I throw myself on top of him, pinning his arms down with my knees.
“WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HER?”
The first blow dislocates his jaw. His legs kick up in an attempt to push me off, but I hold fast.
“WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HER?”
The second blow breaks his nose, perhaps his skull. His legs stop moving.
“WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HER?”
The third blow lands with a sickening squelch.
All resistance in his body dies.
Panting, I regard my bloodied hands with indifference. The only remorse I can muster is that I didn’t get an answer from him.
I stand, half-staggering toward the exit because that fucker really did a number on my leg.
But when I open the door, it’s to be met with a cool midnight breeze.
And Teo, holding Cas’ leather jacket with tears in his eyes.
24
CASSANDRA
Thump thump, thump thump.
My eyelids feel like lead as I try to pry them open. Panic was already setting into my bones before the memories emerged from my too-foggy brain.
I was singing. The lights went out. There were gunshots. Then Mia was there. She was trying to get me to safety.
And then…
And then the pain had overwhelmed me, and everything had gone dark.
Thump thump, thump thump.
My body jostles against the unforgiving floor, elbows bashing awkwardly into my side. I try to move them to alleviate the growing ache in my shoulders, only to discover that they’ve been tied behind my back.
Something had gone wrong. Something terrible. My heart shied away from it, wanting to protect me.
Because I remember the gunshots and Teo’s scream. I remember when someone flew into my arms, and it wasn’t Rocco’s protective embrace but Mia’s frantic consolation.
“You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”It was as if trying to reassure herself as much as me.
She had come for me first. The club was filled with danger, but she had come for me. Despite how I’d yelled, accused her of lying to me, ghosted her. When it mattered the most, my friend had my back.
I’m such a fucking asshole. If I hadn’t been such a coward, I could have called her back and apologized a thousand times. I would have put this behind us before…
Thump thump, thump thump.
It takes me a while to figure out that my eyes are open. It’s not until the sound of the engine finally registers that I realize I’m in the trunk of a car.
I try not to panic. But the claustrophobia and darkness seem to press down harder.
I need to think. Come on, Cassandra.
