Chapter 19 Aria
ARIA
Acold knot forms in my stomach as the rest of my body trembles.
Visions of my death, inescapable and violent, flood my mind.
I choke on a strangled sob. Fearful. Helpless.
Shrinking behind Ledger’s broad shoulders, as my fingers continue to cling onto him for refuge, like I didn’t just hear him seal my fate seconds ago.
If I let go, I might collapse on this very blood-stained floor.
Frankie stiffens ahead, horrified at the interaction unraveling right before her, fresh tears scalding down her cheeks in rivulets of relief, but also guilt. Even she knows there is no hope left for me.
Dread seizes me entirely. It spreads down to my limbs, numbing them in response until the heaviness dissipates and it starts to feel like I’m floating.
If only I could float out of here. Escape the dreariness of the warehouse.
Soar to freedom. But that’s not how this works.
My wings are clipped, and I’m backed into a dead end with no hope in sight.
He’ll never risk his sister for me. He shouldn’t have to. She’s his sister. Family.
Who am I, besides the girl who's stirred up trouble for him time and again—yet still, he suspended his own safety for mine?
Everything’s starting to become clearer now that I’m facing my imminent death. All the times I fought, struggled, and ran. He could’ve hurt me for them. He had ample opportunity to throw up his hands and surrender. Hand me over and be done with it.
But he didn’t.
He never gave up on me.
He put years of loyalty, friendship, and security on the line. For me. To protect me.
And I villainized him for it.
Frankie chokes on her words, caught between short, panicked breaths.
“There has to be another way.” Remorse burns behind her blown pupils, sharp as light through a magnifying glass, blinding.
I look away, my eyes catching on the tension blooming across my hands, my knuckles a pale contrast against the black leather I cling to.
I want to hate her. Despise her for being the source of my bleak end, but I can’t. This isn’t her fault, or his, or even my own.
It’s just my rotten luck finally making its way to me.
Unavoidable.
Just like every other tragedy that’s riddled me along the way since my father’s departure. There’s no other path that could be forged besides the one I’m destined for, and it looks like my fight ends here.
An exasperated expression rolls behind Antonio’s eyes as he tightens his arm around Frankie’s neck to quiet her again. “You stay out of this,” he grunts, aggravated and impatient.
“Let her fucking go,” Ledger growls, his body radiating with heated fury as his eyes flick from Antonio to lock on Tanner, whose eyes glint with stubborn desperation.
“He’ll let her go the moment you bring him Aria,” he says, his tone weakening like he’s afraid of what Ledger might say. As if he’ll ever risk Frankie’s life for my own.
He’s already given his answer, but he’s made no move to hand me over. His mind must be reeling with ways to absolve us both, but it’s futile.
We won’t both make it out alive.
I know it.
Tears well again, stinging the edges of my eyes with a heartbreaking acceptance.
She knows it, too. Which is why guilt still shines in her eyes as they hold mine, a silent apology.
He most definitely knows it. It’s why I feel him straining beneath my fingertips, his body like a boulder, unwilling to budge, because he knows that once he does—and eventually, he will—I’ll be done for.
If I try to run now, I’ll just get shot on the spot. A pathetic, lonely way to go. I’d rather accept my death with dignity. Everything else is out of my scope of control…but not this. How I react? My response to injustice? That’s my own. Nobody can take that away from me.
Antonio snaps again, his feet shifting restlessly. “You said he’d be on board, Scott.” His tone is seething, his face molten with rage. A curled finger twitches against the trigger to his gun, and I recoil.
What if he decides to shoot all of us?
The thought sends chills rippling down my spine. I shake it off, coming to terms that if he wanted them all dead, he would’ve done it already.
The only thing in the way of reconciliation is me. I’m the cork in a shaken bottle, wedged between him and the rest of his crew. Once popped off, they’ll celebrate their reunion, and life will go on exactly as it had before I ever came into the picture.
My throat tightens. I know, despite Ledger’s previous threats, that that isn’t entirely true. But I can’t accept the alternative. It hurts too much.
Eventually, the memory of me will fade, and any regret will be buried here in time. Forgotten. Ancient.
It’s easier to believe that than risk knowing that there could’ve been more for us, an alternate ending of my choosing. The possibility now feels crushing.
A small voice in the back of my mind begs me not to drag the pain of what-ifs out during my final moments.
Instead, just sit with the knowledge that he tried his best to help me.
That during my short time on Earth, there was someone who cared enough to try for me.
That’s more than I’ve ever gotten before.
My eyes sting before a stream of tears sets my cheeks ablaze.
“Wilson.” Tanner’s voice cuts through the fog; it doesn’t exactly break, but it bends with restrained emotion. “Let’s be done. Just hand her to me.”
Tension envelopes the space. Seconds trickle by.
Antonio nudges his barrel higher along the side of Frankie’s face, the act infuriating Ledger as intended, snapping him into action. “Fine,” he grits between clenched teeth. “I said fine.”
My chest clenches. Aches. Burns. Tears continue to gush from me like a spring that never runs dry, endless and unbroken. Unlike my heart, which feels like it’s being sawn in half.
Snaking another hand around my waist, he slowly drags me to his front, a sob lodging in my throat as something hard nudges my side.
With air trapped in my lungs, my hand flings toward the foreign pressure, fingers colliding with his own and sending sharp electric currents throughout my body.
He wraps his larger fingers around my hand, molding it around what feels like a handle of some type of blade in the front pocket of my sweatshirt.
My ears drum on, drowning out everything else going on around us. Someone speaks, but I can’t tell who or what they’ve said. The warmth of his touch leaves me as he slips away with a subtle motion, locking his grip around my elbow and shoulder before he moves us forward.
Why’d he give me his knife? What am I meant to do with it?
Stab his partner?
I can’t…I don’t know…I’ve never—
It doesn’t matter. Both men are armed with guns, bullets that easily outperform a single blade, especially when it’s wielded by someone like me. Tanner narrows his eyes at me, full of hatred and disgust. Electric tension builds under my skin as we near him, my skin vibrating with adrenaline.
Suddenly, I don’t feel as brave. The desire to whirl around and beg for my life climbs higher and higher until it’s too late, and I find myself before him.
There’s not a hint of kindness anywhere to be found.
No mercy. Only scornful bitterness etched into every hard line of his face as he glares at me.
Ledger’s solid protective frame leans away from me, leaving me exposed. Tanner grabs my elbow, twisting me around so he doesn’t have to look at me.
My pulse spikes. Blood whooshes in my ears, like I’ve slipped underwater. I’m drowning.
He levels the gun at my head.
A sharp cry comes from Frankie as she stumbles toward her brother, embracing him. I don’t blame them for choosing each other, but watching them now is a reminder of what’s to come, the cost to their rekindled connection.
My death.
I meet their gazes as they turn to face me. A sickly pallor creeps over Frankie, and Ledger—God, Ledger looks like he’s been met by the Grim Reaper himself. I’ve never seen him so afraid, the emotion ill-fitting on him, foreign.
Cold steel brushes into my hairline, the barrel adjusting just slightly as his fingers curl tighter along the trigger. I clench my teeth, feeling my soul rip out of my body before the bullet even flies out, anticipating the blow.
Series of my life flashes before my eyes. Brief. Immediate. Like a highlight reel.
Then I remember the knife.
I slip a hand inside my pocket, my heart slamming violently against my chest as I brace myself for impact, thinking it’s too late. That the bullet will tear through my skull at any moment.
Risking everything, Ledger lunges forward and shouts, “Wait!”
It’s enough of a distraction. My fingers glide down the exposed hard edge of the blade, curling my fingers around the thick handle before yanking it out.
Any and every thought is suspended. I act fast, swinging it aside, then jabbing it as hard as I can into Tanner’s thigh.
“Fuck!” he roars, guttural and raw with pain.
I rip the knife out and jerk my head low just before an earsplitting bang detonates beside my ear. It ruptures my hearing, leaving me momentarily deaf to anything besides a high-pitched ring that rattles my skull.
I eye the exit and run.
Chaos erupts behind me, gunfire shredding the air in rapid bursts as I hurl myself forward, spine curled, every shot driving me faster. I don’t look back.
Even as I reach the back door, I barrel through the gap between the metal doors, just wide enough to sprint through without slowing, my breath hitching every time I hear another shot, certain one of them will finally tear through me.
I make it out.
My eyes squint against the stark sun as I veer away from the doorframe, dodging stray bullets and nearly losing my footing.
Pain laces up my ankle and I cry out, nose scrunched.
Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.
Keep moving.