Chapter 74
Chapter Seventy-Four
Emilia
My ears are ringing. It’s an endless, high-pitched noise that drowns out everything else, and makes my head swim.
I blink.
The world tilts, then sways, slowly, back into focus.
Warmth trickles down the side of my face. Reaching up, I touch my temple with shaky fingers.
It’s wet.
Pulling back, I stare down at the red on my hand.
I’m bleeding.
My eyes blur as I try to sit up, the inside of the overturned truck spinning.
Germain is slumped at the opposite end. She’s conscious, eyes fluttering, but blood pours from her arm. She tries to move but only manages a small groan.
The Enforcers aren’t doing any better.
One lies crumpled beside me, his chest heaving, wheezy and panicked. The other is unconscious, collapsed over the divider, his gun loose, resting near his hand.
I swallow, pushing myself up onto my ass and ignoring the way my head throbs.
The rear doors wrench open.
For a second, the silhouette standing there is just a dark shape against the blinding glare of daylight. Heaving broad shoulders, tall stature, muscular arm gripping tight to the door, head ducked to look inside.
Then it blurs into focus.
“Zac,” I breathe out.
His entire body jolts, and relief sweeps across his face so fiercely that I feel it like a physical touch.
I suck in a breath as his chest heaves. He moves, scrambling into the wrecked truck before I can blink.
Less than a heartbeat later, he’s on his knees, hands roaming my shoulders, my face, my arms, checking for injuries, his eyes dark and desperate.
“Emilia.” His voice cracks, but beneath it, I can hear anger lacing his tone. His eyes harden at the blood dripping down my face. “Are you… Did they hurt you?”
I can only stare back at him, dizzy and suddenly so, so overwhelmed, because for most of today, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I would never see him again.
I take it all in—the sharp line of his jaw, the familiar, rigid tension in his shoulders, the way his brown eyes dart across my face, taking in every injury.
He’s here.
And he’s so close that I can feel the warmth of his breath when he exhales, the heat of his skin as his thumbs come to brush softly against my cheeks. My heart stumbles in my chest.
“Emilia!”
I force myself to nod.
His eyes widen before dropping back to my body. “Where are you hurt?”
Shit. That was the wrong answer.
I shake my head. “I’m… fine, Zac.”
He frowns, staring at my temple. “You’re a terrible liar.”
I just hum, eyes fluttering closed. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“Liar.”
“They didn’t hurt me much,” I amend, and I swear I hear his teeth grind.
A groan shudders from the corner. My eyes open just as Zac’s head snaps towards the Enforcer, his entire body going rigid.
Before I can say anything, his hands linger on my arms for half a second, checking I can hold myself upright, and then he launches himself across the space. He grabs the half-conscious Enforcer by his uniform, drags him upright, and slams him against the metal.
“Keys,” Zac growls, low and lethal. “For her cuffs. Now.”
The Enforcer blinks, dazed. “I… I don’t… I don’t have them—”
Zac’s fist plunges into his face. “Try again.”
“I don’t.” His words are slurred. “It wasn’t me…”
“It wasn’t him,” I say hoarsely. Zac glances over his shoulder. “A different guy cuffed me. I knocked him unconscious in the truck I was in before they dragged me here.”
Zac stares at me, eyes flickering with something I swear is admiration before his jaw sets and he nods. He slams the Enforcer into the side of the truck, his head ricocheting off the metal, and he collapses to the ground, silent.
Zac’s arms curl around me gently. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” he says softly.
Then another, feminine groan splutters from beside us. So focused on me, Zac only turns towards her now, and his entire being freezes.
“She’s here?” he asks, tone disbelieving.
“Yeah,” I mutter, exhausted and bitter. “Apparently, I made enough of a stir to be blessed with the head of the State personally overseeing my execution.”
A growl vibrates through Zac’s chest, and he moves like he’s about to go for her, but I stumble, dizziness swirling through me. Zac catches me without hesitation, an arm slung around my waist, pulling me against him. He guides us out of the wrecked truck.
A gunshot rings out, and I startle, glancing sideways to see someone I recognise from the Armoury in front of a slumped Enforcer.
People I can only guess are Zac’s friends move through the vehicles, raiding the trucks for supplies.
Riley and Zac are the only ones without face coverings, both also sporting colourful black eyes.
I spy Anna’s long hair and her green eyes hesitate on mine before she returns to what she was doing, handing an armful of ammo to someone.
I’m shocked to see her here.
My eyes stop on two familiar figures—recognisable even through their masks. My lips part.
Zac raises his voice. “Sam! Keys for Emilia’s cuffs should be in the first truck. She took down an Enforcer in there, and he should have them on him.”
Sam nods, giving me a quick glance before he sprints away.
I stare after him, then back to Rayden. “What… What are you two doing here?”
Rayden just stares at me, eyes full to the brim with turmoil.
Zac gestures back towards the wreck. “Riley! Germain’s alive, and she’s in the fucking truck.”
Riley’s expression darkens into one of pure malice, and he nods sharply, signalling for his mates to follow him.
Sam returns seconds later, panting, keys in hand. Zac turns me gently, taking the key and gently working to free the metal cuffs. The moment they clatter to the ground, I clutch my sore wrists to my chest, softly massaging them.
My eyes rake back over Zac, and Sam, and Rayden, all three of them staring down at me.
Without a second thought, I step forward and hug Sam. “Thank you,” I breathe.
He holds me tight, his hand pressing against my spine as he says, “Always.”
I pull back, giving him a small smile.
Lifting a hand to the bottom of his balaclava, Rayden tugs it up, revealing his face. Those usually bright green eyes are shadowed with something I’ve never seen before, and without hesitating, I throw my arms around him.
“Thank you so much, Ray,” I say.
He clutches tight, arms smoothing over my back. “There’s nothing to thank me for, Mils. I’ll always save you, no matter the cost.”
I pull back, smiling, and slowly, he lets me go.
Before any of us can speak, there’s movement out of the corner of my eye. Riley reappears from the wrecked truck, his expression hard and unyielding. Two of his friends drag Germain between them, her feet stumbling in her heels.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
Anna whips towards them, mask still on. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“This is the best opportunity we’ve had,” Riley says, voice clipped. “You think we should leave her behind?”
“Taking her is dangerous.” Her eyes flash, grip tightening around her rifle. “Too fucking dangerous.”
“How?” Riley fires back. “They can’t track her.”
“They’ll send everything they’ve got if she gets taken,” Anna bites out. “Every last shred of manpower—”
Riley explodes. “And what the hell do you think will happen if she goes back now, huh? Same fucking manpower looking for us. Same bloody bloodbath. At least this way, we get something out of it. Information. Leverage. A goddamn fucking chance.”
“This will paint a target—”
“There’s already a target on our backs,” he snaps. “And how do you think you’ll fare now? She’s heard your voice. Do you seriously trust that she hasn’t recognised it?”
Anna’s eyes flare, arms crossing over her chest, but she just stares at Riley and shakes her head. The rest of us watch, silent as the two argue. A low hum suddenly fills the silence, rumbles that grow louder and louder… coming from beyond Zac’s truck.
Every single one of us looks towards it.
All at once, ninety percent of the group is sprinting up to the road, towards the noise. Zac whirls on his heel, eyes wild when he sees me moving.
“Emilia, stay here,” he snaps.
“No.”
“Yes.” His eyes flicker reluctantly, jaw twitching, to the man beside me. “Rayden, keep her here. Don’t let her move.”
And then he’s gone, racing after the others.