Page 82 of Like You Know
“Shesavedme,” Calvin said, squaring his shoulders. “We are each other’s salvation. You’ll never understand what that’s like—to have someone who truly understands you and accepts you for all your flaws. I pity you, Mother.”
For a beat Raine just stood there, staring at her son, that vein in her forehead pulsing faster. I wanted to scream at him to stop antagonizing the homicidal megalomaniac, but the multiple guns pointed at me kept me silent.
Raine cleared her throat and completely ignored what Cal had just said. “As I was saying, I was willing to indulge you and let you keep her. But I’ve changed my mind, and now she, and that brat of hers, will have to die.”
As if Raine had dropped a grenade into the little cabin in the woods, everything erupted into chaos.
My mom screamed and, with strength I didn’t think her beaten body possessed, shoved me to the side to put herself in front of me. I stumbled but managed to stay on my feet.
Calvin dropped to his knees, clutching his mother’s pants as he pleaded for her not to literally kill us.
Mom was yelling, threatening the people with guns, cursing out Raine.
Raine’s lackeys got jittery and started barking instructions too. They glanced to Raine for guidance while closing in on us.
All logic fled my mind, and I went into pure fight or flight.
I swung the poker at the shoulder of the man closest to us, and it connected with a sickening crunch. He bellowed in pain and dropped his gun to the ground.
The others all sprang into action, diving for us.
I was shoved again. This time I fell to the ground with the wind knocked out of me. Someone kicked me in the ribs, and the pain was so intense I saw stars.
My vision returned just in time to see two of the lackeys smacking my mom down onto the couch. The man was shouting something while the woman punched her over and over and over.
A gun went off, the sound so loud it cut through the chaos already filling the small space.
Everyone crouched and looked around for where the shot had come from, but I didn’t bother. I just stared at my mom’s limp body.
“Mom,” I wailed as everything started to go blurry. “Please ...”
She wasn’t moving, her face a bloody, pulpy mess.
From my position, I couldn’t see if her chest was rising and falling. Every time I tried to drag myself closer, my vision would waver from the pain in my stomach and ribs, and I’d collapse back to the hard ground.
More gunshots went off. Boots pounded on the wooden floors. More shouting and violence.
It wasn’t until Jet’s face appeared in front of mine that I realized I’d been screaming hysterically.
I stopped screaming, but my overloaded mind still struggled to make sense of anything. Jet’s mouth was moving, his hand stroking my head gently, but I had no idea what he was saying.
I used his steady gaze to ground myself. I focused on his dark eyes, then his lips, as everything around me started to register.
Cops swarmed everywhere. Raine’s goons were either being handcuffed or prone on the ground—dead or knocked out? I didn’t really care.
There was no sign of Raine or Calvin.
Mom.
So many people stood crowded inside the small cabin now. I couldn’t see her between all their bodies.
“Hey, hey. Focus on me.” Jet’s gentle hands guided my face closer to his, and he locked his gaze to mine. “Eyes on me, princess. Just listen to my voice. We’re gonna get you out of here.”
“Mom ...,” I croaked. I tried to look again, but he forced me to keep still.
“I know. There are ambulances coming. There are people with her. I need you to focus on you right now, OK?” He nodded slowly, and I found myself nodding along with him. “Can you tell me where it hurts? Did you get shot?”
I shook my head. “No. I ... I don’t think so.” Panic welled once again, and tears started pouring down my face. “Fuck. Jet, did I get shot? Am I OK?”