Page 59 of Vicious Impulses (The Capo and Ballerina)
“Stay down! I’ll handle it!”
I’ve located our sharpshooter. He’s not as far away as I thought. As we barrel off course, he emerges into view, perched on the rooftop of a cottage.
I lift myself back up onto the seat of the carriage, shutting one eye and taking aim.
It’s a game of chicken. His rifle on me, my pistol on him.
He’s crouched onto his elbows, trying to calculate the next pull of his trigger. The constant bobbing and weaving the carriage is doing has thrown him off, making it harder for him to land any of his shots.
But that doesn’t change the fact that in a direct face off, he’d win.
Which is why I need to catch him off guard. I aim for the chimney off to the right of him.
He gets the shot in first. More bullets stream unseen through the air, only recognizable by the muffled crack of gunfire. It happens in such an instant, I’m not fast enough to duck out of the way.
The carriage gives a great jerk to the left, almost tipping over. The horses whinny in more panic at the sudden abrasive movement but carry on racing down the dirt trail they’ve chosen.
I’m lost as to what the fuck just happened. My gaze dips for a quick check on Nevaeh down below. If that jerk threw me off, it had to have terrorized her.
Nobody’s on the floor of the carriage. Nevaeh’s gone.
My twitchy heart bangs away at that shocking discovery. Before I can begin questioning if she’s fallen out of the carriage and tumbled to the ground, I realize where she’s gone.
Nevaeh’scrawled up front and seized hold of the reins. She was the one who yanked on the reins so hard, the carriage gave such a jarring lurch.
My sweet angel sits up front, steering the horses, her dark hair whipping in the wind. She realized the sharpshooter was about to shoot me and prevented him from doing so.
I’d spend more time thrown by this twist of events if we weren’t in the danger we’re in. I refocus my attention on the cottage that’s now slipping behind us and squeeze the trigger of my pistol.
This time, not to throw him off by hitting the chimney. This time I aim to kill.
My bullet hits its mark, clipping him in the side of the neck. He loses what balance he has on the rooftop and plummets two stories below.
While I’m unsure if he’s dead, for the moment, it’s good enough. The threat has been eliminated.
I climb into the front seat of the carriage and steal the reins out of Nevaeh’s hands.
The horses let their panic die out and begin slowing down. We come to a halt that’s anything but smooth.
I turn to Nevaeh and explode. “What the fuck were you thinking?!”
Her mouth drops open. “I was trying to help you!”
“I told you to stay down!”
“Someone needed to steer the carriage or we would’ve went off the side of the hill.”
“And if you got shot? If the sniper aimed for you and you got hit by one of his bullets?”
“Then… then I would’ve dealt with the risk I took,” she stammers out, losing half her nerve.
“It was a stupid risk! You listen to me! When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it!” I roar over her. My voice deepens ’til it’s more beast than man. “If I tell you to get down on the ground, then that’s what you’ll do, Nevaeh! Under no circumstances are you to ever defy me again!”
A dozen different emotions bloom on her sweet pretty face. From disbelief to puzzlement to flat out anger and frustration. She growls back at me though she doesn’t refute anything I’ve said. She crawls into the backseat of the carriage with her arms folded and her glare set on the countryside.
She’s mad at me. I don’t give a fuck.
“Throw tantrums all you want,” I snarl at her, tugging on the reins to put us into motion once more. “You’ll do as I say, or I’ll make you do as I say. You choose.”