Page 36 of Last Destination

Madman spared two seconds to issue orders.

To me: “Stay here.”

To Nikki: “Camaleón, protect her with your weapon.”

To Ambrose: “El Guarda, protect them both.”

His hard gaze landed back on mine, and the blue in his eyes was impossibly cold. “Do not worry, ángel. We will kill them and bring her back.” He snapped his fingers. “Jamie, vámonos.”

He didn’t wait for a response, taking off with wide strides through the ferns. His body language promised pain with each step, and Jamie chased him, determination written into the rigid lines of his retreating shoulders.

Dread crept up my spine with frozen fingers as Tessa continued to get further away, her captors moving quickly despite the terrain and the gloom. We couldn’t lose Tessa, not when we were so close. Not when we’d fought so hard to keep her safe. Not when her last actions had saved me.

I couldn’t fail her like I’d failed Charlie.

Nikki slid in behind me and wrapped strong arms around my chest. It was a gentle hold, careful not to bruise my already crushed ribs. I wriggled despite the agony, though, desperate to follow them. He refused to budge, whispering soothing words I couldn’t make out over the rush of blood in my ears and the pounding of my heart. Ambrose enclosed me from the front and wrapped his arms around my waist, the two of them caging me in completely.

“Stop it!” I sobbed, finally feeling the stream of hot tears down my cheeks. “I need to go help her!”

Madman had warned us about rape. He had told us we wouldn’t be safe. Why hadn’t we protected her better? Why hadn’t I insisted she and I sleep in the middle with protection all around us instead of selfishly snuggling into Madman’s arms?

“She needs me,” I repeated, pressing my palms against Ambrose’s torso even as he shifted closer. “Charlie needs me.”

He stiffened against me, and Nikki’s words, whatever they were, halted.

I don’t need you, you silly goose. I’m right here.

Charlie’s form floated behind Ambrose, her smirking face glowing like mist between the trees.

“Oh, thank god,” I hiccupped and released a relieved laugh. “I thought you left me again.” I dug my hand into my shorts pocket to feel the warm metal of my necklace, still there, still safe.

I’ll never leave you, Marl.

Puffs of frosty air escaped her lips, and my brows knitted together in confusion. Something about my relief didn’t feel right. Hadn’t I just been worried about someone else?

The lines of reality blurred as the dark jungle leaves overhead shifted to the colors of autumn reds and golds in the moonlight. The sharp smell of rotting leaves and damp earth replaced the overpowering scent of human bodies, and Charlie’s image flickered in and out like the waning flame of a dying candle.

The back of my neck grew hot, and the weight of my skull felt lighter than air as goose bumps bled along my skin. My body became lead in the confines of the two men, and I dropped like a stone between them before I could even say a word.

A shrill, cut-off scream beyond the woods pierced the air.

Then everything went dark.

These men in the woods were tricky and bold, but stupid men always were.

I pursued them with my unlikely companion through the rainforest, gaining on them with every stride forward. They were sloppy and panicked, and realization hit them quickly they’d miscalculated the value of their prize.

Three men had decided to end their lives tonight by taking what wasn’t theirs. If it was their first time, their poor judgment had now led to their death sentence. If they were experienced, this attempt would be their last. Rapists were the scourge of men. I had punished the perpetrators in prison. I would punish them here.

The man who dared to punch a woman dropped her first, then turned to run into the woods on Jamie’s side. The man on the left struggled to hold Tessa with the unbalanced weight. A tree root forced him to fall. Tessa and the cabrón with his hands wrapped around her mouth tumbled to the ground. I was on top of them both in moments, wrenching Tessa from his scrambling limbs.

With her frail body, she could barely stand upright and tears poured from her eyes as she trembled in my hold. There was no time to coddle her, not with two cowards to track and a man to maim.

“Take her back to them now,” I ordered.

Jamie’s grim nod was the only confirmation I needed to turn my wrath on weak, pathetic men. I should have left my loaded gun with Nikki to protect our captain. I would not need it to destroy them.

I punched through his cheekbone with a violent crack, shattering the bone with the force behind the blow. I was not as strong as I’d been many weeks ago, nor were my hits as controlled as the leader of Clube de Morte. My muscles rebelled with each movement, but I pressed on, determined to make the cabrón pay his penance for his crimes.