Chapter Fifty-nine — Trinity
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
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TRINITY
The rocking of the boat was almost soothing. How long had I been here and how long would it last? I didn’t know.
It felt like hours, but I had no way to tell.
The sun didn’t feel like it had moved. I managed to sit up and check the car.
The doors were all locked somehow, and they wouldn’t open no matter how hard I tried.
The windows were partially open, but where would I go if I managed to crawl out of the window? There were men all over the ship.
They would throw me into the water and I would drown bound like this. And the window was already a tight fit.
Please, find me.
It was easy to get drowsy in the heat and in the aftermath of using every bit of strength I had. Maybe it was better this way. If I slept, maybe it would be peaceful.
A soft thumping sound reached me. Not one of the ship sounds. What was that? It was getting louder.
I was piled on top of the rest of the cars in the cargo hold, so I couldn’t see much. But I saw men running. The sound grew louder and—a helicopter.
They were here.
I knew it as much as I knew my own name. If they were here, there were options. I could get out of the window and hide. Wait for them to find me. We might actually have a chance.
There was nothing to cut the tape with in the car. I already looked everywhere. Wiggling would have to do. I fit my arms through the window, and began trying to fit my arms and shoulders. This would be the hardest part.
The car jerked, causing me to fall backward. It swayed back and forth like… like I was hanging again. The car was being lifted by the crane. Fuck. Fuck.
I was already too high to wiggle out and fall. I would break everything. Better than dying, but there was no guarantee I would survive. I was already at least thirty feet up.
The helicopter hovered, and I watched my Alphas spill out onto the deck.
Tears blurred everything, and I made them spill over so I could see.
They had guns. Bastian tore through multiple men in what felt like seconds, throwing one down into the water.
Aiden had the one who had hit me on his knees with a gun to his head.
While the car was getting higher and higher.
I slammed my hands on the part of the glass I could reach, screaming through the tape so they would see me. Logan and Brooks were looking. I saw them, and they were in the wrong place.
Come on. Come on.
“AIDEN.” Logan shouted and pointed directly at me. He saw me. They all saw me. And I could see both the dread and the horror on their faces.
Aiden dropped his gun and sprinted. Bastian punched the man unconscious, and I didn’t even have time to be gratified. Theo was at the door of the crane control trying to break the glass. And Aiden…
Aiden was climbing the crane.
I forced my hands through the window again, tilting my head and angling my shoulders even though it hurt. God, it hurt. But I pushed them through. My chest got stuck because of my breasts, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I screamed into the tape, forcing myself through.
The ocean below me looked like death. Terror clung to every nerve and breath, the window digging into my stomach. How was he going to reach me? The magnet could let me go at any second, and it would be over.
“TRINITY,” Aiden roared. He leapt from the last piece of the crane to the magnet and landed with a clang.
His head appeared over the edge of the magnet, then a hand. “Give me your hands.”
I stretched and missed, tilting towards the water at a dangerous angle. A muffled shriek that barely registered. My body was free enough to slip from the window now. I could die just like this.
“Come on, violet. Give me your hands.”
Bracing my feet on the seat, I balanced and pushed higher. Our fingertips touched. It wasn’t enough.
I almost slipped, and a sob came out. It couldn’t be this close. They came for me. I just needed one more inch. The only way to reach him was to push myself past the point of no return.
“Trinity,” Aiden said. “Trust me. I’ve got you.” I was shaking my head, but he nodded. “You will not fall. I will not allow it. Now move.”
I bent my knees, took a breath, and jumped. Aiden’s hand closed around my bound wrists, digging in. My fingers grasped at his arm and my feet were caught in the window, body suspended at a terrifying degree.
A loud, metal groaning rippled through us. The glass pulled on my feet as the magnet released the car straight into the ocean. The splash boomed.
I screamed, hanging over nothing with only Aiden’s hand saving me from falling. And I was slipping.
“Fuck.” He moved, head disappearing. The tape was too slippery. I was going to fall. There was no way.
Aiden lunged and caught me with the other hand. Clung to me with both of his.
“Don’t let go,” Aiden said, gripping my hands tighter. “Don’t you fucking let go, Trinity.”
I held onto his wrists, but all I could feel was the emptiness beneath me. I couldn’t even say anything to him because they’d taken my voice. Silenced me. Again.
Gunshots rang out behind us, and shouting. Theo’s voice. “Hold on.”
I screamed again as the crane moved, lowering us back down and back over the deck of the ship. My heart wouldn’t slow. My breath came in frantic intervals because I wasn’t safe yet. It wasn’t over yet. Would it ever be over?
Hands reached for me from below. Touched my feet. Legs. Steadied me as the crane stopped.
“Got her?”
“Got her.”
Aiden kept his eyes on mine. “You can let go now, violet.”
I shook my head. The fear was still wrapped around me like barbed wire. It tore into me with every second, and I couldn’t let go.
He nodded. “You’re safe. You won’t fall. I promise.”
Closing my eyes, I obeyed.
I slipped into someone’s arms, my feet on solid ground.
“That asshole had a knife,” Theo said. “Here. Stay still, sweetheart.”
My eyes were still closed, but I felt the blade they spoke about slowly cutting away the tape on my arms, legs, and face. It pulled my hair where it was stuck. I couldn’t bear to open my eyes. I couldn’t—
Arms came around me. Smoke and leather and clove. Bastian. My legs gave out, and he came with me. All of a sudden I was screaming. Every scream I couldn’t have and every moment of knowing I was going to die without them. Alone.
I couldn’t stop. Anger and terror and grief. All of it echoed over the water. I never opened my eyes. If I opened my eyes it was real and I needed all of this to be a dream. This never happened.
They didn’t quiet me. They held me. I didn’t need to see them to know how terrified they were. All our scents were bitter and sick, drowning in the dark truth of what almost happened.
When I opened my eyes, I was in Aiden’s arms.
The tears didn’t stop. I didn’t know if they would ever stop. I hiccuped, trying to speak. “You saved me.”
“If you’d fallen, I was going into that water after you.”
I dug my fingers into his shirt, clinging to him. “You saved me.” They were the only words that made sense.
His eyes teared before he kissed me. “I’m never letting you go,” he whispered. “Never.”
I slid deeper into myself, exhaustion hovering at the surface. But I didn’t want to pass out. I didn’t want to sleep. Losing consciousness was too terrifying and too close to never waking up.
“We’re going to take you to get checked out at the hospital, and then home. You are safe.”
There was commotion and movement around me, but it felt like I was still and the rest of the world moved around me. That was okay. It could pass me by right now.
Brooks held me while they guided the helicopter to land on the deck and bundled me inside. Logan kept his arm around me so I could lean on his shoulder. I had so much to say, and now that I was free to say it, I couldn’t.
I didn’t know how to come back from this. From knowing it was the end and being snatched back from the edge. I was a different person than I’d been this morning. And I didn’t feel settled—I still felt sick.
Theo sat on my other side and gently placed the helicopter’s headphones over my ears. “You can rest.”
I shook my head. No. If I closed my eyes—
“We’re not taking our eyes off you, wildfire. Nothing is going to happen to you. Not while we’re here.” Logan spoke softly and began to purr. “Promise.”
I believed them. They came for me. And I had nothing left to give.