Harper
My feet are sliced, and they burn as though they’re on fire. I keep a firm grip on Luca, my arms around him as though he’s a physical part of my body, afraid that if I let go, I may still be inside, locked up.
Luca is safe.
Alive.
He kisses my lips, pulls me tighter as we’re huddled behind the dead vehicle.
“The EMP fried everything,” Ashton grumbles as he tosses his dead cell phone into the trunk of the SUV. “If Livia has another team or anyone who survived, we’re an enormous target out here.”
“We’ve been here the entire time, and there’s been no sign of anyone leaving that building,” Sophia says.
“The girls got out on the opposite side,” I say. “They’re fleeing on foot. If any guards survived, they’ll probably hunt them down.”
“Even if Livia is dead?” Liam asks.
Ashton keeps his gun ready, poised if any guards come rushing at us through the thick blanket of smoke. “It’s doubtful anyone survived that second explosion.”
“Including Rhys,” Nova whispers, and her breath falters. Her eyes flicker with pain, like she’s holding back tears.
The sound of rotor blades from a helicopter are heard overhead as I squint and glance up into the sky.
“That’s a fucking Black Hawk,” Ashton mutters.
The helicopter lands a short distance away. There’s no helipad, just dirt. Luca curses under his breath, his brow furrowed with worry.
Ashton glances at me, like I’m somehow to blame for this mess.
One of the pilots disembarks and hurries in our direction. “I hear you need a ride.”
We glance at one another, unsure who sent the helicopter, but being stranded is far worse. “Come on,” Ashton says, gesturing for all of us to follow the pilot as we hurry toward the helicopter.
I keep hold of Luca’s hand as we head into the helicopter, glancing around, wondering if we’re about to be detained for questioning by the government.
“Is this everyone?” the pilot asks as he counts six aloud. “I was told there would be seven.”
“Rhys never came out,” Ashton says, and I wince, the weight of my abduction feels incredibly heavy, as though I’m in part to blame. Had he not come here to rescue me, he’d still be alive.
I glance at Nova as she climbs into the seat across from me, and the guilt consumes me. Her eyes are red, glassy. Ashton steals the seat next to her, buckling in. His hand finds her thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
The moment feels entirely too intimate for me to be watching them, and I glance away. I shift in my seat, my seatbelt tight as I glance at Luca seated beside me. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Coming to get me,” I say.
He laughs and shakes his head. “Do you think there was another option?”
We land back at the airfield and take the private plane back home.
It feels empty, wrong to not have Rhys onboard. The mood is heavy, stoic, and the air is thick, making my heart ache for Nova.
While I didn’t personally know Rhys, it’s impossible to ignore her soft tears and pain-laced tone as she leans into Ashton’s embrace.
He hugs her, pulling her into his lap as we reach cruising altitude on our way home.
I may not be to blame for the abduction, but I still feel the weight of guilt, like it’s my fault, because if they hadn’t come rescue me, he’d have never died.
