Elias trembles underneath me. “Myzemër, I love you—”
Then he jolts and stills.
A click slices through the air. A menacing heat presses on my back.
“This is touching and all,” Agron rasps.
I’m yanked to my feet, a muscular arm crushing my throat.
Steel jams against my temple.
“Should’ve made sure I was dead. Rookie mistake.”
He squeezes harder. My lungs strain for oxygen. I claw at his forearm, nails slicing skin, but he doesn’t budge.
Elias struggles, cold sweat dripping over his pallid forehead. He grips the bedrail, dragging himself upright.
My throat burns. Panic claws my chest. I thrash in the bastard’s hold—arms swinging, feet kicking. My vision winks. Faint grunts reach my ears.
But I don’t stop fighting.
I will never stop fighting.
“How touching.” Agron cackles, dragging me backward with him. “I wonder what’ll happen if—”
A shot cracks through the chaos.
His grip loosens. A pained grunt rips from his throat.
I shove free, but he’s too quick to snatch me against his chest like a shield before spinning us around.
Ren stands in the doorway—black-clad, half-masked. A gun smokes in his hand.
“Bastard,” he rasps. He clutches his chest, sounding winded. “I got here too late. Aleksei sent me on a wild fucking goose chase around the city.”
Leveling his gun at Agron, he catches my eye. “Let her go.”
“No. I’m not dying today, and she’s my ticket out.” Agron wheezes.
I don’t know where he’s hit, but it’s clear he’s in pain.
Agron hauls me toward the corridor.
“Let her go,” a faint voice calls. “Take me instead.”
My heart stops, pain carving fatal wounds inside me.
Elias.
He sways on his feet, blood dripping down his clothes, eyes glazed.
“Take me. I’m more valuable. I’ll tell them I did it. It was self-defense. Just let her go.”
“No,” I cry, shaking my head. If Agron takes him, he’s dead.
Agron chuckles, his face pallid. But his grip holds strong. “The great Elias Kent never kneels for anyone.”
The bastard stumbles, crashing us into a cart of alcohol wipes and machinery. A cord rips free from the wall. One fiery spark leaps from the socket, and the world catches fire.
