Chapter 25 Ava
Ava
Something shifts.
I don’t see it.
I feel it.
The air goes still—too still—the kind of quiet that presses against your skin like a warning you’re already too late to act on.
My pulse spikes.
“Ethan—”
The shot cracks.
Sharp.
Clean.
Not aimed at me—
Just enough to pull focus.
My body reacts before my mind catches up.
Turn—
Shift—
Reach—
Too late.
Arms slam into me from behind.
Hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
Controlled.
Precise.
Not random.
Not sloppy.
Trained.
My weapon is gone before my fingers can tighten around it.
“El—!”
His name tears out of me—
Cut short—
A hand clamps over my mouth—
Something pressed hard against it—
Cloth.
Wet.
Chemical.
No.
No—
I twist hard, driving my elbow back—
Connect—
A grunt—
But they’re already adjusting.
Already countering.
They knew.
That’s what hits hardest.
They knew exactly how I’d fight.
A hand locks around my wrist.
Another pins my shoulders.
I kick—hard—catch something—
But it doesn’t slow them.
My lungs burn.
The smell floods in.
Sharp.
Bitter.
Wrong.
My vision blurs.
Edges softening.
Darkness creeping in at the corners.
I fight harder.
Refuse it.
Not like this—
Not again—
Through the haze, I catch movement—
Ethan—
Turning—
Seeing—
Too far—
Too late—
My fingers reach—
Don’t make it—
And then—
everything goes dark.