The flames spread, overtaking the cart as heat surges.
Sprinklers burst, inferno meets storm, and the world hisses.
“Kneel, Kent. Kneel, and I just might let her live.”
Elias’s gaze finds mine.
Once, he swore he’d never kneel again—not after being forced to his knees in the rain, not after begging for his family’s lives and watching them die, anyway.
Kneeling was the one choice the world couldn’t take from him. It was his last defense.
“No,” I whisper.Don’t make him kneel.
Elias’s knees buckle in front of me.
No hesitation.
They hit the floor with a thud as water sheets down from the ceiling.
In an instant, time rewinds. Strains of “Für Elise” bloom in my mind.
Young Elise shielded a shivering Kian with her bright red umbrella.
Because she’d known then, somehow, he’d matter.
Grief guts my insides as I watch Elias sway on his knees, water drenching his hair, his face, soaking through his clothes. Blood streams from him onto the floor in crimson rivers.
He’s kneeling once again.
For me.
To protect me.
“Elias,” I sob. “Don’t. Don’t do this.”
His riveting green eyes, dimmed as life ekes from him, snare on mine, the intensity searing into my heart.
“I was born to love you,” he breathes, “and I will die to protect you. Nothing is more important than you, Lana. Pride. Life. Revenge.Nothing.”
“I love you,” I whisper as Agron’s arm crushes my windpipe. “I love you so much.”
“How poetic.” Agron sneers. “The great Elias Kent down on his knees for a woman. Pathetic—”
He lunges—
A blur. A roar.
Suddenly I’m ripped free and hurled against the wall.
Ren and Agron struggle. Guns fired, rounds spray through the air. Violence baptized in rain.
A gun clangs to the ground, skittering out of view. Agron drives punches into Ren’s torso, sending him flying.
Then he raises his gun—
Bang!
Agron staggers, eyes wide. A harsh groan, a half gasp. He collapses onto the floor.
