Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
KNOX
A ches and pains stiffen every muscle in my body. My head pounds like it has its own pulse. Pushing up to my feet, the world spins, threatening to knock me right off my feet again. I bend in half, resting my hands on my knees until the dizziness subsides.
What the hell is going on? Whitlock is supposed to be in jail, so how did he send this man after Raven? I believe Raven called him Waylon.
A terrified shout screeches over the annoying ring in my ears, but the shout is muted as if I’m hearing it underwater.
Slowly opening my eyes, I glance around and find Griffin stumbling to his feet. But instinctively, I know the cry wasn’t from him.
That’s when I notice Raven isn’t between us. Spinning in a circle, I find a man with salt and pepper hair dragging Raven away. Her shouts don’t travel far because his hand is over her mouth.
Wiping the dirt from my eyes, I get a clear picture of a battered Lewis Whitlock, hauling Raven away. She has a streak of blood on the side of her face from her hairline to her chin, and her face paint is half gone. She flails about wildly, scratching any part of Lewis she can reach.
My nostrils flare as my breathing becomes labored. “Griff! He’s got her!”
Griffin snaps to and barrels with me after them. We catch up in a few seconds. When Lewis spots us, he whips out a knife, holding the blade to the base of Raven’s throat. He removes his hand from Raven’s mouth and wraps his arm around her stomach, continuing to drag her with him.
“Back off!” Lewis warns us, digging the sharp edge further into Raven’s skin.
Griffin holds up his hands, showing Lewis they’re empty. “You don’t need to do this. You’ve escaped jail. You can go on the run and get far away from here. I’ll even give you the keys to my truck. You can take it.”
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything from you! You two ruined everything!”
I make my own attempt. “Lewis?—”
“I said, shut up!” he cuts me off, jolting as he yells. He inadvertently cuts into Raven’s skin, causing a drop of blood to roll down her throat.
Griffin keeps his hands up, inching toward them. “Just tell us what you want.”
“I want my life back!”
Raven scoffs, seemingly unafraid. “ Your life? What about my life? What about Seth, Alice, and Waylon’s lives? I’m sure they want their lives back!”
Lewis’s crazed eyes fix on Raven. “That wasn’t me. You know that wasn’t me. I thought you, of all people, my Blackbird, would know that.”
I grind my teeth while Griffin’s shoulders pull back. Raven’s expression becomes tight with strain, causing a mad smirk to turn up Lewis’s lips.
“What? Thought I didn’t know who you were? Your hair, your skin, your eyes—I would recognize them anywhere. My Raven. My Blackbird.” He turns his head, breathing in her scent and exhaling with a blissful sigh.
My icy stare bores into Lewis as my body shakes from a surge of fire that rushes through me.
Raven’s eyes fill with a scorching heat. “You’re disgusting.”
Maybe it’s a good thing Lewis escaped jail. Now I can kill him myself.
Lewis takes another step back. “You two can turn around and leave. I’m taking Raven with me. Payment for the daughter you took from me.”
“Daughter they took…” Raven’s eyes grow impossibly wide. “You’re Scarlett’s father?”
“Scarlett was my everything.” Lewis’s lips curl with disgust. “And they killed her.”
Raven laughs manically, and lines of stress crease my forehead.
“You’ve deemed other people medically insane, but you’re the one who’s crazy.
You really are a dumbass.” Raven clutches her stomach, doubling over as she continues laughing.
“The irony is just too funny.” She doesn’t flinch when Lewis’s knife makes a cut in her neck. She just keeps laughing and laughing.
“Shut up!” Lewis flips Raven around so she’s facing him. “I said, shut up!”
Raven stops and thrusts her head forward, her skull connecting with Lewis’s nose. A loud crunch precedes Lewis’s screams. He releases Raven as he howls, covering the middle of his face. Blood flows through the cracks in his fingers, running down his arms.
She’s a genius.
Raven escapes Lewis’s reach and runs right for us. I open my arms for her, ready to whisk her away as soon as she reaches me.
A figure with flowing bright yellow hair steps out from between two of the booths. With her arm raised in Lewis’s direction, she stalks toward him.
I’m seeing things because there’s no way that’s her.
Lewis, completely unaware of the woman’s approach, curses Raven. He spots her darting away and shouts for her to come back.
The woman interrupts Lewis’s fit, “Hey, Daddy!”
Lewis’s eyes blink dubiously. “Scarlett?”
“Your little girl’s home.” Her mouth quirks into a wicked sneer.
“You’re here.” Lewis’s expression shifts to pure happiness. “I’ve missed you.” He steps toward her, ignorant of the gun pointed at his chest.
Scarlett’s eyes blaze murderously. “I missed you, too.”
Raven slams into me as the barrel behind her flashes, a deafening bang sounding in the air. Smoke drifts from the barrel of Scarlett’s gun.
Lewis sinks to his knees, his hands covering the hole in his chest.
“Bye, Daddy,” Scarlett says with a satisfied smile when Lewis slumps the rest of the way to the ground. When Lewis’s last breath leaves his body, Scarlett’s glee changes into rage as she aims the gun at us. “Raven, dear, step away from my men.”