In her last seconds, she pulls the trigger.
Time stretches. I swear I see the bullet coming at me in slow motion, then it vanishes into dust, barely an inch from Yosh.
And just like that, there’s nothing but the ocean in front of us. Calm now, not the snarling mess it was before. I can even see the moon’s reflection on the water.
A piece ofthe silencecrumbles away, years of tightness leaving my body.
For the first time in what feels like forever, my lungs fill completely.
I look down at Yosh, free of nightmares. My palm settles on his sternum, feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest.
I guess we both fought off our demons tonight.
“It’s over. She’s gone,” I whisper, fingers tracing the contours of his face. “I think for good this time.”
I lower him onto the sand, hoping he doesn’t wake. He groans softly, face scrunching before he sinks back under.
I pull off my shirt and tuck it under his head for a pillow; a elbow’s fine for me.
I’m exhausted. My eyes close on autopilot, and with the last bit of consciousness I’ve got, I send a quick prayer to whoever’s in charge up there, hoping tomorrow will be better.
One last laugh escapes me, thinking about the Gremlin in the bloody ditch.
Fucking hell.Christmas is going to be so expensive this year.
Chapter thirty-six
Yosh
Pain hits the second I wake up. The morning sun blinds me, the world spinning like I’ve been tossed in a dryer.
Fuck, I haven’t been this wrecked in years.
I try to move, but it’s nearly impossible. Tom’s curled around me, arm locked tight at my waist. I’m pinned between him and the rock wall.
Above us, gulls are screeching. The wind drags my hair across my face.
Where the hell are we? This isn’t my bed.
I do a quick one-eighty.
Playa Tortuga? No. We’re at Playa Arcadia.
What the hell happened?
I squint against the light, trying to piece last night back together.
We’d left SeaBreeze. Tom was driving. Someone had spiked my drink. Fuck, I felt so unbelievably bad. We drove to West Cove, and then… the Gremlin.
I shoot up, shoving Tom aside.
MY GREMLIN!
My vision goes dark.
For a moment, I think I’ll pass out, but then a wave of nausea crashes through me. I stumble over Tom, running toward the waterline. My knees buckle as I reach a small rock formation. I grab onto it and empty my stomach onto the sand.
The next wave drags my puke away.
