Chapter 49
Clay
The vehicle doesn’t slow.
Doesn’t stop.
Doesn’t breathe.
It tears through the night like something chased by hell itself.
I sit hunched forward, one hand braced against my vest, the other gripping the edge of the seat as the pain finally starts to break through.
Not sharp.
Not clean.
Deep.
Bruising.
“Let me see it,” Lucas says.
I shake my head. “I’m fine.”
“Bull—”
“I said I’m fine.”
The kids are watching.
Every single one of them.
Wide eyes.
Silent.
Still shaking.
So I straighten.
Ignore the way my ribs protest.
Ignore the way breathing suddenly feels optional.
And I give them something steady to hold onto.
“We’re good,” I tell them.
My voice is calm.
Controlled.
Certain.
“We got you out. That’s what matters.”
One of the younger boys clutches the injured kid tighter. “Is he going to be okay?”
Lucas glances at me.
I nod once.
“He’s going to be okay,” I say.
Because he has to be.
Because they need to believe that.
Miles leans forward, checking the boy’s pulse again. “He’s still with us. We just need to get him to the doctors.”
Doctors.
That hits something in the back of my mind.
“Status on Bowers and Cole?” I ask.
Lucas pulls out his comm.
Static crackles.
Then—
A voice.
“Took you long enough.”
Relief hits harder than the bullet did.
Dr. Hannah Bowers.
Alive.
“Bowers,” Lucas says, sharp and focused. “Status.”
“We’re secure—for now,” she replies. Her voice is steady, but there’s strain underneath. “Cole’s with me. We’ve got two more kids here. One critical.”
Of course there are more.
There are always more.
“We’ll be at the hospital with the kids soon.”
Miles swears under his breath. “That’s not that far—but it’s not safe either. They are still chasing us.”
Nothing about tonight is safe.
Lucas looks at me. “We reroute?”
I look at the kids packed into the vehicle.
At the boy bleeding out on the floor.
At the ones already saved.
Then at the road ahead.
“We finish it,” I say.
No hesitation.
No debate.
Lucas nods once.
Decision made.
Olivia
I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep—
Until I wake up again.
This time, it’s quieter.
Softer.
The pain is still there.
But it’s dulled.
Manageable.
The first thing I feel—
Is him.
Russ.
His hand still wrapped around mine.
Like he never moved.
Like he never even thought about it.
My eyes shift to him.
He’s watching me.
Of course he is.
“You don’t sleep?” I murmur.
His mouth twitches slightly. “Not much.”
I study him.
The tension in his shoulders.
The exhaustion in his eyes.
The way he’s still sitting too alert—
Like the danger isn’t over.
Maybe for him, it never is.
“You should,” I say softly.
He shakes his head.
“I’m good right here.”
That does something to me.
Something quiet.
Something deep.
I swallow past it.
“You stayed,” I say again, softer this time.
He exhales slowly.
“Yeah.”
“Even when they said I’d be okay?”
His jaw tightens slightly.
“That’s not the same as knowing.”
I hold his gaze.
“And now?”
A beat.
Then—
“Now I know.”
The way he says it—
Certain.
Grounded.
Unshakable.
It settles something inside me I didn’t realize was still trembling.
My fingers tighten around his.
“I heard you,” I whisper.
That gets his attention.
His eyes sharpen. “When?”
“Before,” I say. “When I couldn’t wake up.”
His grip tightens instantly.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
A faint smile touches my lips.
“I’m glad I did.”
Something shifts in him again.
Deeper this time.
More dangerous.
“Olivia…”
I don’t let him pull back.
I don’t let him hide behind whatever wall he’s trying to rebuild.
“Say it again,” I whisper.
Silence.
Heavy.
Charged.
His eyes lock onto mine.
Every wall.
Every defense.
Every line he shouldn’t cross—
Right there between us.
And then—
“I’m not losing you,” he says.
Not the same words.
But somehow—
Even stronger.
My chest tightens.
My breath catches.
“Good,” I whisper.
Because I’m not walking away from this either.
Not anymore.