She couldn’t continue to stand here. She couldn’t go back in time. Nothing she did could fix this situation.
She had come here to kill Harrington. And he’d gotten the better of her…of all of them. But if she died here, what would happen to the world?
“Reyna, please,” Gabe said.
She turned clear, devastated eyes to him and nodded. Beckham’s death would not be for nothing.
He released a harsh breath of relief, and she realized then that she’d scared him. That he’d thought he’d lost her. He didn’t know how right he was, but she would have time to think about that later. Right now, she needed to survive.
She compartmentalized all her doubts into one space in herbrain, kicked off her other shoe, and took off sprinting after Gabe.
Barefoot and freezing in nothing but a strapless dress and Beckham’s suit coat, she didn’t dare stop.
They made it to the end of the block and nearly ran smack dab into Meghan. Her red hair box braids were pulled into a high pony, and her silvery dress was obscured by a black jacket that went nearly to her knees.
“What took you so long?” Meghan gasped, moving into position next to them.
“I’ll tell you later,” Gabe said.
Reyna glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes rounded in horror. “Fuck.”
“What?” Gabe asked. He followed her line of sight and cursed violently, before grabbing Meghan’s hand and running again. “We need to pick it up.”
Reyna measured her breathing and increased her pace. Roland followed them, and considering vampires ran at incredible speeds they were lucky he hadn’t reached them yet. Maybe Beckham throwing him into the brick building actually hurt him. She’d seen Roland crumple at the hit, and it took him a long time to stand up again.
Reyna glanced back one more time to see that the crowd seemed to keep Roland off their back. Between the New Year’s Eve mob and the mayhem from the gunshots, he had no clear path. And everything was so haphazard that he had to physically push people out of his way as he attempted to weave through the crowd. No one made it easy on him.
But after that glance, she couldn’t keep looking. Not if she wanted to get through the crowd herself.
They ran down three blocks, weaving in and out of traffic and taking turns and corners, hoping to lose Roland and trying to get away from the mass of people to reach their getaway car.
Gabe checked once more and flashed them a victorious smile. “I don’t see him.”
Reyna nodded and Meghan shot them both a quick grin. But Reyna couldn’t get rid of the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
“Almost there,” Gabe said. “Just this corner.”
They whipped around the next corner to an unmarked black van idling on the street. As they rushed toward it, the back doors flapped open.
Then Roland appeared and cut off the end of the street. No longer meandering, he launched himself toward them. He saw the van. He knew that they could get away and had every intention of stopping them.
Everything happened in slow motion. Meghan reached the van first, careening into the empty interior. Gabe was next jumping inside. Reyna was the last and the slowest, her breathing jagged. No matter that she’d spent months training for this very moment. Her time on the treadmill hadn’t actually seemed to prepare her for running outside, barefoot, in unbearably cold temperatures.
She knew Roland was almost upon her. She didn’t dare look over her shoulder, but she could tell it was too close for comfort.
Meghan pulled her gun out and pointed it toward them. Gabe placed his hand on the barrel.
“You’ll hit her!”
Meghan shook him off, lifted it again, and aimed. Gabe reached his hand out toward Reyna, and she used her last burst of energy to throw her body toward him.
His hand locked on her wrist. But she fell short and her knee hit the metal bumper. Her shoulder was tugged so hard she swore it felt as if it dislocated as he hauled her inside. She was nearly there when she felt a hand clasp her ankle.
“Go, go, go!” Gabe yelled at Tye, who was driving the getaway car.
He moved to wrap his arms around her chest as he tried to pull her farther inside. But Roland was stronger. The van kicked into drive and suddenly they were all thrown off balance. Gabe scrambled to get his footing again, but even with them rumbling down the street and Roland having no leverage, he was still pulling her from the van.
“Let me go!” she shrieked, trying to dislodge Roland from her.
