Page 245 of Boys Who Hunt

Suddenly, he turns around and grabs Ivy, pushing her in front of him, then placing the barrel of the gun to her head.

“You want her so badly, then you’ll get her back in a body bag!” he yells at us.

“Put the fucking gun down,” Heath growls, keeping his gun pointed at him. “You’re not going to get away.”

“Let her go, Daddy!” Cora begs, wrapping her little hands around his leg.

He kicks her aside, and she falls to the floor, crying her eyes out.

Something snaps in Ivy.

She grabs the knife stuck in his thigh, rips it out, and thrusts it back into his crotch. The scream that leaves his throat is nothing short of pure satisfaction.

She stumbles away from him, directly into Heath’s arms, right as Stefano aims his gun at her. “You bitch!”

Heath moves in front of her, shielding her body with his. “Fucking shoot, then, because I’ll take a million fucking bullets to keep her from harm.”

Shock riddles Stefano’s face, but then he reaches for Cora and holds her in front of him, putting the gun to her little head instead.

“No, don’t!” Ivy screams.

“Move, and I put a bullet in her,” Stefano grits.

“That’s your own fucking daughter,” I grit.

“Let her go, you fucking monster!”

“You think I’ll let you kill me? Fuck no,” he spits back.

Ivy’s face is like lightning in a bottle, and she reaches for my pocket, takes out a knife, and aims, just like I taught her.

A twig, when broken, turns into the sharpest weapon.

THWACK!

Before he can even fire the weapon, the knife lodges itself between both his eyes. They roll back into his head as he sinks down onto the couch, squirting blood from his forehead.

WHAM!

The lady lying on the floor slams a frying pan against his head so hard it puts a dent in his skull. Permanently.

“Would you fucking shut up already?” Mrs. Schwartz says. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Amen,” Max mutters while little Cora immediately runs to Ivy.

“You sure have interesting friends, Ivy.” Heath snorts.

Max sinks against the wall and breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck that’s over.”

Ivy’s breathing wildly as she wipes his blood off her hands. I stumble inside, ignoring the pain in my thigh because right now, all I care about is making sure the only fear I’ve ever felt in my life is instantly quelled.

“Are you okay?” I ask, tilting my head.

She sucks in a sharp breath, swallows the rest of her tears, and nods briefly. Then she turns around and goes to her knees in front of Cora. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

But all I can think of is how she chose to run, fight, and steal just to stay safe, knowing full well that fucker would come after her.

This fucking girl.