Chapter 9 Mara
NINE
MARA
“Stop squirming,” Chase hisses as he tugs me through the narrow hallway behind the ballroom. “I’ll never let them have you.”
Bile rises in my throat as the tang of cold metal handrails ghost my palm as we descend the stairs, moving down into the underground parking garage.
The stairs jerk us around a corner, my pulse hammering as we barrel through the door into the parking structure. If I let him get me into a car, I’m done for. He will ship me off to some private island, never to be seen again.
A flicker of fury surges in me and I stop firmly, causing him to turn back to look at me.
“What the fuck are you doing, bitch?” He glares at me with those cold eyes of his.
Freedom, or death.
Those are the only two options in my life.
Better if I die with my dignity intact.
I raise my knee up quickly, crushing his balls. He howls and pushes me out of his grip, clutching himself. I slip and slide a few steps ahead.
“You really think you’re the fucking boss of me?” I challenge. And for the briefest instant, he just stares at my face. A spark of doubt flashes in his eyes, and a tiny victory blooms in me.
Chase snarls and hauls me forward again. “You’re going to fucking regret that.”
I bolt forward. The garage is wide and cold, lined with silent sleeping cars and distant shadows. As I run, the temperature drops significantly, or maybe it’s just my adrenaline causing my blood to run cold.
Chase sprints behind me, a dark blur in my periphery.
I clear the hood of a parked SUV in a single jump, momentum carrying me past it. There’s a hollow clang as my elbow smacks the side of another car, but I don’t stop.
“You’re not getting away!” he roars as his hands clamp on my shoulders from behind, wrenching me to a halt.
We stumble and crash against the concrete wall. Gravel digs into my elbows, and he’s on top of me in a heartbeat, knees pinning my thighs.
Chase’s breath is hot on my neck. “You belong to me,” he snarls. “No one else will have you.”
His hands twist my wrists together above my head, cutting off my escape. My back arches against the wall, and I feel a smear of sweat across my skin, my heart forcing blood to pump through my body in fury and fear.
This is exactly where he wants me—tiny and helpless and at his mercy.
Chase leans his forehead against mine. His eyes glitter madly. “You can’t escape destiny.”
I jerk my elbow up, smashing it into his side. A grunt, and suddenly, he isn’t holding me so tightly.
He jerks sideways, startled.
“Get off,” I choke out, my voice a strangled whisper.
He just laughs as he lunges toward me again, but then the world stops when I hear his voice.
“Get down!”
A metallic crack.
Gunfire.
Chase howls and scrambles away and I collapse to the floor, gasping, sprawled on my back.
Figures emerge in a flash of headlights and shouts. Dredyn stands at the mouth of the stairwell with a pistol aimed at Chase. Jasper has my arm and is half-lifting me to my feet while Talon and Knox storm in behind them, weapons drawn.
Chase’s fingers curl around the handle of a hidden blade, but his laughter stills as he realizes what he’s up against.
Before he can move, Dredyn fires again. The shot echoes off concrete.
Chase’s body goes rigid, then he gurgles, clutching his shoulder. A cherry-red spray blossoms across the asphalt as he crashes against the wall with a splatter of blood and curses.
He slumps.
My chest heaves.
Jasper guides me to my feet, arms firm around me. I’m shaking all over.
Chase scrambles for air on the floor. His voice is a ragged scream as he manages a broken shout, but it’s more of a hiccup of surprise and pain.
Dredyn levels his pistol at Chase. “Don’t move. I mean it.”
Chase’s lips twitch in a grin as he lies there, blood seeping through his fingers. “I couldn’t save Evangeline from her destiny. What makes you think Mara is any safer?” he spits up at us.
My heart stops.
Evangeline. Jasper’s sister
Chase tries to sit up, leaning against the wall. He’s alive, breathing hard, and clutching his bleeding shoulder.
Suddenly, Chase clambers to his feet, blood spilling down his arm. He reaches behind him with the blade.
“Look out!” I scream, but it’s too late.
Chase swings the knife and slashes into Dredyn’s side.
Dredyn howls, blood gushing from a new wound, as he crumples to one knee, clutching the fabric of his shirt. A dark red stain spreads instantly.
“No!” Jasper roars.
Anger and terror surge through me. Without thinking, I lunge. Nails out, I rake them across Chase’s face, a desperate swipe of white-hot rage. He snarls, stunned, blood spurting where my nails catch.
I sink my teeth into his forearm, breaking skin, and he tries to twist away, stumbling.
I elbow him in the gut. He doubles over, gasping.
Jasper’s arms clamp around me, pulling me back as Chase regains himself, and I feel Jasper’s heart thudding against my back.
Chase lunges again, smashing into my chest. I fold in on myself.
“Jasper, watch out!” I yell.
Another shot, and the world shudders again.
Chase skids and falls back against the wall, like a puppet whose strings are cut. His eyes cross, and he turns his head slowly toward us. He reaches up, then... nothing.
His body goes limp.
Chase Harrington is down.
Silence hits the garage, save for our ragged breaths.
Even with the chaos, I don’t cry out. I can hardly move; my arms are locked around Jasper’s waist. We’re both shaking, jaws clenched.
Jasper’s whisper is a prayer. “It’s over. You’re safe.”
Safe.
All of me trembles with it.
Behind us, Dredyn grunts and collapses against the wall, holding his side. Talon and Knox move to help him.
I’m still cradling Jasper’s hand, fingers digging into his jacket.
He’s whole. He’s here. Alive.
“He’s still moving,” I whisper, watching Chase’s chest rise slowly. “He’s alive.”
Knox paces around the SUV, pistol down but ready, as sirens wail in the distance. Color-flashing lights start to spill into the garage.
Talon grabs my arm. “We need to leave. Now!”
Jasper spins me around. He’s wide-eyed but nods, urgently. “Run.”
In a heartbeat, we’re scrambling into Rook’s black SUV. Jasper yanks me into the back seat, cradling me in his arms, before Talon jumps in beside me. Knox slides into the passenger side, eyes scanning our rear, and Dredyn and Chase are thrown in the back together.
I curl into Jasper’s side. His arms are warm and solid around me, as he buries his face in my hair, breathing me in.
It’s quiet except for the SUV’s engine and the distant sirens.
Safe.
I slump against Jasper as the adrenaline goes limp in my veins.
My body is blooming in pain. My side aches where Chase threw me, a bruise blooming across my ribs. My elbow and hip throb with cuts from concrete, and my cheek is split with dried blood. Every breath tastes like metal.
He saved me. All of them did.
I shake, exhausted. “Jasper...”
He tightens his hold. “I’m here,” he says softly.
I lean forward and whisper, eyes closed, “Thank you.”
Jasper brushes my hair from my face. “You’re safe,” he says. “I promise you.”
I rest against him, his heartbeat steady in my ear. I can feel Jasper’s warmth at my back and Talon’s fist bumping next to my knee. We’re alive, we’re whole, and we’re together.
My tears fall onto Jasper’s shoulder—tears of relief and exhaustion.
In the back of the SUV, I’m wrapped in safety.
My home is right here… in these arms.