Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 28

Jolts of electricity ripple from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, and without another thought, I lunge at Derek with the sole purpose of tearing his eyes right out of his head.

"You asshole!" I scream, catching the side of his face with my nails. "Rot in Hell!"

Derek is quick to grab my arms and twist them to the side, yanking me against his chest so hard, it knocks the air out of me. Holding back a scream, I throw my weight back as hard as I can to slam the top of my skull into his jaw. For a second, I see stars, and then a crippling pain tears through my leg when he throws me to the ground.

"Bitch!" Derek roars.

I know I should take what I have and haul out of there as fast as I can but white-hot fury propels my body forward. "Fuck you!" I grab his ankle and give him a hard punch to the kneecap that makes him stumble. But instead of falling to the ground like my irrational mind anticipated, he swings his leg around, ready to kick me in the face. His boot barely misses.

Okay! Time to go!

"Ember!" Derek roars. I don't bother looking back to see what he's going to do next. Scrambling to my feet, I make a mad dash down the dock like my life depends on it—because it does—grabbing trash cans and old dock supplies and throwing them in his path. I hear him barrel through the obstacles like it's nothing. Crap! I'm dead! I'm so dead!

Move! Move! Move!

"Ember!"

My foot catches a notch in the ground and I catch myself before I can hit the dirt, only to look up and see something that makes me stumble again. Hayden Cross races behind Derek Rodriguez with murder in his eyes, but instead of attacking the man, Hayden barrels right past him towards me.

What the hell is going on?

Derek looks just as freaked out as I do. Lips twisting in a snarl, he picks up his pace and jump to knock Hayden to the ground, but Cross is too fast, and he throws his weight to the side, sliding right past him and tripping him in the process. Derek slams straight into a water fountain.

I smile. Yes! That's what you get!

But as Hayden gets closer, he shows no sign of slowing down. He doesn't match my smile and his expression wavers.

"Hayden!" I gasp. "What are you—whoa!"

Hayden Cross runs straight into me, but instead of knocking onto the ground and finishing me like I expect, he circles his arms around my waist, lifts me up, and hauls me over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I scream, pounding my fist against his back. "Put me down!"

"Saving your ass!" Hayden barks. It doesn't help that he has a hand on my backside to steady me against him while he runs. Part of me thinks he did that on purpose. "Stop squirming!"

"I'm not!" I fight back and his shoulder digging into my stomach makes me nauseous. "Slow down!"

The high-pitched screams of police sirens ring in my ears. Horrifying images of my mother covered in blood flash through my mind.

"We have to get out of here before backup arrives!" Hayden grimaces, breathing heavily. "Give me your keys!"

"You have to put me down!" I insist.

"Ember! Just give me your keys!" When Hayden veers to the right, I slide further down his back. Okay, I'm definitely going to throw up this time! "Tell me where they are!"

I let my nails sink deep into the fabric of his sweatshirt. "They're in the breast pocket of my shirt, you moron!"

Hayden falters a step, sending me flying. "Shit!" He catches me before I break my face on the pavement, the world moving in an anxious cocktail of motion and color. Pain shoots through my leg when I touch the ground but I shove it aside and fumble with the zippers of my windbreaker.