Page 79 of His Son's Brid
Making sure he stays down.
Then he turns to me, chest heaving, blood spattered across his white shirt and face. Some of it his from the scratches. Most of it is not.
"Are you hurt?" His hands are on me immediately, running over my arms, my shoulders, checking for wounds with fingers that are somehow still steady despite what he just did. "Did he hurt you?"
I can't speak. Can't do anything except stare at the dead man on the floor, at the blood, at Axel's hands that just killed someone with nothing but raw strength.
He killed him. Killed him with his bare hands and then shot him twice to make sure, and he didn't even hesitate—
"Aurora. AURORA." Axel's gripping my shoulders now, shaking me gently. His voice cuts through the shock. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no." The word comes out strangled.
"Good. That's good." He cups my face, forcing me to look at him instead of the body. "We're moving. Right now. Can you run?"
I nod because I don't trust my voice.
He takes my hand again and pulls me forward. I'm stumbling, my legs like water, barely holding my weight. But he's got me.His grip is unbreakable, and he's not letting me fall. Won't let me stop. Just keeps pulling me down the hallway, away from the bodies, away from the blood.
We reach a section of wall that looks like everything else: expensive wallpaper, ornate molding. Nothing special. But Axel's hand goes to a specific panel and presses something I can't see.
A door I've never noticed before swings inward.
Hidden panel. Secret entrance. Of course, this house has them.
Axel punches in a code on a keypad just inside, his fingers steady despite the blood coating them, and shoves the door open wider.
"Inside. Now."
I don't argue. Can't argue. Just stumble through the doorway into a room I didn't know existed.
It's small. Reinforced. Concrete walls at least a foot thick. Steel door. No windows. No way in except the way we came.
A safe room.
Axel pushes me all the way in, follows right behind me, and slams the door. Heavy locks engage automatically. I hear them sliding into place one after another, thick bolts of metal sealing us inside. The sound is final. Absolute.
Then, sudden silence.
The quiet is so complete after all the gunfire and screaming that my ears ring with it. Or maybe they're just ringing from the shots. I can't tell anymore.
"Hey." Axel's in front of me. "Hey, look at me."
I can't. Can't look at anything except the blood on his shirt, his hands, and all I see is Mom's blood, spreading across the white carpet, so much blood, too much…
"I can't, I can't breathe—"
"Aurora…"
"She was right there. Right there and I couldn't—couldn't help." I'm gasping. Choking on air that won't come. "So much blood. Why was there so much blood?"
"You're having a panic attack." His hands are on my face, steady and warm. "Aurora, you need to breathe. In through your nose. Come on, baby. Breathe with me."
Baby.
The endearment cuts through the panic for just a second.
I try to breathe. It's ragged, too fast, but it's something.
