49
W e ride.
For Reese.
“Her chalet?” Wyatt shouts from beside me, racing Pepita like hell.
“No. The lake.”
I know where she is. Unexplainable. Inevitable. That tug in my gut that will always lead me to my girl.
I eye my little brother. “Head on a fuckin’ swivel, kid.” He’s helping me out, but if anything happens to him…
Wyatt nods.
The pistol on my side slaps. Rain pelts us, harsh and disorienting. Sunlight struggles to slip through the clouds. Either way, the light is dim, but we have enough to get us there.
I shut my brain off, so I can’t think about what that motherfucker is doing to Reese. I focus on speed. On the pump of my heart, on that ache in my gut that tells me she’s near. She’s still alive.
We wind our way through the trees, parallel to the chalets. Even with the mud and broken tree branches hindering our path, Eephus is fast. Almost like he knows everything is at stake.
Goddamn everything.
When we round the bend to the lake, I stop and jump from Eephus. I don’t wait for Wyatt. I take off, crashing through the brush and the high grass.
Don’t be too late, please don’t be too fucking late , I beg the universe.
I sprint toward the lake, my breath coming in harsh gasps of air.
And yet, I don’t stop.
I break out of the forest and spot Gavin. He stands chest-deep in the lake, cackling at the sky like a maniac. But there’s no sign of Reese.
My heart drops.
No.
Rage blooms inside of me. Everything I see is red.
I sprint, splashing into the water. “Where is she?” I scream.
Surprised, Gavin turns. Then he laughs maniacally.
I grab the collar of his shirt, shaking him. “Where the fuck is she?”
Murderous rage spreads through my body. Fuck the gun. I want bone on bone. Blood on blood.I wind up my arm like it’s the best pitch of my life and let it fucking rip. Right into the asshole’s face. His left cheek collapses. My knuckles bust. The blood, the pain, feels good. I could keep going. Kill him without batting an eye. Tear his throat out. Torture him for everything he’s done to Reese.
But I have to find her.
“Tell me where the fuck she is,” I yell, shaking him.
“She’s mine!” he howls. “If I can’t have her, no one can.”
Panic creeps up the back of my neck.
I follow his eyeline.
Beneath the water.
God no.
“Get her.” Wyatt’s bellow rings out beside me. “I got him.”
I release Gavin and dive into the water.
Sound disappears, replaced by silence. I swim hard toward the bottom, searching.
There she is.
Reese floats limply in the murky water, her wavy hair mushrooming, hiding her face completely.
I grab her wrist and shoot us for the surface. I swim to the shore, sheltering her face against my chest so she doesn’t inhale more water.
When my feet touch solid ground, I curl my arms beneath her, lifting her from the water and rushing to the muddy bank.
I drop to my knees, turning her onto her side. Water pours from her mouth.
She’s still. So goddamn still.
“Reese,” I choke out, putting my fingers to her neck to check for a pulse. It’s thin and thready, but it’s there. I hear Reese’s lungs bubbling and struggling, but air still fills them.
Panic rises in my chest. “Breathe. Fucking breathe.”
Reese’s mouth parts slightly, her eyes fluttering as violent coughs erupt from her throat. Her chest rises, each breath a shaky shudder.
I curl her into my body, cradling her close. “That’s it,” I say, pushing tangled hair out of her face as she gulps air. “That’s my girl. That’s my good fucking girl.”
I nearly lose it when she lays those emerald eyes on me.
“You found me.” Her voice is a soft breath of sound. Sweet and sad, it slips over me.
I cup her cheek. “Never losing you. I told you that, didn’t I?”
“Mouse,” she gasps. “She’s okay.” Her smile is weak.
A shaky laugh tears out of me. “Goddamn, baby. We’re gonna have a talk about that later.”
At the sounds of a struggle, I glance back over my shoulder.
“Wyatt,” I shout as he goes under.
But I shouldn’t have worried. He pops quickly to the surface with Gavin’s collar clenched in his hands.Wyatt knocks him out cold with an uppercut to the jaw, and he sinks beneath the water.
Wyatt hesitates.
“Leave him,” I order.
That’s where he stays—rotting at the bottom of the lake. He took Reese from me. He doesn’t get another chance.
I turn my attention back to Reese.
My stomach plummets.
Blood. It streams down her arms, her fingertips. Seeps from violent, jagged wounds, staining the mud beneath us. There’s so much of it. Too much.
“Christ,” I rasp. My heart feels like it’s being ripped in half. “Christ, Birdie.”
“Sorry,” she slurs, pale and trembling. “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it…”
My vision blurs as hot tears stream down my face. I rock her in my arms, trying to warm her body. “I know, I know, baby.”
“Fuck,” Wyatt whispers, collapsing to his knees.
“Don’t go to sleep,” I order when her eyes flutter shut. Panic rises in me. “You hear me? Stay with me. I won’t lose you.”
Wyatt shucks off his overshirt. Using his knife, he cuts the fabric into thin strips of makeshift bandages. With shaky hands, he ties the fabric around Reese’s wrists and the jagged cuts on her arms.
“Thanks,” Reese whispers.
Wyatt swallows, the muscles in his jaw working as he forces a smile. “You got it.” My brother meets my gaze. “Ford,” he says low and serious.
The pity, the fear in his eyes, scares me shitless.
My hold tightens around Reese. “Let’s get you up, Birdie. Get you better.”
Wyatt and I move as one. I gather Reese up, carrying her to the trailhead. Her head hangs limply over my arms. Her face is pale, her lips blue. Each breath she takes is less full than the last. Our boots pound down the trail.
“Reese,” I bark, and slowly, with fight, she opens her eyes. “You fucking hang on, you hear me? No sleeping. Not now.”
She whimpers. “Ford…I—”
“Don’t,” I warn, seeing what she’s about to do. I squeeze Reese to my chest. Like I can give her all the blood in my veins. “Don’t you fucking dare say it.”
“I’m gonna say it,” she whispers.
“You’re a brat,” I growl.
“I—”
“ No .”
I grit my teeth and push faster, running now. Lights flicker in the distance. Headlights.
“Country Boy.” Her voice is so quiet, so damn soft. “I love you.”
“Fuck.” Tears stream down my cheeks. My heart breaks. Everything that matters is here in my arms. There’s no me without her.
“I love you,” I husk. “I fuckin’ love you, Birdie Girl.”
But she doesn’t open her eyes.
“Reese?” I shake her, frantic. Her face lolls against my chest.
Then, out of the forest, a roar of an engine.
Davis’s truck crashes through the trees. I almost scream out to the sky.
We’re going to make it in time. We have to.