The sound of his voice nearly undid me right then—firm, controlled, but full of fire. He was here. He’d found me.
I heard Duke bark somewhere, but I didn’t see him.
Ethan tightened his grip on me, jerking me a step back toward the kitchen. “I’ll kill her!” he shouted. “Don’t think I won’t!”
“Try it,” came Santana’s voice behind Caleb, calm but sharp as steel.
“I will!” Ethan screamed as he stepped backwards. “I will if you take another step...”
The knife had fallen away enough, that it wasn’t right at my throat anymore, and I could tell he was nervous. He knew it was over. With a burst of desperation, I snapped my head back. The back of my head connected with his face. His curses tore through the house, and his hold on me loosened. My legs were now completely out of the ropes, and I brought my knee up in front of me, before sending my foot back into whatever part of him I could kick. I kicked fast and hard, landing square against his thigh. He cried out, stumbling backward.
“Rae, I got you! Move!” I heard Caleb shout, and I tried to move away from Ethan.
I tried to scramble backward when I saw Ethan attempting to reach for me again, but with my wrists bound tightly behind me, I couldn’t steady myself. My foot caught on loose floorboards, and I pitched forward.
Unable to catch myself, I fell into the wall and to the floor. Pain exploded behind my eyes as stars swirled in my vision. The world spun wildly, and my body went limp against the cold floor.
Voices echoed faintly, and I felt pressure around my ankle before my body was being pulled. Was Ethan pulling me back towards him? Santana yelled, and Caleb shouted my name. Everything hurt and I couldn’t move.
Then...A gunshot. Just one. Loud. Final. Everything went still.
My ears rang. I couldn’t focus. Dark spots flooded my vision, and I felt something warm on my face. I thought I saw something red on the floor, or the wall—I couldn’t tell. Something warm slid down my cheek.Blood?I couldn’t lift my hand to check if it was mine.
Someone collapsed.
But who?
I blinked, trying to focus enough to find out. My head swam. The ceiling spun above me like it didn’t want to stay still. I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t work.
Someone was crying out.Was that Caleb or Santana?I tried to call for them, but I couldn’t make a sound.
I felt so tired and closed my eyes.Maybe if I close them, for just a moment, it will help.
I heard a heavy thud coming towards me and opened my eyes just enough to see what looked like boots walking towards me. Someone knelt next to me.
My eyes closed once more. I tried to fight it, but I was so tired.
I tried to stay awake. I didn’t know who had been shot. I needed to know if Caleb was okay.
Am I safe?I didn’t know anything at all except that I was slipping under.
