“Shit.” Tag turns and pulls out a gun.
“Why do you have a gun?” I turn back to Lex who’s also drawing a gun. “Wait! Why do you have a gun?”
“I’ll explain later, rabbit, but right now, I need you to hold on tight and keep your head down.”
I nod frantically, pull myself into my hoodie, and sink down below the window.
“Sir?” Bill asks.
“Try to lose them, but nothing too dangerous. I won’t let Rory get hurt.”
“Of course, sir.”
Suddenly, the car jerks to the right and we’re flying down the off ramp. I don’t even want to think about how many lanes of traffic we just crossed.
“Shit, they made it off in time,” Tag curses.
I hear a few cars honking as we speed up again and I think get back on the freeway.
“Damn, they’re good,” Tag praises, and Lex growls. Another pop hits the window, and I whimper.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby. I’ll protect you. I promise,” he whispers, and I want to believe him.
“It’s no good. There’s too much traffic,” Tag says, and then he opens fire out the window.
This can’t be happening.
This isn’t real.
Maybe this whole night was a dream and now I’m getting to the nightmare part.
I just need to wake up.
Wake up, Rory.
Wake up!
“Hold on,” Bill says, and then the car is fishtailing into an underground parking garage. We dip low and speed back up a ramp.
“I’m going to puke,” I say, and that gets Lex’s attention.
He rubs gentle circles on my back and shouts, “Bill.” The car slams to a stop. I open the door, and Lex tries to block me.
“It’s not safe.”
So I don’t get out, I just puke next to the car.
Lex continues to rub my back and whisper soothing words.
When I’m done, I spit a few times, and Lex hands me a bottle of water. I rinse and spit again before shutting the door.
Lex pulls me into his arms, and he pats a damp cloth on my neck and forehead. It feels nice.
“You okay, rabbit?” Tag asks, and it’s weird to hear anyone but Lex call me rabbit.
“Rory,” Lex growls at Tag.
“Fine, you okay,Rory?”
