by Jadyn Chase
No! I had to get back to Daddy. I had to keep him safe and warm and alive. I could give up on myself but not on him. I forced the button into the last screw. Just a little further and I could start picking that sealant out.
The last screw wobbled in its hole and plunk! It and the strap fell into the mud. I dropped my jeans right there, snatched the metal, and raced to the window. I stabbed the sharp point into the sealant and sliced.
The angels answered all my prayers when the blade carved out a smooth noodle of sealant. It came out effortlessly in large rubbery bands. In a few minutes, I unsealed the window and took hold of the latch.
Easy does it, Amy. Easy now. Don’t make any noise. I jiggled the latch. Rust locked it in place, but with a little muscle and a few bad words, it came free. The casement swung back, and the delicious breath of the woods wafted into my nose. Freedom! It caressed my skin and beckoned me back to life.
I charged back to the stairs. Please, God, let there be another stump of wood there, or better yet, two. I dove underneath and floundered in the muck until I found it—them! There were two! Hallelujah!
I fought down sobs of joy, wrestling them to the window. I stacked them one on top of the other and balanced on top. Praise the saints! My chest and head came up higher than the window. I opened the casement to angled my torso through.
At that moment, a head darted in front of my eyes right outside the window. It materialized out of nowhere and frightened me out of my wits. Dean! I lunged back to get away and my tower of wood toppled. I pitched over backward and splatted into the mud, flat on my ass.
I scrambled away from the window, skidding in wetness. I stared in blank dread at the window. Once my avenue of escape and my one hope at redemption, now it filled me with alarm and dismay.
A hand pulled the casement back and that head protruded through. The dusk beyond framed a pale face with straight light hair hanging over a set of sparkling black eyes. A familiar voice hissed into the gloom. “Amy! Is that you?”
I gulped hard to get my voice working. “Liam! What are you doing here?”
9
Liam
I peered into the dingy basement and blinked. “Amy! Where are your pants?”
She jumped to her feet and snatched her jeans off the floor. She used them to cover herself for a second. Then she whirled around and went into a frenzy getting them on. She showed me her majestic ass clothed in dainty white panties. At least, they would have been white if she hadn’t been playing mudcakes a few minutes ago.
“What are you doing here, Liam?” she snapped. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“And you should be? I came out here to rescue you. The Lynches are going to kill you, but I suppose you already knew that.”
“And now they’re going to kill you, too.” She turned around fully dressed in her muddy jeans. “Dean will be back any second. We have to get out of here now.”
“I’ll say. I saw a light on upstairs. How many of them are there?”
“Only five that I know of,” she replied, “but none of them will support Dean. It’s us against him.”
I blinked down at her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I heard them arguing about it. None of them goes along with his plan. When he comes to kill us, he’ll be alone. We can take him.”
I couldn’t help but grin. Take Dean Lynch! Listen to the girl! “All right. Come on.”
I extended my hand to her. She climbed up on her makeshift tower and took hold of my hand. Man, that grasp felt good! I had her. All the rest would take care of itself.
I pulled and she climbed into the clean air. The light drained out of the woods faster with every passing minute. I kept casting sidelong glances around the house, but I didn’t see anybody. All the guards would be inside—if there were any guards.
I couldn’t believe my good luck. What Lynches in their right minds leave a stronghold like this unguarded? You would never see the Kellys making a mistake like that, especially not with a hostage in the basement.
Amy landed in a crouch next to me. She scanned the area with bated breath. She acted nothing like the reserved family girl I met at her house. Every nerve tensed ready for anything.
Just then, a rustle made us both whip around at the same moment. We hunkered low and stared into the grey dusk watching Dean saunter across the yard. He walked from a large shed toward the house. He clomped up the back steps and into the kitchen. The door rattled when he shut it.
Amy whirled around to whisper in my face. “We have to get out of here! He’ll go downstairs to look for me in a second and he’ll find me gone. Come on.”
She took hold of my arm and turned me away from the house. Before I knew it, we bolted into the woods. I raced at her side with my heart in my mouth. I never dreamt that getting her out would be so easy. Then again, she did most of the work herself and we weren’t clear yet.
We ran for ten minutes before Amy slowed down. She walked a short way rasping for air before she doubled over and rested her hands on her knees. “Hold up. Give me a minute.”
I strained my ears behind us to listen. Where was Dean? I expected him to come after us before now. The longer he took to catch up, the more apprehensive I became. I would rather engage him in an all-out fight than wait around like this.
Amy straightened up and looked back. “What do you think? Can you hear anything?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to believe it’s only him. If you’re wrong…..”
“I can only tell you what I heard. They said they wouldn’t help him get rid of me. They said he came up with this plan alone, so he had to clean it up alone. That’s all I know.”
I tried to get my shoulders to relax, but it didn’t work out too well. My senses prickled. Something didn’t sit right about this. Why couldn’t Dean just show himself?
Part of me wanted to go back and see what was going on, but that was impossible. I turned away. “Come on. We’ve got a long way to go.”
She fell in at my side. “Where are we going?”
“I parked the Jeep down at the bottom of the hill. Once we get to that, we can get out of here.”
She picked up the pace. “I have to get home. I have to get back to Daddy.”
I glanced over at her. She didn’t know. She was worried about her father. Of course she was. She didn’t know he was safe and sound on Smokey Ridge. Ma and Irma were probably fussing over him as he’d never been fussed over before.
I opened my mouth to say something when an almighty blast of scorching heat punched me in the back. I pitched over and slammed down on my face. Amy screamed and whirled around when another devastating jet of flame streaked past her nose. She stumbled out of the way just in time and the flame danced over my body.
Blistering fire vaporized my shirt off my back. For a fraction of a second, my skin crinkled in the inferno. The woofs of fire sucked the air out of my lungs and my vision swam.
The next instant, instinct took over. My skin hardened against the barrage and my scales erupted all over me. The hotter the fire became, the more my intellectual brain submerged beneath the surface. Hard, cold fury took its place and the dragon broke forth.
I blasted off the ground screeching to the skies. I sailed around to confront Dean stalking through the woods toward me. The towering red dragon bent his head close to the ground and narrowed his eyes at me and Amy.
She staggered backward until she ran into a tree. She gaped up at Dean and me. The color drained out of her cheeks and her mouth fell open in a wordless scream.
Dean rumbled low in his chest, but I wasn’t taking any of that crap. He cracked his jaws and shot another catastrophic plume of flame at me, but it was too late. It glanced off my scales and the leaves above my head caught fire.
I didn’t wait around for another invitation. I launched at him shrieking out my answering challenge. He vaulted off the ground and his wings pounded the air spreading from his shoulders. He rocketed at me just as fast and we clashed together i
n an Earth-shattering concussion to maim and destroy.
In seconds, we coiled around each other slashing and scratching and screeching. Neither of us could do much with fire alone. This came down to muscle and sheer, raw will to dominate.
I didn’t hesitate. I lashed my tail around his back and wrapped up his wings so he couldn’t fly. My weight dragged us both down to the ground, but at least the odds were even there.
He tried to use his greater size to his advantage. My brain churned to get ahead him. I couldn’t defeat him with strength alone. I had to outsmart him. These Lynches never earned any fame for their intelligence. They relied on brawn and cruelty to win.
Without his wings, Dean started to flounder and I saw my chance. He darted his head at me time and again trying to slash my throat and punch his snout into me. For a few terrible seconds, I cringed to escape the blows.
Then I hit on a plan. I pretended to cower under the rain of attacks. I turned my head under to tuck in my chin. I retracted my neck and he redoubled his efforts. He drummed his strikes on my skull, but he couldn’t make a dent. My head deflected his blows.
While he did his best to pummel me into submission, I snaked under his chin and lunged upward. I caught him under the jaw and let my eye tooth scratch the vulnerable skin at the top of his neck.
Hardened scales cover the long length of a dragon’s neck to protect his throat from a deadly assault, but the mandible’s underside remains soft and pliable. A dragon wouldn’t be able to move his jaw if it wasn’t. This makes it the perfect place to do some damage.
My tooth cut into Dean’s flesh and his blood spattered my face. He roared and plunged away before I nicked any of the great vessels forcing him to retreat. He did his best to get away from me. When he heaved his weight off me, I yanked my tail against his wings.
My tail wrenched his wings in their sockets and he flailed over onto his belly. I pounced on top of him and caught his flapping wings in my claws.
Dean bellowed to High Heaven, but before he could recover, I shredded his wings to ribbons with my talons. I left them in tatters. He would never fly again. He flexed his shoulders, but his wings wouldn’t catch the air. The torn remnant dripped blood all over his back. He got to his feet, stumbled, and landed hard on his chest.
Now was my chance to put an end to this. I cracked my tail around and lashed my coils around his neck. One well-timed yank and I would snap his neck. That would put him down so he never bothered anyone ever again.
I drove his body into the ground to pin him in position, but when I unleashed my muscle on him, he anticipated me. He tumbled with the force of my pull and rolled sideways under me.
In a fraction of a second, he turned the tables on me. He rotated onto his back and all four talons took hold of me at once. He lunged up to attack, and now his greater strength and weight paid dividends.
Before I knew what hit me, I found myself in a desperate battle against claws and teeth and monstrous power. He darted his head upward and smashed into my chin. Stars burst in my eyes. For one dizzying second, I saw black.
The next instant, he looped his long neck around mine and pulled me down on top of him. He didn’t try to get off the ground. He didn’t have to. He could inflict more harm where he was, and without his wings, standing up didn’t offer any advantage.
He hugged me tight to his chest and shredded his claws along my underside. He kicked his nails down my sides and hooked the fragile skin under my arms. Pain screeched through me, but I couldn’t get away.
All the time, he pounded his tail into my back and flanks. The spikes stabbed my skin but didn’t break it. He shattered bone with every assault. I struggled to retaliate, but he got me on the ropes.
All at once, he gave a mighty jerk and slammed me onto my back. He dove on top of me and my life flashed before my eyes. I didn’t have time to regret anything before his wicked head flashed down at me quicker than lightning.
His eyes gleamed with murderous hate. The setting sun caught his glistening fangs. The next thing I knew, the wind whistled over his scales on a collision course with my face. If he struck me like that again, I would pass out. I wouldn’t be able to fight him. The battle would be over and nothing would stop him from killing Amy the way he planned. Amy. I had to get up for her sake. I couldn’t let him defeat me.
I couldn’t move fast enough to get away from him, though. His head rushed at me with the speed and power of a locomotive ready to crash. I couldn’t even brace for impact before he snuffed out my life forever.
Part of me gave up right there. I never really stood a chance against Dean Lynch. I knew that coming into this. I hoped I could find Amy and get her out without getting caught. I hoped I could avoid a fight with anyone from Clan Lynch. I took the risk, but I always knew the odds stood against me.
Now I would reap the rewards for my miscalculation. Amy would pay the price for my mistake, too. That really galled me.
The howl of his scaled head screaming at me blocked out all other sound. My attention focused to a pinpoint watching my fate descend on me.
At that moment, something exploded out of nowhere. It flew into my line of sight. I couldn’t comprehend what happened. It clipped Dean under the chin and knocked him back. His neck looped to compensate for the force of the blow. His head whipped aside just as fast as it came down on me.
I blinked, but I couldn’t get myself to understand what just happened. Dean bellowed to the skies. He reared back on his hind legs. His shredded wings spread behind his back and made him look even more terrible.
He arched his neck to glare down, and two legs slotted over me. I found myself looking up at Amy’s back. She brandished a large, crooked tree branch gripped in both hands and she aimed it at Dean. She planted her feet on either side of my fallen frame and faced him down.
10
Amy
My knees turned to water when that grotesque red monster towered over me, but I couldn’t surrender now. He tried to kill Liam. That simple fact kept intruding on my thoughts. It stopped me from running away even when my instincts screamed to flee.
This monster tried to kill Liam, and he tried to kill me. Dean Lynch held a gun to my father’s head, and he strangled me in the alley in town. All the times I feared him and hated him and wished I could get rid of him—they all came together in a hard, immovable rock that would never yield to him again.
He snarled and hissed in my face, but I stood my ground. I would never back down for him again. If he killed Liam and me right here and now, it would be too soon as long as I didn’t have to put up with his shit a second longer.
I didn’t want to live in a world where I had to worry about him. I didn’t want to look out my window and wonder if he was parked in the driveway just out of sight. I didn’t want to check over my shoulder and dread the day he jumped out at me again. This was all going to stop here. It would stop with me. If I had to die to make that happen, so be it.
I felt bad for Daddy, but he was never going to last that much longer anyway. Someone would take care of him, and he didn’t want to live like this anymore, either. I understood that. He hated being a burden on me. He wanted me to leave him in a home somewhere and go off to live my own life. He never said so, but I saw it in his eyes when he looked at me and when I helped bathe him and take him to the bathroom. He hated being helpless.
No more. Neither of us would be helpless ever again. Starting today, I would take charge of my own life. No demon would ever haunt me again, not even a thirty-foot dragon with burning red scales and fire for breath.
Dean lowered his head to within an inch of my stick. He growled low in his chest and sulfur plumed from his nostrils, but I only locked my teeth and snarled back at him. He could do his worst. He would get a taste of a sharp stick in his eye before he destroyed me.
Without warning, he retracted his neck. He pulled his head a few feet back and then rocketed forward to the attack. He came at me faster than I could think. He gaped his disgusting jaws. I cring
ed ready for the blast of fire, but it never came. He roared within a fraction of an inch of my eyes.
In spite of myself, I staggered back a step before I got my stick into position. Dean followed up his advantage. He plunged forward again and again, and this time, he dodged around the branch and nudged me with his nose.
He prodded me in the chest and stomach. He bumped me backward one step at a time until I left Liam lying where he was. I recognized what Dean was trying to do. I tried to advance, but Dean’s enormous head blocked my way. When I tried to jab him with my makeshift weapon, he either weaved around it or let the tip poke him in the snout.
It made no difference. The wood didn’t penetrate his scales. More than once, my feeble efforts to hurt him only resulted in the stick snapping off and shortening.
He took another step and his nose thrust me in the sternum one more time—hard enough to make me stagger to catch my balance. He increased his strikes. Faster they came until I couldn’t maintain my position.
In my final act of despair, I rushed him. I aimed my branch at his eye, but he saw me coming a mile away. He swiveled his head at the last second. My stick slotted between two of his scales next to his eye. The bony plates caught the wood and splintered it to match sticks.
Dean narrowed his eyes and stomped toward me. He swept his head low, caught me on the tip of his nose, and lifted me backward. He forced me to retreat before him with the pathetic fragment of wood still clutched in my fingers.
How long could I keep this up? I looked around, but I didn’t see Liam anywhere. He must have passed out on the ground where Dean left him.
Just then, Dean left off his driving advance. He arched up and sat back on his hind limbs. He studied me from on high and flared his nostrils, ready to incinerate me with one puff.
I had to get out of here. I couldn’t die here. I spun around—and stopped dead in my tracks. A vertical cliff dropped away at my feet. A wide valley a thousand miles long stretched to the farthest horizon. I couldn’t go another step. Now I had nowhere left to run.