Jesus Christ. They killed Ruth Bader. Motherfuckers.
Chase and I exchange a glance before I let out a quiet, shaky breath, bobbing my head in three counts before we go all in.
Chase lunges at Devin as I leap toward Derek. A loud thud, followed by the skittering of the gun, sounds to my left, but my fingernails dig into Derek’s face, scratching across his eye as I open my mouth wide and bite his chest.
I’m feral, all the rage built inside my body exploding, but he’s so much bigger than me. It was never the plan in my mind to win this fight, only to give Chase enough time to get the gun away from Devin.
I know he can. Because he’s always my hero. And that’s not changing today.
“Evie,” Chase yells as Derek grabs me by the neck and tosses me to the ground.
All the wind’s knocked out of me, but I’m staring up, watching Chase barrel through him, lifting Derek off his feet before he slams him down to the ground.
Before I can suck in even a molecule of more air in, I’m lifted off the ground, held in Chase’s arms as he takes quick steps out of the goddamn boathouse and back into the dark, running.
My lungs try hard to fill as I hold on to him, but all I can manage is coughing out stuttered huffs until they finally relax and I can breathe.
“Are you okay?” he says for the fifth time.
I nod. “Yes.” But I’m still panting, trying to make up for the loss.
My head shoots over his shoulder. “Where are they?”
Chase barely slows down as he places me on the ground so I can run, too, while he answers, “I don’t know. I knocked Devin out, and the gun’s in the water. But I only dazed Derek ...”
“We have to get to Noah and Goldie. They have to be at the car.”
I look over my shoulder again, and Devin and Derek are standing in the doorway, like two hellhounds out for blood. But it’s only for a moment, because they break and sprint toward us.
“Chase,” I scream. He takes my hand, pulling me along faster.
The world’s a blur beside us, his grip on me like a vise as we run. The moment our feet hit the camp, I point toward the car.
“The trunk ... There are weapons in the trunk.”
I can barely speak because I’m heaving breaths. There’s no more left in the reserves of the reserves. He lets me go as I scramble for the driver’s-side door handle. I’m praying I’ll find keys when I open it and my sister with Noah.
But as I tug the door open, the car’s empty.
Fuck. Where are they?
Chase is rounding the car to the back. I look up to tell him I don’t see my sister, but my eyes spring open, not enough air in me to scream his name, because time’s run out.
The boys went a different way.
Derek’s behind him, a metal wire in his hand, his arms lifted in the air as he closes the distance. He’s about to put it around Chase’s neck, to kill him.
I stab a finger in the air, squeaking out my words, stumbling against the car. “Behind you!”
Chase’s head whips over his shoulder, but as he turns, he collides with Derek, and the trunk flies open. The wire scratches the metal, piercing the air as they fall against it.
Derek howls but not because Chase hurt him.
But because the arrow I released from my bow nicked his shoulder before making a wet thump behind him.
I’m trembling, standing with the crossbow as Chase and Derek follow my line of sight.
Devin stands, his mouth hung open, the arrow lodged straight through his mouth and out the back of his head. He blinks, blood trickling over his bottom lip as a gurgled sound accompanies his stumbled step.
