Rope the Moon (Runaway Ranch, #2)(110)

“Hey, asshole,” Fallon shouts. “You sociopathic rat-fuck! You little bitch-ass motherfucker!”

I watch the rage simmer on Aiden’s face as my sister hurls her insults. Icy terror grips me when he turns her way. I shake my head at her, wanting her to shut up. Wanting her to remain invisible.

On a sigh, he stands and stalks across the room. He slaps Fallon across the face. Hard. She slumps forward.

“This one never stops talking,” he says in exasperation, jabbing the knife her way. “Pains in my ass, the both of you.”

Tears stream down my cheeks as I stare at my sister.

Lip curling in distaste, he sits across from me. “You’re a chef. You work with knives, right?”

I shiver as he rests the flat edge of the knife on his thigh. The binds dig into my wrists as I frantically work them.

“So it makes sense to use one on you.”

My eyes pop in terror. “Don’t.”

A wicked smile spreads across his face. “You want to know why I waited so long to have our little reunion?”

Nausea constricts in my throat. I feel faint. “No,” I plead.

“I almost gave up, you know. I almost let him have you, but then I saw that you were expecting. I saw how happy you were, and I thought…why not wait until you have almost everything you ever wanted in life and then take it all away?” He leans in and lifts my shirt, baring my belly. “I told you I’d take everything from you, Dakota. I’ll take this.”

“Please, not my baby,” I weep. I cringe as his clammy palm rubs a circle on my stomach. “Not my son.”

His hand wraps around my jaw. The knife dances in my periphery. “Our son.”

“He will never be yours,” I rasp.

Aiden shoves my face away and sits back down, trembling with rage. There’s a distant look in his eyes. This blank look of hatred. “You could have come back. We could have been a family. But no. You made me chase you.”

Behind me, one hand slips loose.

“Now, this is where we land, Dakota. I’m going to cut you apart. Take your baby. And as you bleed out, you can watch me kill your little sister.” He rests the sharp edge of the knife low against my belly. I flinch as the blade breaks the skin. Hot stinging pain crests over me as blood trickles down toward my waistline.

I hiss a breath and wait for it.

Pain. Death.

Only a screeching, clattering sound has Aiden freezing.

Fallon.

Her muscular body rocks her chair forward, backward. Its wooden legs skid and skitter across the hardwood floor. One binding has slipped off her wrist, and my sister jerks at the ropes.

She wears her fury like a halo. It’s everywhere. There’s no doubt if my sister gets out of those ropes, she’ll burn the world.

“Stop,” Aiden orders.

But she doesn’t. Over and over again, her body teeter-totters the chair.

And then she opens her mouth and screams. Great howling screams that I’m sure will crack every board in the cabin.

“Fucking fine.” The knife leaves my belly, and Aiden stands. “She dies first.”

“No,” I cry. I twist and wrench my once-broken arm at an impossible angle. It screams at me. “Don’t fucking touch her.”

The last bind snaps.

Aiden pauses halfway to Fallon. “She’ll bleed out before anyone finds you.”

“You don’t know my family. You don’t know him.” I smile. “You’re dead. He will find you and he will kill you.”

Fallon’s eyes flick to me.

“He’s already on his way.” I lower my voice. “In fact…he’s right outside the door.”

Aiden nervously glances over his shoulder.

That millisecond of doubt is enough.

With a vicious scream, Fallon rocks the chair backward, and it smashes into pieces.

The second Fallon pops up, I tear out of the binds and surge forward. I whip out the knife from the pocket of my hoodie.

“Run, Koty!” Fallon screams, charging Aiden. “Go!

He lunges toward her. The knife slices across her ribs. Fallon screams in pain, but still, she flings herself at Aiden.

Aiden rears back to stab her again.

A primal protection overtakes me. I’m not going to die today and neither is my sister.

I spring onto his back, reach around, and stab the cheese knife into his chest.

“Mother. Fucker,” I enunciate, digging it in with the heel of my palm.

“You fucking bitch,” he howls, thrashing violently.

Fallon collapses to the floor.

Knocked off balance, Aiden hits his knees, smacking his head on the corner of the nightstand. The lamp smashes to the ground. The light goes out.

I leap across the floor, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I’ve never moved so fast, pregnant or otherwise. “Come and get me, asshole,” I hiss.

My only thought is to draw him away from Fallon. Get help. Stay alive.

With blood roaring in my ears and Aiden’s ragged screams at my back, I stagger and weave through the cabin. And then I’m outside.

Free.





The pickup’s headlights illuminate the forest. I get out and close the door, doing a quick sweep of our surroundings. The full moon above. The cabin a hundred yards in front of us. And one set of footprints—aimed for Eden.