beautiful thieves | ✓

forty-two

Aurora

I'm a light sleeper. I hear the gunshots. I hear the grunts and yells outside of my door. My room is pitch black as I rush to my wardrobe and find my pistol, filling the magazine with bullets. Taking a deep breath and, allowing the numbness to wash over my body, I open the door to my bedroom.

Blake being choked is the first thing I see.

Don't think. Just kill.

I shoot the guy holding him once, then twice, allowing Blake to shove him down the stairs, a trail of blood following after him.

I shoot at the guy who pounces at me. He drops like a stone.

There's one more guy. Blake elbows him in the stomach before grabbing his hand with the gun. Bullets fly and one slams into my door, centimetres away from my face.

While the guy is distracted, I raise my pistol and shoot him. Blake shoves him over the balcony.

Before we can attract any more trouble, he rushes into my room, moving the armchair in the corner of the room to barricade us in. He turns around and gathers me in his arms and I hold him fiercely.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask breathlessly. Blake moves away and runs over to my window.

"The Drakan's. They've found us again and they're going to kill all of us." He grunts as he opens my window, arms straining. "We need to go."

"Blake, we're on the top floor!"

He turns to face me. His face is flushed. There's fear evident in his black eyes. His hands are bleeding and there's a deep cut on his eyebrow. My breath staggers as it all settles in. "There's no other way," he says. "There's a roof we can shimmy down, then we can jump into the pool."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, bewildered. "One slip and we're dead!"

"And if we stay in here any longer then we're dead." He shrugs, his arms falling to his sides. "It's your choice."

More gunshots ring throughout the house. I feel like I might throw up all of my organs. "Where are the others? What about my Dad? My brothers?"

"Aurora, they're escaping out the back. The Winter's have it under control and their cadets will be here any minute. But we need to go before they find us."

I look back longingly at my door. Blake strides over, firmly gripping my face in his hands so I'm forced to look up at him.

He's scared. So, so scared.

"Do you trust me?" he asks.

"Blake, I-"

"Do you trust me?"

I barely hesitate. "Yes."

He kisses me. Long and hard and I kiss him back with the same amount of passion and emotion as if it's our first and last all rolled into one. But it all ends too quickly as Blake pulls away and grabs my hand.

He climbs out the window and I follow him, landing on the steep slope of the roof. I can barely see him in the darkness, but I follow his expert movements. When we've reached the bottom, he holds onto me and I glance over the edge.

It's so far down to the pool. One wrong move and hitting that water would be no better than slamming into the concrete beside it.

"Blake, this is stupid."

"This whole life we're living is stupid. Or haven't you noticed yet?" He laughs, almost manically, and I can't help but join in.

He's right, this life I've landed in is stupid.