Chapter 15 #2
And I’ll be goddamned if I let her become another ghost in my fucking collection.
Not her. Not this time.
“Blair,” I choke out, dropping to my knees beside her. My blade’s out before I register it, sawing through the zip ties like they’re tissue. My hands are shaking so hard I almost miss. I cup her face. She’s still warm, but barely. Her chest rises but it’s shallow. Weak.
“Blair, come on, baby. Stay with me. Look at me.” My voice cracks. “Please.”
She doesn’t move.
“DAGGER!” I roar, voice raw, shredded, like it’s been clawed out of my chest.
He barrels in behind me, blade dripping, shoulders heaving like he ran through hell to get here. His eyes hit Blair, and everything in him jolts. It’s subtle, a half-second glitch in his fury, but I see it. The war drops for a breath. The man underneath breaks.
Then it’s back.
“Is she?—?”
“Not yet,” I grind out, hands flying as I cut the last zip tie. “But fuck—she’s close. Fuck, look what they did to her, man. She’s barely hanging on. If we don’t move now, we’re gonna fucking lose her.”
His jaw locks. Muscles flex like he wants to punch the wall or kill someone. Instead, he nods once—sharp, fast.
“Get her in the car,” he snaps, already backing toward the door. “Now. Go.”
We don’t run, we fucking fly. Up the stairs, past bodies, the blood and all the fucking chaos we left behind. Stone and Link are covering the exit, guns still smoking, eyes wide as we burst through the main door.
They don’t ask questions. They see her and they know we have to fucking move.
I yank open the passenger door, shove the seat forward. Dagger’s already there—blood-slick, breath ragged, eyes locked on her like the world’s ending. He climbs into the back, boots slamming the floor, hands out.
“Fucking give her to me,” he growls.
I hesitate for half a second—just one—but then I lower her into his arms, careful like she’s made of glass. His hands catch her, cradling her against his chest like she’s the last real thing left on this fucked-up planet.
Then I’m gone.
I slam the door shut, round the hood, and throw myself into the driver’s seat. Key in. Engine roars to life. I don’t look back —I can’t. I just drive. Hard. Fast. Tires scream as I rip onto the street, headed straight for the hospital like the road might crack open beneath us.
Dagger’s voice breaks. Shattered. “I swear to God, Blair—don’t. Don’t you fucking do this to me.”
From the driver’s seat, I glance back, and I know.
I know the second her body jerks.
Once.
Then again.
She’s going under.
“Shit,” Dagger growls, fumbling inside his jacket. “No, no—don’t you fucking dare?—”
“What are you doing?” I bark, hands tightening on the wheel. “What the fuck is that?”
He yanks a small vial from an inner pocket, clear, with a faded red label, and breaks the cap with his thumb. “Naloxone,” he snaps. “For overdoses. You think I don’t keep shit on me? In this business? Just one dead kid at a drop and the whole block burns.”
He’s already got her jaw open, tipping the liquid into her slack mouth. “Come on, baby. Swallow. Swallow for me.”
Her throat doesn’t move.
He cradles the back of her head, massaging it, coaxing her to respond, his voice falling to a whisper. “That’s it, pretty girl. You gotta help me here, okay? You don’t get to leave like this.”
I flick my eyes between the road and the mirror. My heart’s in my throat, thudding like it’s trying to punch a hole through my spine. “You were carrying that around all night?”
He looks up, wild-eyed, blood on his fingers. “ Of course I fucking was. I deal to addicts, Noir. You think I don’t plan for worst-case shit?”
She makes a sound then, a sick, guttural croak, but nothing else.
Dagger brushes the hair from her face, all rough gentleness. “I was supposed to keep her safe,” he murmurs, more to himself. “She wasn’t supposed to?—”
Then her back arches. Violently.
“FUCK!” he roars. “She’s crashing! She’s fucking crashing!”
Blood-tinged foam leaks from her mouth. Her lips twitch, then go death-still.
“Blair—” my voice catches. “No, no, no. Come on , baby. Don’t you fucking do this?—”
Dagger’s already moving, already giving her breath, compressions, whatever it takes. “You don’t die on me. Do you hear me? You don’t fucking get to die!” I slam my foot down. Tires scream.
“Fuck, man—” my voice breaks, raw and useless. “She’s so fucking close?—”
“Then DRIVE, goddamn it! FLOOR IT!”
And I do.
God help me, I fucking do.
Horns blare as I tear through traffic, lights bleeding past in streaks, hospital signs rising like ghosts ahead.
“Stay with us,” Dagger pleads, his voice wrecked. “Baby, come on. Come back. Breathe. Please—fuck—just breathe.”
“Hold on,” I whisper, eyes burning. “You hold on, Blair. You fucking fight.”
And we’re both screaming her name into the night like it’ll anchor her, like it’ll drag her back.
Like if we scream loud enough, she won’t die.
But deep down, I know the truth.
We never should’ve brought her into this world.
Never should’ve let her breathe the same poison we’ve been drowning in for years.
This wasn’t her war.
And now it might be the last thing she ever knew.