Eric fucking Keaton.
“No!” I shake it away again, shoving it back down. My hands beat against the cold steel. “Gage! Nyx! Stone!” Everything inside me aches, and the longer I try to suppress it, the harder it becomes. “Hunter! Isabella!”
Nothing but the echo of my cracking voice shouted back at me.
Where the hell am I, and how the fuck did I get here?
I drag my heavy body towards the cell door, my hands gripping the bars. It’s locked, and I feel a wave of helplessness wash over me, but I shove that shit down, too.
I can’t stay here. I have to find her, have to get to them. My head throbs, and my side burns, but I push through it, using the bars to steady myself as I examine the cell. There’s nothing that could help me escape, no hidden tools or weak points in the walls. My eyes scan the ceiling as my fingers drag over the rough blocks. No cameras, either.
Out of nowhere, the room spins, and I grunt, sliding down the wall. I suck in a sharp breath at the new scrapes that form down my back, but I let the pain ground me, let it keep me present so I don’t freak the fuck out.
“One thing at a time, Maddox.”
I can still hear Gage coaching me through my school books when I was a kid. He’d constantly tell me to take the words one at a time so they wouldn’t get so jumbled. As we grew up, it becameproblemsinstead of words.
“One problem at a time, Maddox.”
Don’t focus on the entire picture at once, just one problem at a time.
And when shit got really bad, it wassecondshe was urging me to consume slowly.
“One second at a time. Not too much. Just one second.”
I tug off my tux jacket, letting the material sift through my fingers. I swallow harshly, my mouth dry.
“One thing at a time, Madd,” I breathe as my eyes flutter closed. I squeeze the jacket against the wound on my chest and exhale roughly. “One thing…”
The gun.
My insides throb and twist as my heart begins to hammer.
One thing.
The sound of the bullet ricocheting through the air between us.
I breathe through the panic, willing those moments to come back to me slowly. They filter through, one agonizing second at a time.
I see the gun in Eric’s hand, hear the bullet spear through the air, see the direction it’s aiming, but I can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t fucking move.
And then I do, but it’s too late.
One thing. One breath. One moment.
Hunter dives in front of our girl, shoving her behind him. I watch with horror as his body bows backward from the force of the blow.
My fingernails dig into my palms, leaving bloody indents behind, but I don’t care. Nothing matters as those seconds replay again and again.Hegot to her first.Hejumped in front of a bullet for her.Hedidn’t even fucking hesitate.
Ella screams, but my eyes are locked on his face. His gaze bores into mine, but I can tell he’s not seeing me, not as pain spears through his chest. Blood spills almost instantly, creating a red pool that stains his too-white shirt. He was shot.
I lose my breath.
One second. Two. Three.
It’s like something passes between us. Something unspoken but powerful. Something beyond words. I swallow dryly and mouth the words I don’t deserve to speak out loud, “Thank you.”
Hunter nods his head once, his eyes glossy, and then he’s spinning, wrapping her body up with his and pulling her away. Away from me. Away from my brothers.
