Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“They are burning our escape routes. We’re going to have to go out the front. The Abbey is a big square with the outer walls made of brick and iron fencing with lasers filling the gaps. Underneath is a warren of tunnels and panic rooms. The Bishop must’ve instructed his men to burn the tunnels first to cut us off.”
“Why is the Bishop coming after you?”
“Because I’ve sinned and plan to continue sinning.”
“Sinned? You mean—” She gestures toward the bedroom.
A grin crosses my lips. “That but also because I wouldn’t kill Kane Santino. Disobedience is a sin. Fornication is a sin. Anything you do that the High Power doesn’t want you to do is a sin. I’ve had enough of it. Besides, I didn’t think you’d be very happy if I took out Santino.”
“I mean, I’m generally not in favor of killing people, but I don’t know Santino at all other than he’s got my friend Laurel.”
A brief chuckle escapes me. “So Santino can go down?”
Angel’s face hardens. “You can’t keep me if you aren’t alive, can you?”
It’s not a question. “You’re absolutely right. We’re going to get out of here, Angel. Don’t you worry.”
“I’m not.” It’s an emphatic declaration without even an ounce of uncertainty.
My Angel. She didn’t grow up in an ordinary world with ordinary parents, and so this one with its violence, strange people, and unusual circumstances doesn’t faze her. I give her a hard kiss on her forehead and then push her behind me. “I’ll make sure to live up to your confidence.”
“Emphasis on the live,” she chirps, and while her tone is bright, her fingers twist the back of my shirt tight.
“Exactly.” The fire is almost out in the bathroom and I’m tempted to leave her here, but with the tunnel system blown to bits and no guards at my side, it’s too risky. We go together. “Stay behind me.”
The closet is still burning. I douse two big towels in cold water and drape one over Angel’s head and another around mine. We sprint through to the bedroom. Things are smoldering, but the walls are brick behind the drywall and plaster, so it’s not the inferno it could be. The hallway is more smoke, but the only people we find are bodies on the ground. I kneel down and check the pulses. Dead. I give Angel a shake of my head. She grimaces but holds it together. I hear a shoe scrape against the floor and whirl around, flinging my arm out. It makes contact with a jaw. There’s a grunt as the man absorbs the blow. “Down,” I order.
Angel understands it’s for her and drops immediately. I shoot the dark-clad figure in front of me. He falls, but two more figures rush out of the smoke. I take those two down. The bullets attract attention because multiple boots are hitting the floor. I crouch and take a gun out of one of the fallen and slide it on the floor toward Angel. “Anything that comes toward you, point and pull the trigger. It will recoil, so you need to brace yourself,” I instruct in a low voice.
She gives me a thumbs-up. The floor is getting hot. We need to reach the stairs before the boards beneath us collapse and trap us up here. I wait until the bodies break through the smoke before shooting. I don’t want any of mine getting caught in friendly fire. I take down the first row before my clip is empty. Five more bodies down. How many did the Bishop send? The High Power could send in an army if they wanted. A man descends on me before I can switch out my clip. I plow the butt of the gun into his forehead and grab his pistol hand, pulling the slide entirely off. He pushes me with his free hand. I absorb the blow with a grunt and then head butt him. He staggers back. I feel a poke in my back and see the barrel of the gun I gave to Angel at my elbow. I take it, shoot the man, and then hand it back.
“We’re a good team. Let’s move before the stairs are gone.”
“Yessir.” She even gives me a salute.
Her spirits are high even in the midst of a fire and a shoot-out. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. She’s never looked sexier in my eyes even with her hair matted around her face, wearing grey sweats and two towels draped around her body. The urge to devour her is high, but we have bad guys to defeat and a burning building to escape.
Staying close to the wall, we move down toward the stairs, stepping over the bodies of the fallen. There are twelve dead by my count. There can’t be many more. Maybe another dozen, twenty at the most. I’ve got enough ammunition to take them all down if I’m careful and precise.