Scorched Earth: Wrath & Vengeance Series Book 3

Chapter 4

The motel was cheap, although it was trying hard not to look like it.

Everything was clean but worn. Sitting on the end of the bed, she restlessly ran her hands over the sheets, feeling the rough material scratch her palms. Her father wouldn’t stop pacing. There wasn’t a lot of space, so he kept passing in front of her every few seconds. It was putting her on edge. They hadn’t spoken much since Aleksandr had hung up on them. It hadn’t occurred to her, under the city that had given away to crimson soaked sand, how much she needed the distraction.

The desert wasn’t that far from the city she had grown up in. Only a few hours at the most. But she had only ever been there once. When Petya had taken her. When the Furies had first come storming into her life. When she had fled, bloody and beaten, she had promised herself that she’d never be back. That there was nothing in Heaven or Earth that could force her to. But here she was. In a cramped room in the middle of nowhere, listening to a dying air-conditioner struggle to make a difference against the hellish heat.

Of all the things that had remained to haunt her, the heat was the worst. It was something she hadn’t been able to breathe in. It had drained her, crushed her, and left part of her mind convinced that she hadn’t survived the first attack. That she was already in hell.

“Dad, is there any chance I could get you to sit down for a bit? You’re kind of putting me on edge.”

“Right.” He sat down on the other bed and patted his hands against his knees. This lasted about a minute before he was back to pacing. “Sorry, princess. I’m having a few issues dealing with this.”

“Yeah, it’s an awkward situation. Maybe I should have found a nicer way to tell you about all of this.”

“What? No. Well, yes, there’s that. Right now, however, I’m focusing on the fact that we’re literally waiting in a cheap motel room for a serial killer to show up. I’ve seen this day time movie, honey, and it doesn’t end well.”

“Aleksandr won’t hurt me.”

Juan paused mid-stride and stared at her.

“Okay, yeah, he totally would. But only if I threatened the twins. And I love those kids. They’re creepy as hell but they have their charm.”

“And they’ve killed people, too?”

She shrugged. “Honestly, it never came up in conversation.”

“Really?”

“It seemed rude to ask.”

Juan shook his head, huffed a breath, and started to pace again. “How did this become your life?”

“Petya decided that I looked enough like a guy to ease Aleksandr into killing girls.”

That made her father pause again. “I’ll never get that. If you’re not in boxing gear, you’re in dresses.”

A verbal response wasn’t necessary. Instead, Evelyn just lifted her arm and flexed. In her father’s eyes, she’d always be his tiny little Puerto Rican princess. But kick-boxing wasn’t really a sport that left one looking slight and delicate. Before the attacks, she had used the ring as an emotional outlet. There was just something so relaxing about beating the hell out of someone. After Petya and Olga, not to mention the Furies, the sport had gone from a hobby to an obsession. Consequently, she could now lift as much as some of his firefighter buddies. Juan studied her for a moment before he scoffed.

“Petya was an idiot.”

“He also murdered people.”

“Thank you for reminding me,” Juan said sharply before resuming his pacing. “Could those things show up again?”

“Sure. But don’t worry, they’re like cats. They don’t go in for the kill until they’ve fully terrorized their prey.”

He didn’t stop moving as he glared at her. “Never get a job as a counselor.”

The sound of car tires crunching against the gravel parking lot drew their attention. Evelyn leaped at the chance to escape the conversation and hurried outside. The car had barely stopped moving before two gangly kids hurled themselves out and made a beeline for her.

“You’re still alive,” one of them declared.

“You’re a red head,” she said back.

Phone cameras didn’t really do the dye job justice. A mix of relief and delirium rocked her, making her giggle happily as the twins collided into her chest.

“Damn, you kids have gotten strong,” she said as they squeezed her tightly.

She wasn’t going to mention that they were now as tall as she was. They hadn’t lost their baby faces yet.

“How did the game go?” she asked. “You guys did get to finish it before you had to come here, right?”

They both started talking at the same time, Nadya explaining how she was the best goalie in existence while Ivan insisted they would have lost it if weren’t for his shooting skills. Evelyn couldn’t stop smiling. The second attack had put them securely into her life, and she felt a fear now she hadn’t experienced before. She was terrified that the Furies would come for them. They’re just starting their life, a voice in her head whispered. They need to survive this.