Chapter 76
Sterling opens his mouth, angry, and Lucky promises, “I’m coming back for you.”
They disappear.
I barely make it to the first floor.
The door crashes shut behind me as more shots go off, and I hold it closed with my mind.
Bang!
I jump as someone thumps against it.
The room stretches out in front of me, doors mirroring each other on each side, branching off into smaller rooms of lockboxes.
Bang!
A second body throws itself against the door.
I won’t be able to hold it much longer.
I run to the end of the room, throwing myself behind the last door on the left as my grip breaks.
Bang!
I hear the door splinter.
Pasting myself to the wall, I slow my breathing as much as I’m able.
“G, find her. If she’s a cop, you know what to do. If not, tie her up and put her with the others. We gotta get this stuff out of here.”
Their footsteps continue to charge up the stairwell, until it grows quiet. G—whoever he is—knows how to tread silently. If I were anyone else, I’d have no way of knowing where he is.
But I’ve got something no one else has.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
His tone sends a sick shiver down my spine. This does not sound like a man willing to take me alive.
He’s still in the hallway, close to the first set of rooms now.
“Too bad I’m in a hurry, princess. We could have had some fun together.”
He’s closer now.
I need to think quicker. I have no way of telling Lucky where I am. Even if he does risk heading back to the stairwell, he can’t get into this room if he’s never seen it before.
I need to get this guy to walk into a side room. I should be able to close the door behind him. I won’t be able to hold it for long, but if I can get back to the stairwell …
Maybe I’ll have a shot.
The distance between us closes with every passing second. I can’t stop it. Can’t escape it. He’s going to reach me, and when he does …
My fingers tremble. I squeeze my hand into a tight fist.
What if I’m not fast enough? What if I freeze? All it takes is a split second. Or maybe he won’t shoot to kill. Maybe he’ll take my legs out or catch my spine. Put me to sleep.
Where the hell is Lucky?
There’s nothing in here. I can’t rip open any of the lockboxes quietly. As soon as they open, he’ll know where I am. Where he can find me.
And I can’t think about what happens after that.
“Oh, I’m getting close, aren’t I? I can smell you.”
He takes a rasping breath, and my skin crawls.
“Taste good.”
I can feel him on the other side of the wall.
He’s right outside.
There’s nowhere to hide. Nothing between us except some drywall and the stench of his intentions.
I need to think. What would Lucky do? What would Sterling do?
Squeezing my eyes closed, I reach out in my mind for the room opposite me, imagining it as a mirror of this one. Concentrating.
Fear fogs over my thoughts, and I fight to clear it. Adrenaline is wearing off, leaving behind ice-cold panic. I reach out with my mind, feel the mirror of the floor, walls, and safes. There are too many doors. Too many pins to move. But I don’t need all of them.
Come on. Just one. That’s all I need.
The squeal of his shoe against the tiles claws up the back of my throat. I can almost feel the putrid heat of his breath on my skin.
He’s enjoying this.
He’s toying with me on purpose.
“I’m going to love taking you apart.”
My hands shake. A tear begins a slow descent over my cheek, down my neck.
Why are they taking so long? I shouldn’t have told him to leave. Should have jumped, reached, anything. Then I wouldn’t be here.
What if I can’t do this?
Pops sound as multiple boxes open, and immediately, he’s firing inside the room. I risk a glance.
His back is to me, and he’s inching inside. I need him to take one more step …
He takes it.
Got you, you little shit.
I slam the door closed behind him.
Then I run.
Lucky is waiting for me when I break out into the stairwell again, and that’s when I hear gunfire upstairs.
“What—”
“No time,” he says, swallowing me in a hug, and I feel a familiar tug in my gut.
Sterling is mid-yell when we blink into Lucky’s apartment. “… meant to be protecting her. Anything could have—Mia, fuck, are you okay?”
Am I? I don’t think my knees are working. They’re liquid beneath me, folding as I slide down to the floor. My heart is racing.
“You’re late,” I whisper.
The floor is shaking. No, that can’t be right. It must be me. It’s hard to tell. There’s nothing to focus on, nothing but a blank void of space in my mind, a white expanse with nothing to cling to.
Pressure closes in on me, enveloping me in heat and the familiar scent of Lucky’s shampoo, Sterling’s aftershave. Oh, that’s nice. I let them gather me up off of the floor and sink into the solid feel of someone’s chest as my eyes close.
“We shouldn’t have left her.”
Sterling.
We sink down. The couch? I don’t care. It’s nice here, in the heat of his arms. Safe. Still. I hear his heartbeat. It’s strong, like him.
There’s a distant echo of movement, a cupboard, the tap.
“I know. I thought I was fast enough, thought I could get you out of there and get back to her, but she wasn’t there, and I—”
“I know. Fuck, her heart is beating really fast. I think she’s having an adrenaline crash.”
Am I? All I can feel is warm and safe. Then the cool press of a glass in my hand. Oh, water. I blink open my eyes as I take it from Lucky and feel his fear like a physical thing in the air between us.
“It’s okay,” I say—because it is now.
I’m here, and he’s here, and Sterling is here, and we’re all okay.
“It’s over now.”
“Yes, it’s over,” Sterling assures me.
Oh good. I’m glad.
“Come on,” Lucky says, slipping the glass out of my grip and—oh, it’s because I drank all of it. “Let’s lay you down.”
Awareness seeps back in slowly as I rise from Sterling’s lap and let them both lead me to Lucky’s bedroom. Sterling becomes a hazy blur at my feet while he helps slip my shoes and socks off. The lighting shifts, disappears, enveloping the room in darkness. Ah. Lucky closed the curtains.
My senses return as I lie down.
The woodsy smell of his cologne, the comforting softness of his stark white sheets. Even the way he and Sterling bicker in whispers to each other as they tuck me in makes me smile.
I find my voice just as they turn to leave. “You’d better not be leaving me.”
It’s a little cruel perhaps to use this against them.
Too soon definitely, from the way they both whip their gazes to me, apologies writ large on their faces, but maybe I’ve earned a little selfishness.
We might all be safe, but they’re standing too damn far away from me, and right now, I’ll use anything and everything I can to correct that.
I hold my hand out. “We don’t have to do anything; I just want to be close to you.”
I close the door softly behind them.
Lucky recovers first, smiling softly as he teleports beside me. I’m impressed; appearing under the covers is a nice touch, and I don’t need to read his mind to know the kiss is coming.
It’s soft, gentle in a way that betrays his concern, and I don’t push, instead replying to every slow press of his lips with my own, letting the easy rhythm of it soothe my still-racing heart.
There’s a dip in the mattress on my other side, then tingles roll down my spine as Sterling kisses the curve of my neck.
I turn my head and catch his mouth.
* * *
Make Your Choice:
don’t leave me hanging; it was just getting good* (go to 82)
I’d rather go to the epilogue (go to 84)
go back (go to 71)