20. CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SASHA
T he decision I took wasn’t made lightly. It was a toss up between protecting him and protecting myself. I didn’t realize I could choose both.
I’d planned to leave him in the morning when the sun just made its first appearance. There was a bus at the terminal which was supposed to leave at 5:44 am. My body somehow woke up at exactly 5:00 am so, thankfully the alarm I had set for ten minutes later didn’t bother Zeke.
I slipped out of bed and quietly collected my things before I shoved them in my duffle bag. It included the photos I had of my mom, my passports, ID and bank cards as well as the camera Zeke gifted me when we arrived at the farmhouse.
Glancing back at the bed, I blew him a final kiss and whispered an apology. It was freezing last night so he had the blankets wrapped around himself and even covered his head. I was tempted to go up to him and kiss him goodbye but I knew that could wake him up. And if he woke up there was no doubt in my mind he’d try to stop me. I couldn’t have that.
So I thought about our kisses from the night before and wiped the single tear that dropped to my cheek before I left him alone. It was our goodbye kiss but he had no clue I was going to leave.
The door creaked as I opened it gently but was fine when I closed it shut. It was hard to leave him behind, but it was the right choice. My life wasn’t worth dying for. He shouldn’t have to lose his life just to protect me. No one should. I’m not that worthy of such courage or kindness.
Zeke deserved a life of happiness far from me. Despite how he saw himself, Zeke was a good, decent person. At least to me. If you crossed me though, then yeah, the beast in him would pop its ugly head out and good luck with that.
I left a note on the kitchen island for Zeke to find. It was cowardly of me, I knew it, but I couldn’t be the sitting duck waiting to be killed with Zeke playing the hunter who was supposed to annihilate my enemies.
I closed the front door gently and stepped onto the porch before my boots crunched on the snow. It was going to be a longer walk to get to the bus stop, but since I’d done further walking in the middle of a forest, I knew I could do this.
I kept my head down the entire way. The cold air left my mouth dry and the slight gust of wind stung my eyes. By the time I reached the bus stop there was already one waiting. I hurried on with no minutes to spare and gave the driver the only change I could find. Thank God it was enough. I took my seat in the second last row. I wanted to get as far away from this place as I could for the sake of keeping Zeke safe.
After I sat down, another person hopped on board and decided to sit right next to me. The entire damn bus was empty but he chose to park his ass next to mine.
When I looked at the guy to tell him off, my heart skipped a beat. His head lifted and his smile authentic, but his eyes were filled with his trademark wrath. “You seriously think you could just sneak out like that?”
“Zeke? But I just…” I pointed outside the bus in the direction of the property. “I just saw you in bed.”
“I take it you didn’t lift the covers to say goodbye to me,” he replied and leaned back a little. He placed his hand on the seat of the bus around my shoulder. “Didn’t want to risk waking me up, did you? But I was already awake. I heard your plans on the phone a couple of nights ago and figured I’d get up earlier than you and join you on a bus ride. Who helped you? Reece? Leo?”
“Leo,” I answered gently. “I took your phone and called him up while you were asleep.”
I had betrayed him and his face expressed exactly that. He smiled but it was combined with gritted teeth and eyes that looked like golden flames. “So, where are we off to?”
I slumped my shoulders in defeat. “I’m sorry, Zeke.”
It was wrong of me to sneak out like that but I seriously had no other option if I was going to protect him just like he protected me.
The countryside was beautiful but desolate. All we drove by were large properties, houses, and animals. The window was cranked down and I could smell the farm life. The snow was deep and there were a few cars submerged under the white powder.
We rode in silence. I felt the anger seethe from Zeke. It was about fifteen minutes before we reached the next bus stop. Zeke pressed the red button on the stainless steel pole. “We’re getting off here.”
“I’m sorry, Zeke, but I can’t.”
“Look at my face,” he said sternly. “Do you think I’m giving you an option here?”
His nostrils widened and I could see his teeth through his glare. Zeke’s eyes were cold and lacked the warmth they usually had when he looked at me.
The bus screeched and pulled to the side of the curb at the stop. The doors sprang wide and Zeke urged me to get out of my seat. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my duffle bag before marching down the aisle to exit the bus. I thanked the driver and stepped off. The cold air hit me like a slap in the face.
Zeke followed behind me. “You seriously think I’m going to let you leave when the threat is still out there?”
My duffle bag landed on a puff of snow when I tossed it aside. “Do you think I want to stay when the threat is so close to me? To you?” I shook my head in defiance. “I’m not going through this again.”
“Going through what, Sasha?”
“Putting your life at risk because of me.”
“Are you scared because of how I feel about you?” he questioned. “Is that it? Because if it is, I can put my feelings aside and give you space once the threat is over.”
“No, Zeke, it’s not like that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’m scared because of how I feel about you,” I cried out, fighting back the familiar tears. “It’s because I love you, Zeke. Despite the crap you put me through, and the fact that you stalked me for like two years, I don’t want to lose you in the most horrific way, because I love you.”
Zeke’s chest caved in and then he stilled for a moment, silent until he muttered, “You what?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” And then I realized I said it out loud. My hands clasped over my mouth. I wasn’t ashamed of saying it, I guessed I was surprised I admitted it out loud, especially to him. Maybe I fought myself but I couldn’t fight my feelings for him anymore. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, the knowledge that I had fallen for him, but somehow I just knew.
Zeke strode forward and cradled my face in his hands. “Say it again, Sash.”
I uncovered my lips which now tasted like salt from my tears. “I love you, Zeke.”
He lunged forward and slammed our mouths together and the force would have thrown me back if he hadn’t held me in place. He’d kissed me before but not like this. It’s like he was waiting for this moment, for my declaration of love before he consumed me in ways that I’d never been consumed before. It was almost painful the way he claimed my mouth but it was pain I’d feel a thousand times over if it meant that he would kiss me like this.
I didn’t think I’d open my heart again to anyone, but there I was letting Zeke reach the pieces of me I tried so hard to ignore. He punctured the walls I worked so hard to keep up only for fragments of each brick to fall apart, allowing him inside, letting me love him.
When Zeke pulled away I managed to capture some air into my chest with a heavy breath.
“Say it again, baby.”
I smiled as the tears started to dry up. “I love you, Zeke.”
“There’s no chance I’m letting you go,” he affirmed by squeezing my cheeks. “We’re going to get through this together.” I nodded and he smiled. “Besides, how many times have I told you, if you run away from me, there will be just one more person hunting you down, and I’ll always find you, Sash. Always.”
T he two of us made our way back to the house. We jumped on the bus on the other side of the road. It was a couple of minutes late so we were lucky we didn’t have to wait two hours for the next one. After the fifteen minute ride, we got off and started our walk. What little sunrise we had, peeked through the clouds and warmed me up slightly. I hoped Zeke would forgive me for attempting to leave not only him but this place behind. My initial plan was to go to the airport and fly to some town no one has heard of. I would have stayed there until things died over and made my way to Australia.
“Man, I’m tired.” I huffed out some air and watched the fog escape my mouth. I wasn’t used to walking in snow and it was harder than I imagined it would be. My legs started to feel heavy after a while. “Wait, how did you get to the bus stop and I didn’t see you?”
“I was at the bus stop waiting for you but since you had your head down you didn’t notice me,” he said. “You bolted in before I could stop you.”
We were almost there. The house closed in and I sighed, relieved that we didn’t have much longer to walk. We trekked down the pathway that was covered in snow. “I miss summer I think. I mean, I love winter, but this is on another level.” When Zeke stopped walking I turned to him and smiled. “You can’t be tired already, can you? There’s no way.” His eyes zoned in on the house and his face looked pale. It was the same appearance on him when he found the tracking device in my bracelet. “What’s wrong?”
“Shhh.” He motioned his finger over his lips and hushed. “I think someone’s here.”
“Probably Barrett,” I replied. We were running low on a few essential items. “Might be dropping off some things.”
That was until a single gunshot ricocheted from the second floor of the house.
Zeke turned to me and whispered, “They’ve found us.”