I swallow hard. It burns. Everything burns.
“I’ll fight like hell to keep you safe,” I tell him honestly.
“It’s not because I’ll be left alone,” he whispers, his words slurring. “It’s because…I don’t wanna…to lose my friend…I’m going…down, Knucks.”
His breathing slows, and in seconds, he’s out.
Mine doesn’t. My lungs feel like they’re filling faster. Heavier.
I lean my head back against the cold concrete wall, eyes slipping shut for a moment I can’t afford.
Come on, brothers. Hurry the fuck up.
I know you’re coming. I know you’ve got a plan.
Just…just get here before this body taps out.
My breath rattles like a loose bolt in an engine ready to seize.
The room tilts.
Pain blooms deep in my chest like a wildfire eating what’s left of me.
God. I know I’m going to hell. I’ve done shit that earns a one-way ticket.
But please…Just give me this one thing. Let me get Eli home. Let me put him back in Skip’s arms.
Give me the strength long enough to keep him safe. Let me do at least one good thing before the lights go out.
Then…then I can finally stop fighting.
I can let the darkness take me without guilt…without fear…without wondering if I failed the one person who trusted me in his worst, most terrified moment.
Just let me get him home.
After that?
Yeah.
Then you can have me.
Let me get this man safe…and then I’ll fucking die happily.
Chapter Nineteen
Skip
I look down at the live drone feed glowing across Foster’s tablet.
He’s in there.
Somewhere behind those cracked walls, beneath that sagging tin roof, inside whatever sick, rotting hellhole Cortéz calls a hideout.
Eli’s in there. Knuckles is in there.
“There’s no place for cover,” Bones mutters beside me, rage simmering so hot he looks ready to boil the damn sand. His binoculars stay fixed on the only structure in sight. Thoughsightis generous. Even with high-grade scopes, the farmhouse is nothing but a pale blur on the shimmering horizon. “There aren’t even trees. Not a single fucking bush.”
He’s right.
