Chapter 18
The bedroom door opened and the rush of relief that hit me when I saw Tristan standing there made me lightheaded. He looked better, a little less pale than when he left.
Thank you.
”We need to go, Luna.”
The words had barely left his lips, when suddenly, through the open bedroom door, I heard a series of sharp, distinct pops.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The sound was unmistakable, sending a jolt of fear through my body. It was quickly followed by the rapid staccato of what sounded like an army of guns firing, the noise echoing through the house and causing my heart to race with dread. I froze, my mind reeling as I tried to process the chaos erupting around us, wondering what fresh hell awaited me now.
My eyes flew to Tristan as he stilled, listening. Without a word, he turned and rushed from the room, one hand over the hole in his side.
”Tristan!” I screamed, my voice raw with terror. There was more gunfire, the harsh blasts ripping through the air, and this time, I heard shouts—angry, frantic voices I couldn”t identify. They seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, surrounding the house in a cacophony of chaos and violence.
Oh, my god. A rush of adrenaline surged through my veins, the force of it throwing me off balance. I staggered, catching myself against the wall as my heart raced wildly in my chest, pounding against my ribs like it wanted to break free and take off without me. Fear prickled along my skin, raising the fine hairs on the back of my neck and sending icy tendrils of dread slithering down my spine. I couldn”t seem to catch my breath, my lungs constricting as panic clawed at my throat. What the hell was happening? Were we under attack?
Still barefoot, I ran through the mess on the floor and shook the cell door, knowing it would do no good. ”Tristan!” I screamed again.
I ran into the bathroom, searching for something I could use as a weapon.
”Luna.”
I froze behind the bathroom door. Tristan. It was Tristan. A sob of relief tried to escape, and I slapped my hand over my mouth. I stayed where I was. I wasn”t stupid. It could be a trap. Someone could have him at gunpoint.
Someone like Gino. Because who else would be attacking us?
I heard the clink of a key in the lock and the creak of the cell door. ”Luna!”
Peering through the crack between the door and the wall, I saw him. Tristan was inside the cell. He had a gun in his left hand. And he was alone.
As soon as I came out, he grabbed my arm. ”Come on. We have to go.”
”Where are you taking me?” I cried. Now that I was out of that room, it sounded like World War 3 was happening right outside his door. ”Tristan, we can”t go out there.”
At the front door, he stopped and turned to face me. I sucked in a breath when I saw how dead his eyes were. The fire that always burned within them when he looked at me was gone, and I wouldn”t admit to myself how much I missed it. Ignoring the chaos outside, he gently brushed my hair back from my face. ”Luca has a safe room in his house. I”m taking you there.”
”You told me I”d be safe here. You told me I”d be safe in your cell. You could lock us both in.” I didn”t know why I was arguing with him. The only thing I”d ever wanted was to be out of that fucking cell. But I couldn”t let him leave again. He was in no shape to fight.
”That was before your father brought a Russian army to our doorstep.” He coughed, wincing.
”We can hide here,” I insisted.
But he tightened his jaw and shook his head. ”It”s all right. You”re safe with me. I won”t let anything happen to you.” Taking my hand, he cracked open the door and looked around. Then he turned and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. ”You do not leave my side, do you understand? You stay with me. No matter what. And you do exactly as I say.”
I nodded.
Opening the door wide, he pulled me outside and around the side of the house. Most of the gunfire and shouting was coming from closer to Luca”s. My brother! ”Logan!”
Thinking back, I would remember the way he paused before he said, ”He”s in the safe room with Veda.”
”How do you know that?”
”Because if Luca didn”t put him in there, Veda would make sure he was. A fucking bomb could blow up half the cliff and they”d be fine in that room.” He glanced back at me, and his dark eyes traveled over my face. ”That”s where I”m taking you.”
”How?” I asked him, digging in my heels. ”Tristan! We won”t make it!”
”We”ll make it. I will keep you safe, Luna. You just have to trust me.”
”She was never yours to protect, boy. And you can”t have her.”
Fear curled around my spine as my head snapped to the left to find my father standing less than thirty feet away. He was alone, and he had a pistol in his hand. It was pointed at me.
Tristan rammed into my right side, and I went down as Gino”s gun went off. I landed on the ground hard, his heavy weight on top of me. I heard more shots, his body jerking as he was hit by multiple slugs.
”Nooooo!” I screamed.
”Run, Luna.” Trembling with the effort it took him, Tristan roared with rage as he rose onto one knee, swinging his gun up and shooting before he collapsed to the side.
Gino staggered back, but he had a smile on his face as he watched Tristan fall.
Tristan didn”t move. Blood seeped from beneath him, soaking into the dirt.
No. No no no no no. This wasn”t happening.
”Tristan,” I sobbed, crawling to him. I rolled him to his back, a scream building in my throat when I saw his eyes were closed and his mouth slack. ”No. Tristan, no.” I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. ”Wake up. Please wake up.” I looked around wildly, searching for someone, anyone, who could help.
But there was only my father. Behind him, fires broke out around Luca”s house, illuminating him like the demon he was. He staggered toward me, tucking his gun into his pants at the small of his back. ”Luna, come.”
”No!” I screamed. ”I”m not going anywhere with you!” Bending over Tristan, I pressed my ear to his chest, holding my breath while I listened for his heartbeat. But there was so much noise. I couldn”t hear anything. ”Tristan, please,” I whispered. ”Don”t leave me. Please don”t leave me.”
”He”s dead, Luna,” Gino said. He held out a hand to me. ”Your place is with me. Come home, Luna. I promise things will be better.”
I raised my head, every cell in my body filled with hatred for this man. ”You”re nothing to me!”
Gino”s eyes narrowed. ”I”m your father.”
”You”re a fucking monster.”
Grabbing Tristans”s gun from his hand, pure rage welled up inside of me as I pointed it at my father and pulled the trigger, over and over, until there were no more bullets. Still, I fired. Even when he was face down on the ground and unmoving, I fired.
I kept pulling the trigger until someone grabbed my wrist and I realized I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I snapped my mouth shut, and at first, I didn”t understand what was happening. Then I looked up.
”We need to go, Luni. Come on.”
Logan was pulling me to my feet. ”Tristan.”
He glanced down at him and shook his head. ”We need to go,” he repeated. ”It”s our only chance. Luca will kill us if he finds us here with him.”
In a daze, I let him pull me to my feet, and we ran through the trees to the edge of the property.
We ran until my lungs burned and my legs threatened to give out from under me. I had no idea where Logan was taking me, but at that point, I didn”t care. Visions of Tristan lying on the ground echoed in my head. Because of me. Because he”d tried to protect me from my father.
He”d kept me safe. Just like he promised.
I stumbled. I”d just killed my own father. Emptied an entire clip into his body. And I felt…nothing.
Logan”s grip on my hand tightened as he pulled me through the dense undergrowth along the edge of the property. Just like when I”d run from Gino the first time, I didn”t feel the rocks and burs digging into my bare feet. I could hear shouts in the distance behind us, and more gunfire, but they seemed to be getting farther away with each passing second.
Finally, we got to the gate. No one was manning it, and we slipped through easily and out onto the road.
Then we kept running.
We followed the road for what felt like miles. The night air was cold around us, and yet sweat dripped down my spine. But I barely noticed. All I could feel was the gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be.
We came to another road, and Logan stopped, breathing hard. I could tell he was in pain. ”We need to stop.” My voice was hoarse from screaming and crying, and at first, I didn”t think he”d heard me.
”No. This way.” He tugged me to the left.
A little slower now, we stuck to the side of the road, taking advantage of the darkness and hiding whenever a car went by. I didn”t know if Luca would bother to look for us, but Logan was right, we shouldn”t take the chance.
My body moved on autopilot, numb and disconnected from my mind as I stumbled along the dark road beside Logan. The events of the night played over and over in my head like a horror movie I couldn”t turn off.
Tristan lying motionless on the ground, blood pooling beneath him. My father”s cold, dead eyes staring up at the night sky. The weight of the gun in my hands as I pulled the trigger again and again.
I felt like I was no longer in my body. Like I was watching this stupid girl run barefoot down the side of the road, shivering with cold.
Tristan was dead.
The man who”d saved me only to leave me rotting in a cell, and yet somehow made me feel more alive than I ever had before...was gone. I couldn”t wrap my mind around it, couldn”t accept that I would never again see his dark eyes burning into mine or feel the heat of his touch on my skin.
But I should be happy. After all, this was the same man who”d killed my mother.
It was too much to process, too much to bear. I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside out.
I wanted to scream, to cry, to rage against the cruelty of the world. But I couldn”t. I was empty, hollowed out by grief and shock and a pain so deep it stole the very breath from my lungs. So I just kept moving, one foot in front of the other, letting Logan lead me further away from the carnage we”d left behind.
I didn”t know where we were going. I didn”t care. Nothing mattered anymore. The only thing I could feel was the aching void in my chest where Tristan had been, and the knowledge that I would never be whole again.