Asher’s wide, panicked eyes meet mine, and I just fucking know we have the same thought. My heart cracks; a deep, cavernous rift tears the muscle apart within my chest because I know. I fuckingknowthat it belongs to Collins.
All thought, all planning, all reason and rationality flees from my mind, replaced by the primal instinct to save her. To savethem.I take off in a sprint toward the end of the hall, ignoring Asher as he shouts after me, his heavy boots booming down the hall as he trails behind me. There’s a second gut-wrenching scream from Collins, mixed with the cold words from Guy that have ice spreading through my veins.
“Collins, say goodbye.”
No.
No, no, no.
FUCK.
Hesitation doesn’t have a chance to settle anywhere within my body, and Asher is right there with me when we each raise a boot and kick this fucking door in on the first try.
BANG!
Blood whooshing and ears ringing, I storm in first as Asher starts to yell a command, but I’m not listening. Ican’thear him. Red swallows my vision and everything happens all at once.
Guy with a raised, smoking gun.
Riley slumped at an unnatural angle.
Blood splattered all over the wall behind his head.
Collins’ small, bound ankles in view.
A bullet fired from my gun.
Guy is on the ground with a rapidly growing red puddle beneath a hole that now decorates the center of his forehead.
There’s a beat of silence, my body momentarily paralyzed in the alcove just shy of the room opening, before my feet move of their own accord and sprint forward. I don’t feel the sting in my knees when my body drops down, and I find myself staring at Riley’s unmoving form.
His skin is ashen, and he’s covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. He’s still wearing the same clothes from the last time I saw him two weeks ago. Even through the dark fabric, I can tell it’s stained with blood, both old and new.
What has my heart pounding with undiluted fear, is the fact that he’s not breathing. I drop my gun and rip off my balaclava, followed by my gloves so I can touch his face. His skin is cold to the touch, and he doesn’t react at the contact.
“Riley, baby look at me,” I beg, squeezing him a little tighter. My voice doesn’t sound like my own as it cracks and breaks while I beg, “Open your eyes, can you hear me, Sweet Boy?”
Riley’s hair is still wet from sweat, and I close my eyes tightly when I lift his face, fucking terrified of what I’ll find. I can feel the slick of blood as I grip his cheeks.
Noises and voices ring out around me. I hardly register that Camdan and his medical team have entered the room. Asher is barking panicked orders, but his words don’t register over the sound of the blood whooshing in my ears.
Breaths seize in my lungs when I open my eyes to look at Riley. A suppressed wail rips from my throat at what I see. He’s covered in blood, his left eye purple and swollen, but the bullet… missed its intended target. He has burns and gashes on his cheek and he’s missing the entire top part of his right ear, but the bullet. Fucking. Missed. My hands slip to his neck, and I press at his pulsepoint, trying to rein in my frantic emotions so that Idon’t jostle him. I wait. And wait. And wait. Panic starts to claw its way up when…
Thump…
My eyes widen.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It’s there.
He’s here.
He’s here. He’s here. He’s here.
