"Cora, hey, is everything okay?" Alec's voice comes through the other end loud and clear.
"Yeah," I whisper. "Can you come get us? I need you to keep this between us. Not tell the other guys." Every word I speak is more difficult than the last. Even breathing is a burden I no longer wish to have to endure.
"I'll be there in five minutes."
I hang up, shove the phone in my pocket and glance down at the battered and broken girl in my lap. "London, can you stand?"
Despite being beaten bloody, she nods with her lids heavy and swollen.
Slipping out from under her, I put my hands up under her armpits and help her into a seated position. I ignore the pain and force both of us to our feet, knowing that things will only get worse if we don't leave now. Ricardo did enough damage for one day, and that will have to be enough to tie him over until he can torment us again.
I sling London's arm over my shoulder and wrap mine around her waist, doing the best I can not to apply too much pressure to her wounded frame.
She cringes but remains next to me and does her part in keeping herself vertical.
"You're doing great," I tell her. "One step at a time, London. Come on. We can do this."
Together, we move inch by inch closer to the door, my heart pounding so intensely it thuds in my ears, making it hard to hear what's going on outside the room.
What will I do if Ricardo comes barreling back in and demands us to stay and inflicts more damage? How much more can London take before she succumbs to his abuse? Although, if memory serves me correctly, he mentioned that he found her a husband, so wouldn't that be a reason to keep her alive to get his payoff?
I cling to that and hope it will be what we need to get us through.
We reach the door, my injured arm reaching out to grasp the handle. My shoulder burns but I push past it and turn the knob and prepare for what might be waiting for us on the other side.
Holding my breath, I weasel us over the threshold and pause to glance both ways, my vision still a bit blurred.
The hallway is eerily quiet, like that moment in a horror film before there's an excessive jump scare. Cue the suspenseful music as I conclude that it's now or never.
London coughs quietly, almost as if she's aware of how dire things are and how if we aren't careful, we might not make it out of this. Blood speckles out of her mouth and onto the light-colored tile flooring. Her heels drag against the hard surface, and I stop us to kick them off both of her feet. It's no easy task, but I fight through the pain and make it happen.
With one final glance behind us, I push forward and guide us toward the front of Ricardo's mansion. I grow grateful that his weird torture room isn't that far in, because I'm not that confident I could carry her much farther than I already have.
Every step I brace myself for him to jump out from a darkened corner, but he never does. Is he even aware we're leaving at all? What is he going to do when he finds out we have? I guess that's a problem for future me because my main concern is getting London out of here and getting her medical treatment.
Summoning all the strength I have left, I grip the handle of the front door and crack it open, my sights grateful for the blacked-out SUV that pulls up in a screeching halt.
I practically fall through the doorway and manage to regain my composure to tug the door shut behind us. I do everything I can to hurry because if I don't, Alec will get out of his vehicle and expose himself to whatever exterior surveillance that Ricardo has.
London had said he doesn't keep cameras in his house, but if that phone call he received when Miller showed up signals anything, it's that there might be some outside.
But I can't voice that to Alec in time because he jumps right the fuck out of the driver's side and rushes across the lawn toward me.
"Fuck, Cora." He grabs the other side of London and takes the brunt of her weight from me.
"Help me get her in your car." I continue to carry what little of her I can, only releasing her once we arrive at the back passenger door to open it.
"Climb in," Alec tells me and I do it without question, allowing him to guide her into the seat with me a moment later. He takes a sobering glance at me before slamming the door shut and running around to return to the driver's seat.
London groans and lays on her side with her head in my lap. Her hair is crusted to her bloodied head, and I try to pull it away but it's no use.
"Everything is going to be okay," I tell her even though I have no clue if what I'm saying is a lie. Between her injuries, what Ricardo could do to her in the future, and the husband he claims he's found, there's no shortage of things that could prevent it from coming true.
Alec's gaze meets mine in the rear-view mirror as he slams the gear shifter into drive. "Are you okay?"
"I need you to take us to the hospital," I say with great urgency.
"No," London groans, but I don't care, she needs to be seen by a professional, not Silver or anyone else who's used to tending to less serious criminal wounds.
