Chapter 66
DAKOTA
Blackness crept into my vision, and my focus blurred until everything became soft around the edges. My muscles weakened so that every kick, every punch, every desperate scratch lost its battle for strength.
This is it. This is how it ends.
I locked eyes with Axel across the chaos, wishing he could hear what I was trying to say rather than just see me mouth the words.
“I love you,” I tried to squeak out.
But Mathew’s hands were clamped too tightly around my throat, his fingers digging into my windpipe like a vise. The blackness encroached further, swallowing everything except Axel’s face.
At least the last thing I’ll see is him.
This was it. Axel was dying, too, blood pooling beneath him on the floor.
As my final breaths were withheld, I found myself grateful that my last thoughts were of love instead of fear.
I was glad that I had found Axel. That I’d found true love.
Something had awakened inside of me that many people never got to experience in their lifetime.
The feeling of being truly alive and free and full of joy.
The feeling of being someone’s number one priority, being desired, being loved, being adored.
And being 100% my authentic self.
At least I got to experience it for a little while.
Goodbye, my love.
I will love you for all of eternity, I thought.
And then everything went dark as I slumped to the ground.
For a second, I thought I had died. But then I heard this inhuman wheezing sound, and I realized it was me. My lungs were sucking in deep gulps of oxygen so violently, it sounded animalistic, like I was drowning. My vision was returning, too, the blackness dissolving into light and blurry shapes.
I’m alive. How am I alive?
A figure moved in front of me, and through my tears, I saw him.
Axel.
“Dakota.” He cupped my cheek with a trembling hand, his thumb brushing away the tears I didn’t realize were falling.
Confusion swirled through me as consciousness fully returned.
That’s when I spotted Mathew lying motionless on the floor, a pool of blood streaming from his head.
Lying next to him was a tripod with one of the cameras that, moments ago, had been recording our nightmare. It, too, was smeared with blood.
“You’re safe now. I’m here. I’ve got you,” Axel said, his voice rough with pain and relief. “Just breathe.”
So, I did. Deep and slow, surrounded by the man I loved, feeling his heartbeat beneath my palm.
“Your side,” I wheezed, noticing the knife still protruding from between his ribs. Blood soaked through his dress shirt, turning it crimson.
Axel looked down at the blade sticking out of his body, his own breathing labored and shallow. It was like his injuries were an afterthought compared to my safety.
“I’m fine,” he claimed.
“You shouldn’t have come.” My voice was barely a whisper. “You could have been killed.”
Axel’s knuckles swept along my jaw, so gentle after all the violence. “Dakota, if you weren’t breathing on this planet, I wouldn’t want to breathe either.”
Fresh tears flooded my eyes. Not from fear this time, but from overwhelming love.
He swiped a fallen tear from my cheek with his thumb. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Sirens grew louder outside, and a minute later, the room flooded with police officers and paramedics rushing toward us.
The live stream was over.
And our real life was just beginning.
I pressed my face into his chest, careful to avoid his wound, and Axel held me like he would never let me go. Like nothing in this world could ever tear us apart again.