Mason
“Don’t you dare die on me, don’t you dare fucking die on me, Mason Sharp!” soft hands ran over my body, which fuckinghurt.
“Why would I die on you?” I grunted the words, utterly bewildered. Then, as if the sound of my voice broke the spell, my memories came rushing back. The pain made sense, seeing as Daniel stabbed and slashed at me repeatedly while I was fighting him. But then he got the upper hand and…
I really looked at Claire this time, noticing her frantic energy and the blood coating her. I pushed myself up, groaning at the pressure on my injuries. I felt blood trickling down my chest from opening one wound worse.
“Are you okay?” I demanded as I reached out for her.
She wrapped her arms around me, “I’m fine, Mason,” while she sobbed against me.
“You’re covered in blood, and you’re crying.” I pushed her back, trying to get a look at her. There was an ugly cut on her neck, and it filled me with rage and worry.
“Only a little of it’s mine, and I’m crying because I’m worried aboutyou.” She looked away from my injured chest and stomach, and I followed her gaze to Daniel’s dead body lying next to me, “I killed him!” She stared at him, seeming dazed but not regretful. She was in shock, and we needed to get the fuck out of here before…
“My father,” I said aloud as I remembered what the woman screamed before all hell broke loose.
Her brown eyes filled with pity as Claire looked at me, “He’s been dead for a while, I think. But we can figure out what all that means later.”
“Yeah, you’re right. There’s plenty to worry about right now.” I leaned toward the dead man, quickly pulling his gun off him and checking his pockets. I took his phone and his wallet, sure that both would provide me with answers when I had time to seek them.
Bang! -a single gunshot went off, followed by a hail of bullets. I had commanded Vick and James to kill everyone and burn the place to the ground if we weren't successfully out in half an hour, and time was up.
“We have to get out of here right now,” I shouted above the noise.
“You’re hurt, Mason. We shouldn’t move you,” Claire leaned forward, trying to pull my shirt up and look at my wounds.
“We do not have time!” I insisted, pulling her hands off my chest.
“I called an ambulance,” Mila’s blonde hair was dirty and knotted, her cheeks a little sunken, and guilt twisted inside me like a knife. She really had been missing and here all along. She stood next to the landline she must have used to call nine-one-one.
I looked at both of them, the last of the fog from the pain and blood loss clearing my mind and making me realize it was past time to get these girls out of here.
“The ambulance will never get through what’s going on out there, nor will they try. The house is going to be on fire long before that. We need to go out the back and get help before they burn this place to the ground.”
“Why the fuck would they do that?” Claire shrieked.
“Because I told them to.” I looked between the women, including the one on the floor who was still unconscious. Mila walked over and reached out a hand, helping me to my feet. Claire stood, too, doing her best to shake off her panic. The few windows faced the side yard, and no entrances were nearby. Still, I yanked both of the girls behind a wall and out of the view of them. A moment later, a bullet shattered a window and embedded in the wall.
My gaze ran over the woman still lying unconscious on the floor. She was the one who led Claire here, and I couldn’t give a fuck about helping her. “Let’s go,” I let go of Mila’s hand but tugged Claire forward.
She pulled back, not letting me lead her out. “Mason, are you sure you can walk? You’re shaking.” I looked down at myself. There was a lot of blood on me. Impossible to tell what was mine and what was Daniel’s after how Claire killed him, but I couldn’t deny her words. I wasn’t exactly stable.
“CanIwalk? What about you, Claire? You're a mess.” I shot back. She looked even worse than I thought she did earlier, now that I had time to look at her without a knife to her throat. The large wound on her head flipped my stomach, and I'd seen a lot of gruesome shit.
She grimaced, not wanting to admit how legitimate a question it was, “I guess it doesn't matter.”
A crash came from the front door, presumably Victor and James trying to get inside, but I couldn’t be sure if it was them. I hadn't seen anyone else inside, and I wondered how many of those men knew my father was dead. How many of them were following Dan's orders without even knowing it?
“Come on, both of you. We can go out the back.” When they didn't immediately follow, I grabbed Mila's hand and tried again to pull them both out. My injuries weren't life-threatening, but they were enough that I nearly buckled beneath the effort. “There's a hidden entrance. We can get help after we get out of here. But we need to move now!”
Neither of them listened to or even looked at me but instead stared at the woman on the floor.
“How are we going to move her?” Mila shouted above the racket outside.
“I’m not moving her. She can die here for all I care,” I didn’t give a fuck about this woman. We needed to get out of here.
“No!” Mila shouted.