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Fucking breathe, you sad-fuck.
When the last hit of the bat strikes the back of my head, it feels like my skull has been split open. My body slumps to the ground.
The world sways.
I blink. Once. Twice.
Silence replaces the ringing in my ears as the world goes black.
EPILOGUE
Riley— 22 years old
I cradle Grayson’s injured and bleeding body in my arms. Letting out a choked sob, I press my hand against the wound in his abdomen. Oh, God. No, no, no. The cut is so big, the palm of my hand is not even enough to cover the whole surface of it.
“Grayson, please.” My voice cracks with terror. Blood drips down my eyebrow, from the nasty gash in my forehead. It hurts, but I can’t focus on my own pain when Grayson is like this— in agony and maybe… dying. No, no… He can’t.
“Don’t you dare die on me,” I beg, a mean fist gripping my heart.
He blinks up at me, his gaze hazy and pained. He raises his arm weakly, cupping my cheek with his bloody hand. His lips part, as if he wants to speak but he only ends up coughing more blood.
The ache in my chest is excruciating.
I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe.
It took us over twelve hours to escape our captor. My gaze slides over to his limp body, a few feet away from us. I shot a man.
I think… I killed him.
My throat closes with a choked sound.
His thirst for vengeance had absolutely paralyzed and terrified me. I hadn’t shot him when I did, he would have killed us.
“Grayson, stay with me,” I whimper heartbreakingly. “Please, don’t go. Stay with me. I’ll get help.” I look around frantically, but we’re on the road, in the middle of nowhere.
Grayson wheezes, the sound of my name soft on his lips. I hold him tighter, the endless stream of tears running down my cheeks. He coughs up more blood, and then his body stiffens with a violent spasm.
His eyes roll back in his head.
I let out an incoherent cry, clutching him to me as his body goes limp in my arms.
Time slows down.
The world sways under me.
Lost in a sea of despair and confusion, I surrender to the numbness nibbling at my flesh. All I can seem to focus on is how much he’s bleeding, and how limp his body is. Grayson tried to protect me. Everything he has ever done was for me— to keep me safe. From people who could hurt me.
And now he’s hurt while protecting me.
Grayson is dying because of me.
Raw sound of anguish tears through me. His breathing is so shallow, almost like he’s taking his last breath. “Don’t…please, don’t die. Don’t leave me. It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair, Grayson.”
His chest rattles.
He wheezes.
He’s dying…
