The General smiled, cold and satisfied, the flames reflecting in his eyes. “Look who showed up after all.” He paused to take a breath. “I guess I should… have known that fate would have you interfere one more time.” Another pause. Another breath. “Like most women, she’s a selfish bitch. Oh well, we’ll just call it a twofer.”
Every instinct screamed at him to charge. The heat pressed against his skin, sweat dripping down his back. “Your fight is with me, not her. Let her go.”
The General laughed, the sound ugly and unhinged, echoing over the crackle of the fire. “You think you can bargain with me? You ruined everything. My power. My future. My plans to run this town and become governor. You took it all from me. Now I’m taking it all from you.”
Tazzy shook her head fiercely, tears pouring down her cheeks. She rocked the chair as hard as she could until the wood creaked under her. She kicked her bottom legs against the rope, which appeared to be loosening.
The General raised the gun, aiming at Jaxon’s chest.
Tazzy bucked the chair with everything she had left. The ropes around her calves finally fell away. She rose to her feet and swung the back legs of the chair toward the General.
The chair leg caught him hard below his knees just as he pulled the trigger, causing the shot to go wide. The shot shattered a window instead of hitting Jaxon. Sharp shards exploded outward in a shower of broken glass.
The General stumbled, cursing viciously. He kicked the chair, sending Tazzy to the floor with a heavy, sickening thud that echoed through Jaxon’s bones. The flames were now crawling dangerously close to Tazzy. Jaxon had only seconds to act, or a wall of flames would crush her.
He was about to charge the General, gun or not, when the room erupted.
Reid, Law, Gage, Ravage, and Brick burst through the burning doorway like avenging angels, boots pounding on the floor, faces grim and determined through the smoke. They took in the scene in a heartbeat — Tazzy on the floor tied to the chair, the General with the gun, the dead driver lying in his own blood.
The General moved fast. He grabbed Tazzy by the hair, yanked her upright, still tied to the chair, and pressed the cold metal of the gun to her temple.
“Everyone out except Jaxon!” he snarled, voice rising with panic and fury. “Or I blow her brains out right here!”
Gage and Ravage grabbed the driver’s body and dragged him toward the door. The man moaned weakly. He was still alive, barely.
“Get her out of here!” Jaxon yelled at Reid, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
Reid moved toward Tazzy, but the General tightened his grip on her hair, pressing the gun harder against her head until she whimpered.
“Don’t move!” the General screamed, eyes wild. “I said everyone out except Jaxon!”
“Jaxon, he’s mad, all of you, save yourself.”
Jaxon saw Reid’s hesitation. Tazzy was still in the General’s clutches. If Reid grabbed her now, the General would shoot them before anyone could stop him.
What Jaxon needed to do was create a distraction. In a glance he inventoried the room and only came up with one option. Turning, he punched Brick in the jaw. “Look what you guys have done.” He yelled. Brick stumbled back, yelling and grabbing his bruised jaw, “What the hell, man?”
Reid lunged forward, grabbed the chair, and yanked Tazzy away from the General with a grunt of effort. She screamed again as a thick handful of her hair ripped free from her scalp, leaving the strands tangled in the General’s fist.
Reid didn’t stop. He dragged her chair and all toward the door,putting himself between her and the General’s gun. She fought to look back at Jaxon.
“Jaxon!” she cried, her voice morphing into a heartbreaking sob. “Jaxon!”
The General turned the gun on Jaxon, but Jaxon was already moving. He tackled the General hard, slamming him to the floor with all his weight. They rolled across the burning carpet, the heat searing through Jaxon’s clothes as they grappled with the gun.
The General was stronger than he looked. He twisted violently beneath Jaxon, trying to bring the gun up between them. Jaxon grabbed his wrist with both hands and slammed it against the floor. The gun fired once into the ceiling, the loud crack deafening in the small space and sending plaster raining down on them like sharp, dusty snow. The second shot went wild, shattering a window and letting in a rush of fresh air that fed the flames, making them roar even louder and hotter.
They struggled desperately, muscles straining, sweat and blood mixing on their skin. The General head-butted Jaxon, splitting his lip. Jaxon tasted coppery blood but didn’t let go. He drove his knee into the General’s side, then wrenched the gun arm again, the barrel trapped between their bodies now, pointing nowhere and everywhere at once.
“You took everything from me!” the General snarled, spittle flying from his mouth as he bucked hard. “My power! My future! My plans to run this town and become governor! You ruined it all!”
Jaxon’s voice was pure ice, even as the fire singed his clothes and the smoke burned his lungs. “You hurt her, you bastard. You hurt my girl. That’s the only thing that matters now.”
The General’s eyes were wild with hate. He bucked again, trying to roll Jaxon into the flames. Jaxon’s arm brushed against the burning wall. Pain scorched across his arm. “Fuck!” He flinched away from the flames and lost his grip on the General.
Jaxon jumped to his feet, slapping out the fire searing his skin. Recovered sufficiently from Jaxon’s blow, Brick ran over to help him.
Jaxon stood with Brick, flames all around them. The wooden wallscreaked and groaned as the house was slowly succumbing to the fire. “We need to get out of here,” Brick yelled. They moved towards the front door, but froze when a shot rang out.