And now I’d wasted it—our time together, what we could have had. It was all going to end far too fast, and I never got to say goodbye.
My tears slid down my cheek, soaking into the bottom of the blindfold. I didn’t want to go out crying, but I didn’t think I could stop. My heart hurt as much as my burning nerves.
The beep sounded from my chest again.
“Eight minutes, thirty seconds,” he said conversationally. “You’re sure you’re not going to tell me anything? If you do, I’ll knock you out before I go. You’ll never feel it happen.”
I gritted my teeth, ready for the burn of the taser again. The only thing I had left was my ability to stay quiet, to keep Eli safe from this monster. To show Eli that I loved him, even if he’d never know.
I had nothing to fucking say. Not to this guy.
When the next shock came, I shook, fighting unconsciousness. I only had a few minutes left. I didn’t want to spend them out cold. I didn’t want the ease he was offering—fading into black, never to wake again.Fuck that.I was fighting every second until this damn bomb went off and ended it for me.
“Tell me where Silas is,” he said, the charm gone from his voice. This was the real man, ice-cold and unyielding.
I swung my head slowly from side to side, tears coming harder, faster, until my body shook from the overload of the taser on my nerves, from fear.
I didn’t know anything, and it didn’t matter. I had minutes left to live.
I twisted at my hands, leaning into whatever was binding me to the chair, hoping I could get some leverage—something. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—acknowledge how hopeless this was. The end was rushing toward me. I couldn’t dodge; only meet it head-on.
I heard rumbling, pounding, and then a clank—a door opening.
I couldn’t see what was going on.
“Back up.” Was that Eli, or was I just hallucinating through the pain?
“That was fast,” the bomber said conversationally. “Put your fucking hands up. Back against the wall.”
“I don’t think so.”
That was definitely Eli. My heart froze in terror. There wasn’t time.
“Run, Eli,” I screamed, my voice so much weaker than it should have been.
“Sylvie says you haven’t found Silas.” The bomber’s voice was curious and unafraid. Eli didn’t respond, and he went on. “Kind of funny, as tight as your team is supposed to be, that I’ve gotten further running him to ground than you. Don’t you want to hear what I know?”
I knew Eli did.
“Don’t move,” he said.
“I think I will,” the bomber said, his tone contemplative, as if considering his options. “You’re one of the few people who could disarm this bomb before it kills her. You can either save Sylvie, or you can catch me. I don’t think you have time to do both. I’ve heard you’re the best. You’ll have to be, especially considering?—”
“Considering what?” Eli snapped.
He didn’t finish the sentence, and without my eyes, all I had were my ears. I couldn’t see what the fuck he was talking about. A metallic clatter sounded on the far side of the room.
A loud bang filled the room. A gunshot? It couldn’t be the bomb going off, because I wasn’t dead. The acrid smell of smoke filled the room. There was pounding, and I was moving.
“Hang on, baby,” Eli said. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Where’d he go?” I choked out.
“Got away. Just sit still. I’ve got this.” Eli was tugging gently at the straps binding me, then stopped abruptly and sucked in a breath. “Sylvie, I need you to stay very still. The bomb is wired into the straps.” He tugged at them, murmuring, “Goddamn, he is good.” There was a thread of admiration in Eli’s words, twined with cold fear.
More pounding, and then another voice I knew. “Report,” Maddox ordered. “Where the fuck did this smoke come from?”
“The bomber tossed a smoke canister for cover and took off up the stairs behind you a minute ago,” Eli said.
