“Flick, run!” West roared.
“You run,” Snake told her. “He dies.” His voice was cold. Dark. She shivered.
There wasn’t enough light for her to see West’s features, but she could feel his fury beating at her. She didn’t know how Snake had gotten the best of him. But she knew she had to do what she could to free him.
“I’m not running. Don’t hurt him.”
Her mind raced. Think, Flick.
“Get your ass over here. Soon as you’re with me, I’ll let him go. Your brother wants to talk to you.”
How had he even found them? The only people who knew they were here were West’s family, and they would never betray them.
Not enough time to think about that, Flick.
Panic made her feel nauseous. What was she doing?
“Flick, I’m warning you,” West said in a low voice. “Go back inside.”
“I’m coming.” She walked down the porch and onto the ground, wincing as her feet came into contact with the hard, cold ground.
“For fuck’s sake, you’re in bare feet. Go and put your shoes on,” West demanded.
Ridiculously, she wanted to giggle. They kind of had more important things to worry about than the state of her feet.
“Come here, Felicity,” Snake demanded.
She moved forward, nearly slipping. Which gave her an idea. God, she hoped she could pull it off without either her or West getting shot.
“Flick, do not,” West told her. “Do you understand me? You come any closer and your ass is toast.”
“Get over here, now.”
She tried to time it just right. She was just a foot away when she deliberately stumbled, she tried to brace herself to minimize the impact against her shoulder as she went flying into Snake. As she’d hoped, he let go of West, instinctively reaching for her.
West turned and smacked his hand down on Snake’s arm, the gun dropped to the ground. West grabbed her, flinging her away as he threw a punch at Snake. He caught the other man in the nose. But Snake quickly recovered, coming back at him. She had no doubt West could beat him, but he had her to worry about. She tried to keep out of the way of the two men fighting, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh making her stomach crawl.
Then she remembered the gun, she got to her feet, searching around for it. There! She moved over and gingerly picked it up. She turned, only just then realizing the noise of the fight had disappeared.
She gasped as she saw West standing over a prone Snake. His breath heaved in and out of his chest as he stared down at the other man, as though waiting for him to get up. Then he turned to her. He stalked towards her as she stood there, frozen. Reaching out, he grabbed the gun, switched on the safety before he grasped hold of her good arm. He bent down, his face mere inches from hers.
“Do not ever, ever do that again. Understand me?”
“W-what?”
“What? What?” he roared.
She flinched.
“Fuck. Fuck.” He took a step back, taking in a long, slow breath.
“West?”
“Now is not the time, later,” he muttered to himself. “We need something to tie this asshole up. Then I’ve got to contact Alec. There’s some rope in the shed. Can you get it?”
“Y-yes.”
“Wait.”