My knee connected solidly with his groin.
Ethan let out a strangled, high-pitched gasp. His eyes bulged, the syringe slipping from his fingers as he collapsed forward, clutching himself, his forehead bouncing hard against the floorboards.
I didn't wait to watch him recover. I scrambled over his thrashing body, snatching the syringe from the floor, and bolted out of the nursery.
I ran down the back servant stairs, bypassing the main floor entirely and heading straight for the basement level that connected to the underground garage.
The air grew cold and smelled of concrete and motor oil as I burst through the heavy fire door into the garage.
The vast space held three luxury cars, but only one was running. Ethan's black SUV was idling, the taillights glowing a demonic red in the dim, fluorescent lighting.
Sarah was standing by the open rear door, struggling to snap the heavy car seat into the base.
"Sarah!" I screamed, closing the distance between us in a dead sprint.
She turned, her eyes widening in shock. She hadn't expected me to make it past Ethan.
Before she could pull a weapon or fully react, I slammed into her with the momentum of a freight train. My shoulder caught her squarely in the chest, driving her backward. We crashed into the side of the SUV, Sarah's head bouncing painfully against the tinted window.
She cried out, dropping the diaper bag she had been holding. She swung wildly at my face, her fist connecting with my jaw, sending a flash of bright white light behind my eyes.
But I couldn't be stopped. The feral mother inside me was completely unleashed.
I grabbed the collar of her black sweater and twisted it, pulling her away from the open door where Leo slept. I shoved her backward as hard as I could. She stumbled over the dropped diaper bag, her arms windmilling, before she fell hard onto the concrete floor of the garage, gasping for breath.
I spun around, reached into the SUV, and slammed the heavy rear door shut, locking Leo safely inside the vehicle.
I turned back to Sarah, my chest heaving, holding the uncapped syringe in front of me like a dagger.
"Stay away from my car," I ordered, my voice low and dangerous.
Sarah scrambled backward, her eyes fixed on the needle in my hand. She looked terrified, finally realizing that she wasn't dealing with a drugged, compliant victim anymore.
But my victory lasted only a second.
The heavy fire door leading from the basement burst open, slamming against the concrete wall with a sound like an explosion.
Ethan stood in the doorway. He was limping heavily, his face pale and covered in a sheen of cold sweat, but the look in his eyes was one of pure, homicidal desperation. He reached down to a heavy metal toolbox sitting on a workbench near the door and picked up a massive steel wrench.
"You stupid, crazy bitch," he breathed, stepping into the garage, his limp disappearing as the adrenaline took over.
He walked slowly toward me, slapping the heavy steel wrench against the palm of his other hand.
I backed up against the side of the SUV, holding the syringe out, my hand trembling violently. I was trapped. The garage door was closed, secured by an electronic keypad I didn't know the code for.
Sarah pulled herself up from the floor, moving behind Ethan, her confidence returning now that her protector had arrived.
"I'm not letting you take him, Ethan," I said, my voice echoing in the concrete space.
"You don't have a choice," Ethan said, raising the wrench. "You wanted to fight, Clara? Fine. Let's show the doctors just how violently disturbed you really are."
He lunged forward, swinging the heavy steel tool directly at my head.
CHAPTER 4
I ducked hard, the heavy steel wrench slicing through the air exactly where my skull had been a fraction of a second before.
The wrench smashed violently into the tinted window of the SUV right beside my head. The impact sounded like a bomb going off. The glass didn't shatter outward; it spider-webbed instantly, holding its shape just long enough for me to scramble away along the side of the vehicle.
"Ethan, stop!" Sarah shrieked, covering her ears against the explosive noise.
Ethan didn't listen. He spun around, tracking my movement, his face a contorted mask of frantic desperation. He was losing control of his perfect plan, and the reality of his failure was driving him to absolute extremes.
I retreated toward the front of the SUV, keeping the massive vehicle between us. The engine was still idling, a low, steady rumble that vibrated through the concrete floor.