72. Blaze
BLAZE
The upstairs light glowed through the storm.
Every instinct inside me screamed.
Not fear.
Danger.
Wrong.
“Shepherd,” I said quietly.
Wolf was already moving.
“Trigger—inside!”
The entire porch exploded into motion.
Trigger hit the front door first, shoving inside with his rifle raised.
The sheriff and his deputies followed fast.
I grabbed Flick’s hand and pulled her tight against my side as we moved.
“Stay with me.”
“I am,” she breathed instantly.
Rainwater dripped off both of us onto the old hardwood floors as we entered the house.
The downstairs sat dark except for the kitchen light glowing faintly in the distance.
Too quiet.
Way too quiet.
Wolf swept the living room fast.
“Clear.”
Trigger checked the dining room.
“Clear.”
Another crash of thunder rattled the windows.
Then—
BOOM.
Glass shattered upstairs.
Flick jumped hard against me.
“Bedroom!” Trigger barked.
I took the stairs two at a time.
Adrenaline hammered through me so violently my vision narrowed.
Somebody was in her father’s house.
Closer to Flick.
Near her things.
Not happening.
Not tonight.
I hit the top landing just as another loud crash echoed from the bedroom.
Wolf came up beside me.
“You take left.”
I shoved the door open hard.
The room was chaos.
Rain blew through shattered windows.
Curtains whipped violently in the storm.
The lamp beside the bed had been knocked over.
Drawers yanked open.
The mattress slashed apart.
And standing near the far wall?—
one of the Hollow Men.
Black mask.
Knife in hand.
He lunged instantly.
I met him halfway.
The collision drove both of us into the dresser hard enough wood cracked beneath us.
He swung the knife fast.
I caught his wrist.
Twisted.
Bones snapped loudly.
The man screamed.
Good.
I slammed him face-first into the wall.
Again.
Again.
Again.
“WHERE IS SHEPHERD?”
The Hollow Man spit blood onto the floor and laughed.
Actually laughed.
“You already lost.”
Rage exploded through me.
I drove him backward?—
then Wolf suddenly shouted?—
“BLAZE DOWN!”
Gunfire erupted.
The window behind us shattered completely as bullets ripped through the room from outside.
Sniper.
Everybody dropped instantly.
I grabbed Flick and dragged her behind the bed as glass sprayed everywhere.
The sheriff returned fire from the hallway window.
Trigger rolled beside the doorway already shooting back into the storm.
“Tree line!” he shouted.
“I got him!” Wolf fired twice through the broken window.
One dark figure outside stumbled backward off the fence line and disappeared into the rain.
The Hollow Man used the distraction to grab for another weapon.
Big mistake.
I hit him hard enough that his head snapped sideways.
Then Trigger slammed him to the floor and cuffed him brutally.
“Move again,” Trigger snarled, “and I’ll help Blaze bury you.”
The man grinned through bloody teeth anyway.
Crazy.
Every single one of them was crazy.
Then suddenly?—
three sharp whistles echoed outside.
Wolf froze near the shattered window.
“What the hell is that?”
The Hollow Man on the floor smiled wider.
“Shepherd’s retreat call.”
And just like that?—
the gunfire outside stopped.
Completely.
The storm became the loudest thing on the ranch again.
Rain.
Thunder.
Heavy breathing.
Nobody moved for a second.
Then Sheriff Tate’s radio crackled downstairs.
“Perimeter team reporting movement leaving north tree line.”
Wolf exhaled slowly.
“They’re pulling out.”
Trigger looked disgusted by it.
“Cowards.”
“No,” I said quietly.
Everybody looked at me.
I stared out into the black storm where Shepherd had vanished.
“That wasn’t a retreat.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
“It was a warning.”
Silence settled heavily across the destroyed bedroom.
Then Flick’s fingers slid into mine.
Small.
Cold.
Shaking.
I looked down at her.
Her wet hair clung to her cheeks.
Fear still lingered in her eyes?—
but something else was there too.
Trust.
God help me…
that hit harder than the bullets.
I lifted my hand slowly and brushed rainwater from her face.
“You okay?”
She nodded once.
Then whispered?—
“You came for me.”
Every wall inside me cracked at once.
“Flick,” I said roughly, “I’ll always come for you.”
Her eyes filled instantly.
And right there in the middle of the wrecked bedroom…
with rain pouring through shattered glass…
she threw herself into my arms.
I held her so tightly I thought my chest might split open.
Behind us, Wolf quietly muttered?—
“Finally.”
Trigger smirked.
“About damn time.”