Worth Dying for (A Dying for a Living Novel Book 5) by Kory M. Shrum Read Free Book Online

satchel on the floor. “This is the only thing that looks important. The rest is just clothes and stuff.”
    “Leave them. We can’t carry Rachel’s wardrobe across the city. In fact, Maze, go through your pack again and dump what you don’t absolutely need, okay?”
    “I’ll get our stuff together,” Ally says.
    “I’ll do it.” I run to the kitchenette and throw some ice in a plastic shopping bag. Then I unzip one of the fancy pillow cases and pull out the stuffing, using the pillowcase as a cover for the makeshift ice pack. I kiss her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. You’ll be okay.”
    She reaches up and touches my cheek. “Oh Jess, I’m not worried about me. Only one thing in this world scares me.”
    I find the aspirin bottle on the table, twist off the cap and plop two aspirin into Ally’s hand and toss the bottle to Maisie. She catches it and tucks it into the front pocket of her bright yellow bag.
    “What’s the one thing that scares you?” I ask, hefting the bags onto my shoulders, giving the room one last look before abandoning it.
    She takes my hand. “Losing you.”

Chapter 6
    Jesse
    W e are packed and ready but there’s still no sign of Rachel and Gideon. “We better go.”
    Ally bites her lip, casting a last glance around the hotel room. “Maisie?”
    Maisie jingles Winston’s leash and then shifts the pack on her back. “Ready.”
    It’s not difficult to leave given how frigid the room has grown over the last few hours. Honestly, I’m surprised that someone hasn’t come to ask about the broken window yet. Lucky us.
    I slide open the door to the room and peer out into the hallway. Nada. To the left, the red carpet stretches endlessly away from us. The vintage fan-shaped lamps mounted about ten feet apart cast shadows on the cream walls.
    “Meet me in the stairwell,” I tell Ally. “I’m going to clean up.”
    I watch the girls slink down the hall and through the door at the end. I don’t duck back inside until Ally’s face appears in the little window, watching.
    I slip back into the room, and before the door even closes all the way behind me, I ignite. Flames lick up the carpet, latch onto the chaise, and incinerate the furniture. I go into Maisie’s room next, still burning and watch the flames spread over the floor and furnishings as quickly as if I’d doused this place in gasoline first. I do Rachel and Gideon’s room next, and it has the most stuff left behind. As Rachel’s clothes begin to curl and blacken I can imagine how furious she’d be if she saw this.
    Then I step into our room. It is the smallest of the three rooms, but I didn’t mind. Neither Ally nor I have much stuff and though the bed is only a full, it left us with more than enough room to snuggle and—oh come on, Jesse. Stop daydreaming and get the hell out of here!
    As I step out into the hallway, the elevator dings. I run toward the stairwell, shoving open the door and hear Winston’s collar jingle, probably as he lurches back from the swinging door. I swear and stoop to pinch his tags together, silencing them. I give him a few reassuring pats on the head before I hand Winston over to Maisie, jabbing a finger at the tags. She gets it. Her fingers pinch the tags as she shifts the pug in her arms. Then I ease the hallway door back in place to hide my tracks. I wave for them to go on without me.
    Ally’s brow furrows. She mouths, “What about you?”
    I hold up a finger, asking her to give me a minute. Positioning myself behind the door leading toward the hallway, I peer through the little window. The ice machine makes a crack -dump sound and I half jump out of my skin.
    I’m not leaving until I see who got off the elevator. Maybe it’s another hotel guest returning to their room. Fine, but what if it’s Rachel and Gideon? I can’t let them walk into a burning room.
    A swarm of men in black explode around the corner like a small army of locusts, their bodies fast, guns up as they pool