CHAPTER 17

THEY HURT YOU... AND I WILL BURN THE WHOLE WORLD DOWN

The hallway stretched ahead like a dark throat, echoing with distant shouts and pounding boots. Luke’s grip on Abigail’s wrist was iron so hard that it hurt her fragile and already weak hands pulling her through the chaos with relentless speed. Her heels skidded on the slick floor, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

“Don’t stop,” Luke barked, glancing over his shoulder.

She didn’t dare. The sharp stench of gunpowder filled the air, burning her nose, mixing with the coppery tang of blood. Her pulse roared in her ears, drowning out everything but the thunder of her own heartbeat.

They turned a corner and froze.

Two men stood at the far end of the hall, guns raised.

Abigail’s scream caught in her throat as Luke shoved her hard to the ground and fired. The muzzle flashes split the darkness like lightning. One man dropped instantly. The second managed a shot, the bullet screaming past Luke’s head, before Luke’s next round went smoothly through his chest.

“Move!” Luke snarled, dragging her up before the bodies even hit the floor.

They ran. Doors blurred past on either side. The pounding of footsteps behind them grew louder, closer. Abigail’s lungs burned, her legs felt like they’d snap, but terror drove her forward all she knew is no matter how much she must have suffered in her entire life this was the worst,she never thought she would go through this in her life

A gunshot exploded behind them. Another. The sound boomed off the walls like cannon fire.

“Luke!” she cried as a bullet sparked against the wall near her head.

“Down!” He yanked her into a hard dive just as another shot rang out. They hit the floor, and Luke rolled, spinning toward the shooter. Two shots. Clean. Deadly. Silence.

“Up,” he ordered, hauling her to her feet again. “Garage is ahead. Stay with me.”

Abigail’s entire body trembled, her heart hammering like it wanted out of her chest. She could barely form words. “How….how many all she needed at the moment was to be told that this was over she wished it was just a dream.

“Don’t think,” Luke cut in, his voice like steel. “Just move.”

They burst through a heavy service door and into the underground garage. The storm outside howled through the wide ramp, rain sweeping in sheets across the concrete floor. Emergency lights pulsed red, throwing everything into a nightmarish glow.

“Car’s there,” Luke said, pointing to a black SUV parked at the far end. He kept his gun raised, his body shielding hers as they sprinted across the slick floor.

Then a shadow lunged out from behind a pillar. A man massive, fast slammed into Luke like a wrecking ball. The gun skidded across the floor, spinning into darkness.

“Luke!” Abigail screamed.

The two men hit the ground hard, locked in a brutal struggle. Fists flew. A blade flashed in the attacker’s hand, glinting in the strobing light. Luke caught his wrist, muscles straining as he fought to keep the knife from plunging into his chest.

Abigail’s blood turned to ice. Her eyes darted wildly. It was her rage and survival instinct creeping in now then landed on the crowbar.

Luke had shoved into her hands earlier. It was lying near her feet, slick and heavy.

She didn’t think. She just moved.

With a cry that barely sounded human, Abigail swung the crowbar with all her strength. It connected with a sickening crack against the man’s skull. He grunted, staggered and Luke seized the opportunity. His elbow crashed into the man’s throat, then his knee drove up hard. The attacker collapsed, choking, then went still.

Abigail stood frozen, chest heaving, the crowbar trembling in her grip,then she hastily dropped it to the floor Her entire body shook so violently she thought she might drop it.

Luke rose slowly, his breath ragged, a thin line of blood trailing from his temple. He looked at her really looked and for a moment, something raw flashed in his eyes.

“You okay?” His voice was rough, deeper than usual.

She nodded, but her throat was too tight to speak already dried up of any saliva

Luke grabbed his gun, checked the garage, then turned back to her. “We’re leaving now,”opening the passenger side of the car he made Abigail go in while he walked over to the driver's side starting the engine.

The SUV roared to life, tires squealing against wet concrete as Luke gunned it up the ramp and into the storm. Rain battered the windshield, wipers thrashing wildly as lightning ripped the sky apart.

Abigail sat rigid in the passenger seat, clutching the seatbelt like it was the only thing holding her together. Her mind replayed the last ten minutes on a loop blood, screams, the sound of bones cracking under steel. Her hands were still shaking, sticky with sweat and God knows what else.

For a long time, the only sound was the engine and the storm’s fury.

Finally, Abigail’s voice broke the silence. “Luke… why are they doing this? Why me?”

His jaw tightened. His hands gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles were white. “They want leverage.”

Her pulse skipped. “Against you?”

“Yes.” His voice was flat, lethal. “They think you’re my weakness.”

She turned her head slowly, her throat dry. “And… are they right?”

His eyes flicked to her, dark and unreadable, before snapping back to the road. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” she whispered.

Lightning slashed across the sky, illuminating his profile hard, beautiful, and terrifying all at once. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, rougher, like it cost him something to say the words.

“They hurt you…” His jaw clenched. “And I burn the world down. That’s all they need to know.”

Abigail’s breath caught. Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard it hurt. She stared at him in silence, because what could she say to that?she couldn't even think straight to think of what he said

The storm swallowed them whole as the SUV tore through the night, carrying them toward a house that felt less like safety and more like another battlefield.

But for now, they were alive. And for now… that was enough.