“The guard’s been shot!” Archer yelled down at us. “We’re in trouble!”
“Get in here, Evie!” Kingston bellowed and motioned for me.
“What the hell—”
My voice was cut off as headlights flared on and I heard the sound of fast wheels on the driveway, a squealing sound as a big, black SUV roared towards us in the night.
“Evie!” Kingston yelled as it skidded to a halt next to us. I turned and saw Kingston racing down the stairs, two at a time, towards me. As if in slow motion, he leaped the last few steps and flew to the paved driveway.
At the same moment, the SUV doors opened, and again, as if in slow motion, two men jumped out with their automatic rifles drawn.
Valen stood in front of me as another SUV skidded to a halt and six men dressed in identical black uniforms spilled out and began shooting.
Valen jumped towards me, his arms opened, and I screamed at him to duck as one of the armed men raised the butt of his weapon and slammed it into the back of Valen’s head. I lashed out and tried to push the man away, but I just caught the edge of his rifle and knocked him two steps back. Valen went down to his knees, his eyes glazing as the blow to his head sent him into darkness.
Kingston roared at me to get down, but I was too angry and filled with fire to stop at that point. I was too enraged to back down anymore. I wasn’t going to lay down and let the Kings save me anymore.
But I didn’t have a gun this time, and I didn’t know how to fight. I would do what I could, though, because I knew this was life or death. These men were from the Organization and their intentions were to capture me or kill me, and I wouldn’t let either thing happen if I could help it.
I swung again and kicked as another man tried to grab my arms. Archer and Kingston were near me by then, fighting as I struggled to stay free. Valen had fallen down and I saw a trickle of blood oozing from a gash on the back of his head.
It was no use, however, there was nothing we could do against their force. We were unarmed and ill prepared to go up against militants with automatic weapons.No matter how hard we fought, we were outnumbered.
Mark even tried, he reached out to grab a gun and was shoved hard against the steps, falling backwards as the man kicked him in the ribs.
Before I could react again, somebody grabbed me by the hair and slammed my face downwards directly into a knee. Pain exploded in my face as blood flooded my vision. I screamed, in rage and fear, and kicked harder but another set of hands grabbed hold of my ankles and held my feet together.
I was lifted by the first man and my hands were bound again with zip ties, like Max had used the other night when I’d been dragged from the mansion.
I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end the same way for me, I wasn’t going home.
Around me, my Kings fought and struggled to save me, but there was no point. Valen had gotten back up to his hands and knees but was dazed, Mark was lying motionless across the steps, Archer was swinging his fists madly, and Kingston was beating the shit out of at least one of them. There were two trained professionals for each of my Kings and I realized they were fighting not just for my life, but for their own.
The man holding me jerked up upwards roughly and said, “Stop kicking, Tribute, or I’ll break your fucking arm.”
The way he yanked me around, I believed him. It didn’t work, though, I screamed and tried to bite his arm.
They dragged me to the first SUV and the rear door opened from the inside. They threw me in and tried to close it behind me.
I flipped around and braced it with my feet, preventing them from slamming it shut. “Help me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, and it had an immediate effect on my Kings. All three of them turned their heads and saw my desperate attempts to escape.
Archer ran towards me, and Valen stood on shaky feet, but the trained guards tackled them both, bringing them to the ground. Kingston dodged them like the football hero he was, and ran around them, heading straight at the SUV.
“Kingston!” I cried out as he was free from the men and rushing to save me. To rescue me from the fate that awaited me at the hands of the Organization.
A hand reached out from the back of the SUV and snaked around my mouth, pulling me back down and clamping tight enough to block my screams.
Kingston ran, and as I was pulled back even farther, I heard the crack-crack sound of bullets firing, one after the other.
One of them hit the SUV, glancing off the door above me and echoing a pinging sound into my ears. Others flew over Kingston’s head, whizzing through the air and past the SUV, but as I was pulled into the car and one of the guards shoved the door so hard that my legs crumpled, I saw one of the bullets hit its mark.
A sliver of the outside remained in my view, and it was getting smaller as the door closed slowly while I fought against the guard and lost.
In that sliver of view, in that small space of time, one of the shots hit Kingston Taylor in the back. My first love, my savior, my friend, neighbor, first lover, and the leader of our Kings.
I screamed against the stale sweat stench of the hand on my mouth and my legs collapsed at last as the door slammed shut. But not before I saw a bright spray of blood explode out the front of Kingston’s grey Covington Kings hoodie, and not before my eyes locked on his as they filled with shock, pain, and failure.
For even as Kingston was fighting for his life, he was cursing himself for letting me go.