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“No,” I say, shaking my head. “They had nothing to do with this!”
“That is the price of your defiance,” he says. “Now choose … Your husband or your friend.”
My pupils dilate. “What? No, you can’t—I won’t!”
“Then I will decide,” he retorts, and he signals a guard.
“No, wait!” I squeal. “Take them down, please!”
“Pick. Now,” he says through gritted teeth.
My whole body turns cold as ice.
“I can’t. Don’t make me do this, please,” I plead with him, and I go down on my knees. “I’m begging you, please, take me instead.”
He narrows his eyes at me, but it doesn’t seem to move him one bit. After some time, he growls, “No.”
I cry out in pain, burying my face in my hands. I can’t make this decision. I can’t do this. I can’t get it across my heart to even think of it, let alone make the choice.
“Fine,” my father says.
Before I realize it, he’s pointed at someone.
In shock, I turn on my heels.
The floor is dropped underneath the gallows.
The rope tightens.
Everyone’s in shock.
The person is swooped up, and a body dangles in the air.
I can hear the choking. Feel it in my throat as I gasp for air.
“NO!” I scream in terror.
The body hangs limp in the air while the other guards grab the remaining person, rip the rope off, and pull the bag away.
It’s Noah.
So that means … Emmy died.
The grief strikes my body hard like a knife piercing through my belly, and I sink down to the floor in agony. My body contorts, my stomach contracting while I bawl out in pain and fear.
I don’t know what’s going on around me. All the lights are dancing in the air, and I swear I can see Emmy’s ghost floating around … or maybe I’m losing my mind.
Another stabbing pain pushes through my belly, forcing me to stop breathing for a moment, and my eyes burst open from the pain.
And I scream for the only person I know can help me right now, “Noah!”
Within seconds, someone’s face hovers above me, but it isn’t Noah.
It’s Holly. “It’ll be okay. Just breathe,” she says.
“I can’t,” I mutter, tears flowing across my face. “It hurts!”
She grabs my hand and holds on tight. “I’m here.”
“It was Emmy. It’s my fault. It’s my fault she died!” I say, seeing Holly cry too. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t talk. Spare your energy,” she says.
Another sharp pain shoots through my entire body, and I curl up in pain. “Oh God!”
“He’s not punishing you,” she says.
“What?” I mutter, trying not to panic.
She places a hand on my belly and leaves it there for a few seconds before looking up at the president. “She needs a bed. She’s in labor.”
Noah
My entire body feels as though it’s on fire. Sweat drips down my back and my pulse is racing the moment the executioner pulls the bag and rope off my head. I made it out alive …
But Natalie’s friend Emmy didn’t.
And the moment I spot Natalie bundled together on the floor, panic shoots through my veins.
She had to witness her friend’s death, forced to choose, but unable to.
Her father is the cruelest man alive.
But I won’t let him destroy her.
Not on my watch.
I immediately run toward her, ignoring the executioner running right after me. The guards try to stop me from getting close, but I burst right past their defense and storm through the auditorium.
The president’s still on his throne even though his daughter’s in crippling pain and screaming out loud. I don’t know if it’s from the terror of seeing her own friend being hanged … or because of her baby.
Holly’s clutching her hand. “She’s in labor!”
My eyes widen. The fear and trauma must’ve set it off.
As they lift her up from the floor using a makeshift stretcher, I run up to her and grab her other hand. “I’m here.”
“Noah,” she mutters, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh my God, Noah …”
“Don’t talk, I know,” I say. “Save your energy.”
She lowers her head and nods. Right then, another contraction follows, and she squeals in pain. It’s so hard to see her in pain, but I have to stay by her side for as long as I can, for as long as they’ll allow it.
Because I know, sooner rather than later, they’ll force us apart again. But I’ll fight them tooth and nail if I have to.
“You’ll get through this,” I whisper as she’s carried up the stairs.
“It hurts!” she screams, grasping at her belly.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say, trying to calm her down.
“No!” she yells, suddenly reaching for my shirt, grasping it tightly into a fist. “It hurts too much! I can’t do this. Don’t make me do this.”
She keeps shaking her head even though she lets me go. Agatha and some guards carry her farther upstairs with Holly and I following suit. They place her on the bed, and she immediately curls up into a ball.
