“I know you—He—I know you and him—”
He can’t say it, but we both know if the first part of the night was a reality TV show, he and John would’ve been standing side by side while I decided whom to give my rose to.
“Wes?”
I reach out and curl my fingers around his wrist, trail my thumb down his skin, and hope he also knows—
He had me atMiss Congeniality.
“We should probably go back to where the others are hiding.I bet you’re not his favorite person right now.”
John will be getting ready for the next grand gesture, and he won’t appreciate that I’m here reconciling with his competition.Not after he’s been doing the serial killer version of shouting his love for me from the rooftops.The image of a pink woolen head reciting poetry on the roof of this godforsaken building is a weird image to conjure up, but it’s quickly pushed out when a foggy memory intrudes and turns the red walls around us back to Cravin’ black.My head jerks toward the mountain of wrecked furniture ahead of us because I remember this hallway.I rememberwhatis up here.
For the first time, hope isn’t dragged away as quickly as the other times we thought we found a way to escape.It holds on.Digs its nails in.It’s not justWecouldget out of here.The modality has ramped up.Now it’sWecanget out of here.
In the movies, dark and scary means death, not salvation.That’s why the lights were smashed, furniture was scattered, and the walls were marked.John and Billie were trying to make it look like the kind of place where you’d meet your end, not the kind of place where you’d find your escape.
They used the rules against us.
“Wes?”I pull him over to the structure, make him raise the flashlight until I can see the top of the furniture pile.He directs the light between some curved chaise legs, and shadows flare out behind it, which means there’sspacebehind it.
“Remember how we thought somebody had tried to barricade the hallway?What if they were trying to hide a door instead?”
The night I made out with vape guy, we went up to the smoking section on the roof.I ended up leaving him there when he started trying to sell me cryptocurrency, but still.There was a door, a staircase, one that led to fresh air and the night sky, and a fire escape that always had security stationed near the access point to stop someone from drunkenly attempting to scale the building.And we ran past it earlier tonight.Wes ranintoit.The impact is painted in black and blue across his ribs.
I shift my gaze back down from the top of the barricade and find Wes staring at me, his eyes alight with understanding and his chest heaving in anticipation.
“Where does it lead to?”
“The roof.”
“And there’s a—”
“Fire escape.Yeah.”
His face splits into a grin and it’s just as stunning as the first time I saw it in the basement bar a few hours ago.Just like when we were down there, I can’t help but grin back.
“I could kiss you right now.”
He could, and I would let him, but there are more important things we need to be concentrating on.Like getting out of here so he can kiss me without fear of having a meat cleaver lodged in his face.
“Hold that thought.We’re gonna need some help.”
We don’t know how long Billie and John worked on this blockade, and the two of us deconstructing it without causing an avalanche isgoing to be hard in itself, let alone with Wes’s injuries.Even though I know he’d still try to clear out the space and cause even more damage to himself in the process, there’s strength and safety in numbers.So we head back to the survivors’ hideout, scanning the hall and speaking in hushed, rushed murmurs as we figure out a plan to finally draw the curtain on this night.
“Once we get on the roof, we search for the fire escape on the side of the building,” Wes says, and I’m already thinking about what happens after that.I hope it’ll play out the way I want.I hope, when we make it up onto the roof, the sky is awash with alternating flashes of red and blue, and when I look down to the street a willowy, waifish figure wrapped in a foil blanket will be waiting to give me a handshake in lieu of a hug.
“Laurie should’ve gotten out through the air vents by now, so—”
“Wait.”Wes’s head whips around to stare at me as we hurry down the hall, and the only way I can describe the look on his face is… delighted comprehension.I don’t care that I’ve only known him for a few hours—I might actually have to marry this man.
“SheMcClane’d her way out?”
CHAPTER 37
“So, what happens after he climbs up and stabs her?”
“She stabs him right back.”
