Chapter 6: The Long Drive in the Dark
Lilith didn't stay to watch the ashes fall. The moment the fire caught, she slid into the driver’s seat of the black sedan, slammed it into gear, and tore down the long, winding driveway. The tires shrieked, kicking up gravel and tearing through the immaculate grass.
In the rearview mirror, she could see the flames climbing higher, licking at the second-story balconies. Thick, oily black smoke choked the summer sky.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. Chloe was huddled in the floorboard of the back seat, her hands clamped over her ears, her eyes squeezed shut. She was shaking violently, muttering softly to herself.
May you like
"We're out, baby. We're out," Lilith said, her voice dropping the cold edge and softening into desperate maternal reassurance. She threw her dark glasses onto the passenger seat, revealing eyes that were red-rimmed and wild.
But as they burst through the wrought-iron front gates of the estate and hit the main highway, Lilith knew the truth. Getting off the property was the easy part. Julian had spoken the truth: they owned this town. Every road, every highway patrolman, every toll booth. By the time the sun set, there wouldn't be a square inch of the county that wasn't hunting them.
