"For you," he says. "Yeah. I can do that."
The elevator dings. The doors open onto a service corridor, dim and empty. Briar leads the way toward an exit sign glowing red in the darkness.
Behind us, theres shouts, more footsteps, the clang of the stairwell door being thrown open. They're tracking us. We have minutes at best.
We burst through the exit into the cold night air. A black van idles at the curb, side door already sliding open. Landon's face appears in the gap, pale and terrified.
"Get in get in get in—"
I lift Elliot into the vehicle, climb in after him. Briar throws himself through the door as Jinx floors the accelerator. Landon is already on his laptop, changing the traffic lights and setting off store alarms to create chaos.
He’s quite useful for being such a nerd.
Tires scream. The van fishtails, then straightens, hurtling down the empty street.
Behind us, the Morrison Building recedes into the darkness.
I pull Elliot onto my lap, wrap my arms around him, press my face into his hair. He smells like antiseptic and fear and something underneath that's still him, still the person I crossed every line to save.
"You came," he whispers against my chest. "You actually came."
"I told you I would."
"I know." His fingers curl into my shirt, gripping like he'll never let go before they loosen and his eyes flutter shut.. "I just wasn't sure I believed it."
I hold him tighter. Outside, the city blurs past, streetlights smearing into ribbons of gold.
We're not safe yet. Webb is still alive. The Ministry is still hunting us. The world is still full of monsters and shadows and people who see us as property to be owned.
But right now, in this moment, Elliot is in my arms. Breathing. Alive. Free.
And I’ll do it all again and again just for this moment right now.
Chapter Sixteen: Elliot
Theworldcomesinfragments.
The rumble of the van beneath me. The pressure of Jace's arms wrapped tight around my chest. Voices overlapping, urgent and indistinct, words I can't quite parse into meaning.
I try to hold onto consciousness, but it keeps slipping through my fingers like water.
"—losing him—"
"—just exhaustion, he needs—"
"—how far to the—"
Jace's voice cuts through the noise, low and close to my ear. "Stay with me, Elliot. We're almost there."
I want to tell him I'm trying. I want to tell him that every cell in my body is fighting to stay present, to stay in this moment where I'm free and he's real and the collar is gone from my throat.
But the darkness keeps pulling at me, soft and insistent, promising rest I haven't had in days.
"Elliot." His hand cups my face, tilts it toward him. "Open your eyes."
I do. It takes more effort than it should.
His face swims into focus above me. Grey eyes, sharp jaw, the familiar angles I've been holding onto inside my head for what feels like forever. He looks exhausted. There's blood on his collar, a bruise forming along his cheekbone.
