Pyre family doesn’t care who gets in their way. They don’t kill, theyobliterate. Power hungry, arrogant... They forget that they’re human and can bleed.”
The monster dropped Manny, who fell to the floor and didn’t move. When he raised his booted foot, the scream Lyla released was filled with all the horror and helpless rage she possessed. She closed her eyes and struggled like a demon, but she couldn’t get free. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Manny looked like a broken puppet. His limbs were bent at odd angles. The man standing above him pulled out a gun and fired. Manny’s body jerked. Blood splattered the man’s pants and pooled beneath his feet.
Lyla retched and the man above her stood. Blood stained shoes came into her line of sight. A black leather glove smeared with red reached out and gripped her hair. Lyla’s head tipped back at the vicious tug. She stared up at the dark mask that shielded the murderer’s eyes and poured all the hate she felt into that stare.
“You’re so beautiful,” the man said and brushed his gloved thumb over lips.
Lyla tasted the tang of Manny’s blood and retched again. The man clucked his tongue.
“It’s a shame you had to see that,” he crooned, stroking back her hair while she trembled in shock. He pressed his lips to her ear. “You’re at the wrong place at the wrong time, baby.”
He pulled back and clasped her clammy face. Lyla stared into the slits of his mask at fathomless black eyes. The man released her and she sprawled on her back, staring up at him as he pulled out a shiny blade from his pocket. Lyla tried to roll over and run, but a man pinned her wrists while the monster sat on her middle and held the knife aloft. Lyla stared at the blade, knowing she was going to die.
“You fucker—” she began before pain ripped through her abdomen.
She didn’t have enough breath to scream. Another stab and then another until her body felt as if it was being cut into pieces. Lyla struggled, all to no avail. Her body was on fire. The monster grabbed her face and kissed her through the mask before he shoved the knife into her chest. The arms pinning her down disappeared. Lyla’s hand went to the hilt of the knife. The merest brush on the blade made her want to reposition it to end her agony faster. Lyla curled into a ball, knowing she was near death. There was no surviving this.
Suddenly, there were shouts, scrambling feet and then gunshots. This mattered little to Lyla. Although her eyes were darkening with black spots, she focused on Manny. She didn’t care what was going on around her or register the fact that bodies were dropping around her. Lyla’s focus locked on Manny. Lyla dragged herself across the slick floor. She was going to die and needed to be near him. The blood spurting from her wounds helped her slide across the floor with more ease. When she reached Manny’s broken hand, she dropped her face onto it.
“I love you, Dad.” If there was a spark of life in him, she hoped he heard her. Lyla pressed a kiss onto his palm and whispered, “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lyla swam in a sea of pain. Death was a series of flickering images and agony. Lyla wanted it to stop. Lyla reached for dark, fathomless oblivion.
***
Lyla opened her eyes. Every inch of her body hurt. Even the act of blinking her eyes sent a shaft of pain through her skull. She closed her eyes and drifted. Something soft brushed her fingers. The pleasant sensation distracted her from the mind numbing agony. Lyla opened her eyes and tried to focus on the shadow at the periphery of her vision. Blonde hair swished over the back of her hand. A person sobbed at her bedside with such fervor that Lyla pushed through the pain so she could focus. Lyla moved her hand an inch and let out a strangled cry at the unbearable pain. The blonde head lifted and bright blue eyes awash with tears stared at her. Carmen. Lyla shifted and clenched her teeth against the agonizing pain.
“You’re awake, you’re awake,” Carmen babbled and ran to the door and shouted, “she's awake!”
A slew of people congregated around her bed. Crisp, direct words were directed at her, but she couldn’t make sense of them. A doctor shone a light in her eyes and tried to adjust her, which made her grunt urgently.
