He stumbles back with a yell, rebalances, then lunges at me once more.
Just as he reaches me, he ducks under my punch and tries to run past me to my apartment.
I catch the back of his shirt with both hands and throw myself backward, using my weight to drag him away from my half-open door.
“Fucker!” Dickson snarls.
He turns to me, face twisted with rage, and lunges with both hands outstretched.
I duck to one side, grab his arm, and pull him forward while slamming my knee up into his gut.
He chokes and gags, then slams his elbow into my side.
Pain explodes through my body and ripples across my ribs as he slams his elbow into me again.
I loop my arm around his waist and throw him against the wall where we both bounce, then he punches me twice in the face.
Warm blood spurts down across my lips as I throw my next punch and it collides with Dickson’s face.
He stumbles backward, then his entire face opens in panicked alarm and he reaches for me.
His hand closes around the collar of my T-shirt and I realize too late what I’ve done.
I punched him and we were too close to the stairs.
His panic comes from stepping back onto nothing but air, and as he falls, his grip on me drags me with him.
We tumble down together like two cogs rattling loose around a machine, tumbling down a flight of stone steps while Dickson yells in my eyes.
My head cracks against something cold and sharp and I disappear into a darkness so brief that when I open my eyes, it’s like I’ve only blinked.
“Xander!” Snow’s over me with tears pouring down her face as she cups my cheeks with her trembling hands. “Xander, stay with me!”
“Snow?” My mouth feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and my tongue is too far to wrap around my words.
“The police are coming,” she gasps. “And an ambulance, oh, my God!”
Behind her head, several bannisters weave upward.
We must have fallen down more than one flight of stairs.
Despite that, my body is numb and the only sensation radiates from Snow’s hands on my face.
“I’m going to be worthy, okay?” She sobs softly. “I’m going to be worthy of your love because I love you too, okay? I’m so sorry this got so messy. I’m so sorry. I am. Please, you have to be okay. You have to be because we haven’t even—you can’t tell me you love me and then die, okay?”
I want to tell her that I’m okay.
That I’m not going anywhere because I feel fine.
That I love her and everything’s going to be okay, but the thickness of my tongue is growing and words don’t come.
The edges of my vision blur and Snow lets out a soft wail. “Xander,pleasehold on! Help is coming, okay? It’s coming, just please, please don’t leave me!”
I blink.
But my eyes don’t reopen.
37
