Chapter 68
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Kyan looks terrified, pushing us further away from where Wyatt wanted us to be. He hadn’t wanted us to come, but he also didn’t want to leave us alone. The gun sits heavy on my hip, but it’s not a scary heavy. It’s a comforting heavy.
The walkie-talkie on Kyan’s hip crackles softly, some of the others giving their positions.
Oakley is protesting, trying to get to Kyan, but he cuts him off. “There’s a boat, and it has enough gas to get you to the island closest to us. Stay there until it’s safe.”
As he says that, the world slows down.
A boat.
He’s offering us escape. The escape that I’ve been fighting for this whole time.
There’s a brief flash of lightness in my chest.
We would have to leave him. Leave Wyatt. Go back to normal life.
Oakley frowns. “What about you?”
Kyan gently shoves Oakley back. “I’m like a cockroach. Can’t die.”
Gunshots ring out in the background, and I duck. Is that our people? Or theirs? Fuck, what if that happens to Kyan and Wyatt? They’d die alone. Heaviness settles over my chest, and for some reason, I feel nauseous.
Connor died alone. Elijah did too. ‘Cause I left him, left them.
Just like I’m thinking about doing to Wyatt. Because there’s no way he can go against an entire island of people who want to kill him. He’s not some…fairytale character that can take infinite damage and still come out on top.
He deserves it. We’re victims.
And yet, I don’t move where Kyan is trying to herd us.
We’re victims, but so is he.
Survive, idiot!
Go home. Go back to that life. But…was it a life? Or was it just…surviving?
The confusing thoughts tangle in my head, but one stands out for sure. I won’t let Wyatt die alone. I’ll go home after I make sure he’s…they aren’t dead.
Kyan grabs for me, and I plant my feet. “No.”
He gives me an exasperated look and grabs my upper arm.
I shake him off. “No. You don’t get to play superhero alone. We’re going to help you, and then you’re going to get us a boat off this goddamn island.”
Kyan looks at me, and something in his gaze shifts. It’s like something in his posture shrinks, and his gaze darts away, like he’s shy. And I recognize that this alter has come out before.
He looks around at the trees, and his eyes dart to the guns on our hips, and the gun on his own.
“Cool,” he says, a note of wonder in his tone.
“Hey,” I say, softly. “Can you get Ky again? It’s very important that you get Ky. Or Wyatt.”
He gives a small smile. It’s a faraway smile. He chews his lip and looks at the guns again, his behavior a lot like…a child.
A child.
More gunshots sound, this time closer.
Oh fuck.