“No.” I can’t breathe. I can’t see through my tears.
“Ochoseconds ... ,” he taunts.
My legs fold beneath me and I land on my knees in the dirt. “Pleasedon’t.” I wipe tears from my eyes and look up at Sebastián, who’s watching my torture with a sadistic smile. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Five seconds,” he says. “Do you want to lose them both?”
“No!”
“Three seconds!” Silvana is practically gleeful, and I can’t think through the tangle of loyalty, guilt, and regret strangling me like a noose. “Which do you want to keep, the big mouth or the silver tongue?” She glances at her watch, then turns to me with excitement shining in her eyes. “Time’s up,princesa! Make a decision! Who are we going to kill?”
“Genesis!” Holden’s voice is a panicked squeak.
“I can’t ...” I bend over my knees, huddled around the hole in my heart. “I can’t do it.”
“Fine.” Silvana turns to Sebastián. “Kill them both.”
Panic pumps fire through my veins. “Wait!” I sit up straight and she turns to me with artificial surprise and anticipation. “Indiana. Save Indiana.”
My own choice breaks me into a million pieces of remorse and regret. But I won’t take it back.
“Youbitch!” Holden shouts, and my chest feels like it’s caving in.
“No!” Penelope sobs, and Domenica hugs her tighter.
Guilt is an abyss devouring me one shattered piece at a time.
Sebastián laughs so hard he sounds like he’s choking. He steps back from Indiana and waves one hand at Álvaro. “Let Holden go.”
He squats beside me as I stare at him in horror. “I didn’t think you would do it!”
1.5 HOURS EARLIER
MADDIE
“Holden ...” Genesis grabs his arm as he stomps past her, but he pulls free. “I knew she wouldn’t kill you. You’re the more valuable hostage. You were the safer bet.”
She’s lying, I can see it.
So can Holden.
“You deserve whatever you get out here,” he spits. The hatred in his eyes is so absolute that it steals my breath. He retreats to the other side of the clearing and sinks onto a log with Penelope, who’s still wiping tears from her face.
I make a show of getting up slowly while I sip my soda, careful to make brief eye contact with several of the guards so they can see that I’m feeling better. So I can gradually stop faking diabetic shock. And go to my cousin.
“Genesis.” I squat next to her. “We need to—”
“I don’t know how things got so screwed up between us,” she says, and for a second, I think she’s talking to me. Apologizing for all the times she was ... well, herself. But then I realize she’s still looking at Holden.
“Give him some time,” Indiana says from her other side. “Eventually he’ll understand.”
“He already does,” she says. “He’s not going to get over that.”
We need to make our move. But she’s upset, and the girl with her finger on the trigger needs to have a steady hand. So I give Genesis some space and head over to check on Domenica and take the lay of the land.
Rog sits with his back against a tree, watching everything. His gaze finds me and lingers too long. As if he understands everything, now that, I assume, he’s finally clearheaded.
Penelope and Holden are huddled close together, which is no real surprise, considering that Indiana is evidently the “new headline.”
