Getting into position, I look at each of them,their position, the guns in their hands and the knives buckled to straps at the belts and their boots. For a fleeting second, I look to Elena in the diner across the street, I see her eyes, the color of the clouds during a thunderstorm, and I see her fear.
I will not die today.
Not when she has to watch.
I see her lurch toward the exit, but Caden captures her, her mouth open on a scream, but she can’t escape his grip.
One comes at me, and I throw a fist, clocking him in the temple while another attempts a punch to my ribs. I dodge, but barely, opening myself up for a punch to the lower right side of my face. My jaw snaps up, teeth gnashing together with the impact as a boot connects with my gut, stealing the air from my lungs. I double over, sucking in a breath as a fist connects with my face, making stars burst behind my eyes.
I can’t win here.
A fist connects with the back of my head, forcing my knees to the dirt, and when a boot kicks against the center of my spine, my chest hits the ground.
A foot presses into the nape of my neck, keeping me down.
“We need him alive,” One of them says right before a quick, sharp whack connects with my temple. There’s no escaping the darkness that creepsin with it, but as it descends, as the fog with shadowy claws grips me, I hear her voice. She screams my name, screams it like it can hold me here, like it can stop this, but it’s too late.
It’s too fucking late.
CHAPTER 42
Ican’t focus on anything Caden is saying, not when Knox’s words are on repeat inside my head. My defenses are up, my instincts on high alert.
“You with me, princess?” Caden speaks from the other side of the table, the shitty cup of coffee in his hands curling steam into the air in front of his face.
“Stop calling me that,” I snap. “It’s condescending.”
He shrugs. “It fits.”
“Fuck you!”
In my periphery, I see movement, too much movement for a quiet Sunday morning, andit steals my attention. I look over in time to see Knox being dragged over the back of the bench, four guys surrounding him.
“Knox!” I call out, scrambling up from the table, but Cade is quicker. His palm slaps over my mouth, silencing my scream.
“Let it happen,” He says by my ear, “Just let it happen.”
But I won’tjust let it happen. Not to him. Not to Knox.
I call his name behind the palm silencing me. I scream, and I cry, fight, but Cade keeps me contained.
“Trust me.” He says, “Just trust me. This needs to happen.”
I watch in horror as Knox fights and loses. He kicks, and he punches, but a well-aimed strike knocks him out, leaving him defenseless on the floor. My heart shatters.
It feels like a physical blow, as if the organ in my chest is shattering into a million tiny pieces, each shard sending a searing pain through me. I scream his name behind Caden’s palm, fight to get free, but I am fucking useless. I can’t get to him, I can’t help him.
Watching in horror, he’s dragged toward a waiting SUV, his body thrown like a piece of trash into the trunk, and then the car is pulling away, leaving just a cloud of dust in its wake.
He set me up.
Caden Blackwood set me up!
He finally releases me, and I break away, sprinting for the door. I hit it so hard the glass rattles in the frame, but I don’t stop, not until I reach his truck and tug on the handle, hoping he left it unlocked but knowing he didn’t. I have to go after him.
“Elena.” Caden purrs behind me, voice calm, easy, like he didn’t just fucking stab meandKnox in the back.
I spin back to him. “I am going to fucking kill you!”
