Page 195 of Split You Open

Fuck.

Stepping into the garage, I shut the door as quietly as I can. It’s pointless because just as the door clicks shut, the garage door begins to open.

Fuck!

Quickly, I flip through my options. I can either run back into the house where there are only god knows how many men inside ready to gun me down, or I can wait for whoever is on the other side of that garage door to shoot me in the head.

Those aren’t great options. In fact, they fucking suck.

Then another option pops up.

Holy fuck. Would it work? It’s definitely risky.

I glance down at Blair who lays motionless in my arms. The muscles in my chest constrict in fear. She needs help now and I can’t do shit unless we get out of here. The only way that’s even a slight possibility is through this third option.

But if it doesn’t work, we’re dead.

Then again, if I don’t do something now we’re still dead.

I make the decision before I can over think it.

Heaving Blair up, I throw her over my shoulder. In almost the same motion, I’m tugging a grenade off my hip. With an arm around Blair’s waist, I rush toward the opening garage door. As I make it to the far side, as close to the exit as possible, lift the grenade up to my lips, use my teeth to pull the pin, then I toss it over my shoulder.

I don’t wait for the garage door to open completely.

Flinging myself under the opening door, I make it out and up onto my feet without much of an effort. There’s a shout of alarm but I don’t stop as I lunge behind the nearest tree. Gunshots ring out and bullets pepper the air around us but thankfully they only hit the ground or nearby trees.

My grunt of surprise is overpowered by the roar of an explosion.

A normal explosion from a grenade would’ve been enough to level the house. Add the fumes from the running SUV and gas from the stove?

The explosion is out of this world.

The blast is so powerful that even behind a tree it throws me and Blair several feet away. I wrap my body around hers, protecting her from impact as we hit the ground and roll. I purposely roll on top of Blair to keep the heat and shrapnel of what was once a house from hitting her. The air grows hot and thin—breathing becomes nearly impossible. A tree falls somewhere close by and branches begin slamming down to earth.

There are blood curdling screams and another small explosion as one of the SUVs—the one closest to the house—reacts to the flames and heat.

I curl around Blair tighter.

“Don’t worry, I got you, Blair, I got you,” I mutter over and over as the blast seems to go on forever.

Screams and wails of agony follow the explosion but they’re muffled by a loud ringing in my ears.

The minute the heat subsides, I force myself to move. With a grunt, I get to my knees and scoop Blair back up in my arms. She hasn’t stirred once but her glossy eyes have closed. I don’t have time to consider if that’s a good thing or not.

I push aside the urge to check her pulse again. There’s no time. She’s still in trouble and will be until I get her safely back to the cabin. I get to my feet. I stumble a little, feeling the burns from the explosion along my neck, arms and legs acutely. Just as I’m steady on my feet, someone says,

“Nice try, asshole.”

I turn around slowly to find a young mercenary standing there with his gun pointed at me. His face is red with burns and his clothes are singed.

His smug smirk makes me want to tear his fucking head off.

Behind him are five other men looking just as battered and burned as he is, their guns all trained on me.

God-fucking-damnit.

“That girl in your arms just made me a rich motherfuckin’ man. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you walk away with her. Her corpse is mine.”