“She’s Ruby’s sister,” Idiot informs him.
“Well, shit,” Fisher croons, using the gun to move the hair that’s fallen in my face behind my ear. The cold steel barrel against my skin brings a wave of nervous goosebumps over my flesh. “You’ve been keeping secrets.” He licks his lips, bringing the gun across my cheek and over my mouth. Pushing the barrel firmer into my lips, he parts them, clashing with my teeth.
“Don’t,” Lily breathes, trying to move around me. I wrap an arm behind me, pushing her hip to make her stay where she is.
“You caused me embarrassment. After I thought there was something special between us.” I can’t tell if he’s delusional or mocking me. “You’re going to have to hurt a little for that.” He forces the gun past my teeth, scraping across the roof of my mouth and tongue, making me gag on the barrel. My eyes water and stomach cramps. This isn’t going to be fast. He’s going to make me suffer.
A flash of movement from my peripheral gains Fisher’s attention. Pulling the gun from my mouth, I cough and lurch forward, sucking in a breath. A shot rings out, startling me. I stagger sideways, still gripping Lily behind me. My heart thunders in my chest when I see my mother writhing around on the ground a few feet from the car. She tried to make a run for it.
“Hook her to the back of my bike,” Fisher instructs Ripley, waving a dismissive hand toward my mother.
“No.” I shake my head vehemently. “Please don’t do that to her,” I beg, holding a hand out to him.
“Why are you so fucking loyal to that whore?” he asks, tugging up his brow. “She just tried to run to save herself.”
He marches over to her, grasping her under the arm and hoisting her to her feet. Wailing in pain from the bullet in the back of her leg, she attempts to hop as he drags her over to me. He pushes her in front of me and stands beside me. Ripley hands me a gun. “I don’t understand,” I say, hovering my hand near the offering.
“Take the gun,” Fisher orders, his own raising to my temple. “Don’t get brave and try anything stupid,” he warns me.
Lily eyes the gun, her hand twitching to take it. I palm the handle and drop my arm to my side. Fisher wags a finger. “Point it at your mother.” A little whisp of shock wheezes from my mother’s lips. “Do it,” he barks when I hesitate.
Lifting the gun, I point it at the woman who’s caused me nothing but heartache and misery. “Now, shoot her.” A choked sob comes from both of us. My mother shakes her head no. “Either way, she’s dying tonight. You get two options: death by being dragged behind my bike for sport or you can offer mercy with a bullet.”
“I can’t,” I mumble.
“Everything she’s put you through. You’re here because she’s a selfish druggy whore,” he sneers. “The road will burn her skin from the bone. It’s a slow, painful death.” He moves in closer to me, whispering, “Do it and I won’t let anyone fuck your tight little body but me.” The world spins. My muscles turn to stone.
“I want to fuck the little one,” Ripley groans, grabbing his junk while looking Lily up and down with a filthy smirk.
They break out into a chorus of laughter. Lily’s hand strokes down my arm. The world slows almost to a stop as her palm clasps over mine, her finger slipping into the trigger hole. Fast like a cat, she swings my arm around to Ripley, and my body jolts as the gun fires a bullet into his skull. It’s fast, loud, exhilarating, and terrifying all in the same breath. Shouting rings out around us, but I isolate Fisher’s gun cocking like it’s the only sound in the vast space around us. Before he can shoot, my mother pounces on him like a rabies-infested monkey, knocking him off kilter. Lily takes the gun from me, shooting at the other brother, hitting his shoulder. She stalks him before he can find purchase on his own weapon and puts two more rounds into him, killing him instantly. Idiot takes off running toward the factory as a few more brothers come running outside.
“Get in the car,” Lily screams at me as she dives into the SUV. Running around the trunk, I jump in the driver’s seat, thanking the heavens Idiot didn’t take the key out. Bullets tink against the metal as the brothers shoot at us. “Mom, come on,” I call through Lily’s open door. My voice cuts off when Fisher fires his gun and my mother’s body jerks before falling limp beside him.
“Go, Ruby!” Lily screams, slamming her door closed. Putting the car into reverse, I thump my foot on the gas, gaining distance as the brothers run toward the car, shooting at the glass. A roaring of a bike engine thunders through the air. Fisher’s silhouette mounting his bike and giving chase plays like a scene from a movie before my eyes. The exit road is narrow, but I manage to spin the steering wheel and swing the SUV around until the factory is in the rear view. Fisher’s bike lights beam through the back window as he gains on us.