If I never cry again, it will be too soon. I hate feeling weak and having no control.
I pull back and wipe my face, as Elias watches me with that worried look in his eyes.
“W-What happened to Carlos?” I stutter out.
“He’s dead,” he says with no remorse. I let out a sigh of relief as I glance at the door. I’m not sure when he did it, but Elias managed to barricade the door by pulling the large dresser in front of it.
I take a few deep breaths, knowing we can’t keep sitting here while we’re in danger, and that’s when I realize how I’m sitting, straddling him as I cling to his neck. “Oh, sorry,” I say as I move off his lap.
“Sweetheart, you never have to apologize for that,” he says, giving me a strained smile. Then his eyes take in the bedroom, and his expression turns determined. “But we do need to figure a way out of here.”
We both climb off the bed as he moves to the window and yanks back the curtains. “Fuck, it’s barred,” he says, grabbing the metal bars and giving them a yank for good measure.
“How’d you even get up here?” I ask. Last I knew, he was stuck downstairs on the computer.
“I lost it,” he says, looking pained. “I heard you scream and I knew something bad was about to happen. Then I lost control. I’m not even sure how I did it but I managed to knock both guards out before they used their guns on me.”
That makes sense after what Carlos just revealed to me. They need him alive.
Someone bangs on the door, making me jump in surprise. Elias immediately grabs me and pulls me behind him as he stares at the door in worry.
They bang again, hard enough that I can see the door move. “This is bad, isn’t it?” I ask in concern.
He spins around to face me, that look of worry even worse now as he cups my face and looks down at me. “I don’t have a gun. They will probably come in here with theirs aimed at us.”
“What do we do?”
“They aren’t going to hurt you. Robert needs you.”
I shake my head. “No, Carlos saidyou’rethe one they’re really after.”
“Me?”
I shrug. “He didn’t explain, but it’s probably because of your hacking skills and connection to the FBI.”
“Shit.”
“This is good,” I tell him, placing my hands on his wrists as he holds my face. “It means they won’t shoot you.”
“They’re just gonna use us against each other.” He glances at the window in thought before looking back at me again. “I’ll try to make a path for you to escape. When I tell you to run, you go, don’t look back, you understand?”
“I can’t,” I say, shaking my head as tears fill my eyes.
“You can, Wren. You’re the strongest person I know.”
“You know I can’t get past the gate without you. Besides, they’ll find me. Robert’s been tracking me.”
“What do you mean? How?”
I turn around and point to my shoulder. “There’s a tracker in here.”
“Shit, did he tell you that?” he asks, pointing to the dead body on the ground. I nod, and he gently prods the area. “Fuck, yeah, I can feel it. We need to get rid of this right now.”
He moves over to Carlos and feels around his body until he finds a switchblade in his pocket. “This shouldwork.” He looks up at me and grimaces. “Sorry, Wren. This is going to hurt. I wish I had a way to numb you first.”
“It’s okay,” I say, giving him my back as I brace my hands against the wall. “I want it out. I can take it.”
“That’s my girl,” he says proudly as he moves in behind me. “Okay, I’ll be as fast as I can, try not to move.” I nod, and the pain is instant. I whimper catches in my throat as I will myself to stay quiet. It feels like he’s digging around under my skin, and my fingers press into the drywall as my back slowly starts to arch, trying to get away from the pain. “I know, I know, almost there… Got it!”
