He moved faster than I’d ever seen him, a blur of aggression. One second he was beside me, and the next, he was slamming Jackson back with both hands on his chest.
“Don’t touch her,” Max snapped, his voice a low, guttural growl, territorial and savage.
Jackson blinked in surprise, then smirked defiance like someone dared him to do worse.
“Oh. Is she yours now? We’ll see about that.”
He lunged forward and swung wildly.
Max reacted instinctively, ducking the punch and answering with a brutal uppercut that cracked against Jackson’s jaw, sending him staggering back. Jackson howled in pain, clutching his face as blood trickled down his fingers.
Campers screamed and scattered in all directions, chaos erupting around us. The noise was deafening, overwhelming. When I looked up, only Megan, Max, Jackson, and I remained, caught in the nightmare.
“She’s going to scream your name while I take her apart, and you’ll be rotting in the ground, helpless to stop it,” Jackson hissed, his voice cracked with madness. Max didn’t hesitate. He charged forward like a linebacker, wrapping both arms around Jackson and throwing him down onto the grass, forcing him into the earth with a brutal force that trembled beneath them.
They collapsed in a hissing tangle of limbs and dirt. I stumbled backward, my foot catching on a hidden root. The world spun wildly as I fell. The jagged edge of a rock at the path’s rim slammed into the back of my head with a sickening crunch. Bright pain exploded behind my eyes. I tasted metal.
I tried to rise, but my head swam. Megan was suddenly there, grabbing my arm with frantic strength. “Mackenzie! Mackenzie, look at me!” she yelped, yanking me upright.
Adrenaline surged through my veins, giving me a fleeting sense of safety. Then, Megan’s tone shifted. “You’re bleeding!”
I stared down, my vision dimming as blood darkened the hand that had touched the back of my head. Blinking painfully, stars burst behind my closed eyes. The world tilted violently, and in that moment, I saw it—something glinting sharply in Jackson’s hand.
“No!” I screamed, voice cracked with fear.
I lunged toward them, desperate to block whatever was happening, but a brutal, unfamiliar sting suddenly numbed the pain in my head. A scorching, hot pressure seized my side.
“Oh.” My breath hitched as I crumpled, clutching my side and collapsing to my knees.
Max’s scream shattered the tense air. He sounded pained, frantic, warped with terror. I tried to turn, but everything narrowed, sound tunneling into a deafening roar.
Max broke free with a burst of strength, sliding toward me like a runner heading for home, leaving Jackson writhing on the grass behind him, clutching his arm in agony. Was his arm broken? It appeared shattered.
Max reached me in an instant, his hands burning with heat and desperation, frantic as he worked at my side.
“Mackenzie… Hey, baby, look at me. It’s Max. Breathe, baby. Breathe.”
His voice was everything. It was full of terror and frantic command, cutting through the chaos. It yanked me back, holding me there with him. He pressed his palms hard against my shirt, where warmth was spreading, fingers clenched as if trying to stop the world with sheer force.
“Call for help!” someone screamed. Megan’s face hovered close, ghostly pale. I smelled smoke, grass, and the sickly metallic tang of blood. Max’s voice grew more frantic. He kept talking to me, pressing down, holding on.
Was he crying? I heard heavy sobs, echoing as black shadows threatened to swallow my vision.
I tried to speak, but only a hollow, rasping sound escaped. My legs folded beneath me, and the last thing I saw was Max’s face looming over mine. Blood stained his forehead, his lips parted in silent panic, eyes wide with terror. He kept talking, voice cracking, telling me about tattoos, light, and stupid little things he loved—things that felt miles away now.
He told me how much he loved me. He told me about the first time he knew he was in love with me, and about all the babies we were going to have together. I let the rhythm of his words hold me as the world went soft and distant.
Then it all faded.
Except for his voice.
23
MAX
Her voice faded away. The silence echoed softly among the trees in a quiet moan.
All I could hear was my staccato breathing, Megan’s gasps, and Jackson’s uncontrolled hissing. My whole fucking world cracked in half as I looked down at Mackenzie.
