“If you shoot, she dies on the spot,” Josh taunts.
“Get your hands off her,” Ryder shouts, his voice hoarse and strained.
“You’re confused,” Josh sneers. “I’m the one in control here.”
“Surrender now,” Ryder counters. “Reinforcements will be here any minute. You can still walk away from this alive.”
I study Ryder, worry gnawing at my insides. Beads of sweat dot his forehead, and he’s standing oddly, less upright than usual. Something’s very wrong.
Josh scoffs. “No chance. You won’t get backup here in time, and even if you did, it doesn’t matter. You’ll be dead long before that. Or her.” He pauses, tilting his head. “Or both of you. Yeah, I think both of you.”
“Who sent you?” Ryder demands. “Tell me, and maybe I’ll let you live.”
Josh laughs. “What does it matter?”
“Humor me.”
“Even if I wanted to tell you, I don’t know his name,” Josh replies. “Never met him. Got the contract through the dark web. People don’t exactly sign their real names there.”
“How did you know I was leaving?” Ryder presses. “How did you know to impersonate the replacement guard?”
“I didn’t,” Josh admits. “I was hiding in the bushes, heard the shouting, and seized the opportunity. Planned to kill you and take her. You just made my job easier.”
“Too bad,” Ryder says.
“What’s too bad?” Josh shifts his gaze between me and Ryder.
“Too bad you didn’t kill me earlier when you had the chance.” Ryder’s eyes lock onto mine, intense and filled with an emotion I can’t quite name. “Do you trust me?”
Josh’s grip on me tightens, drawing a groan from my lips. Ryder flinches at the sound.
“No funny business,” Josh warns. “My gun will blow her brains out before you can even twitch.” The barrel presses harder against my temple.
“Do you trust me?” Ryder asks again, his gaze never leaving mine.
I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. Of course, I trust him. With my life. With everything.
The world explodes into sound and light.
I fall, ears ringing, vision blurry. Warm liquid splatters my face.
I collapse to my knees. The world around me distorts from the intensity of the pain in my head.
“Cora!” Ryder shouts. “Cora.”
Slowly, agonizingly, my senses clear, and I open my eyes.Josh lies motionless beside me, a gaping hole in his forehead. I gag, scrambling away from the gruesome sight.
“Ryder,” I gasp, looking up. But something’s wrong. He sways on his feet, his face ashen, almost grey in the moonlight.
Why isn’t he coming to me? Why is he looking at me like that?
“You’re okay,” he mumbles, his lips turning an alarming shade of blue. “Promise me... Keep living, Little Trouble. Promise...”
As he crumples to the ground, I scream.
Thirty-Two
CORA
