Page 40 of Savage Surrender

“He’ll come.” Freddie’s breath catches when he straightens, but he stays on his feet.

Only shouts come through the trees. No explosion. No Owen.

I take one step back toward the trail we tore open, and Weller closes a hand around my upper arm.

“No.”

“His collar will still be in range. What if they found him?”

“Then our remaining here will not help him.”

“Let go of me.”

His command bears down on my instincts, calling for obedience when every useful part of me wants to run back into the house. “Bianca. Keep moving.”

“I lied.”

His brows draw together. “About what?”

“Promising to keep going.” I wrench free. “I’m not leaving him.”

I make it three steps before Tristan catches me around the waist and lifts my feet off the ground.

“Put me down right now.”

He turns and carries me deeper into the woods. “I’ve considered your proposal and found it catastrophically stupid. So no.”

“Tristan, you’re an asshole.”

“Bianca, you’re the love of my life.”

I throw my head back and hit bone. He swears, his grip loosening for half a second before both arms lock around me again.

“Did you headbutt me, you little gremlin?”

“Put me down and I’ll demonstrate all the ways I can hurt you.”

His laugh comes out breathless. “Your commitment to terrible strategy remains one of your more endearing qualities.”

“I will gut you, Tristan Barrett.”

“After we reach the car. I don’t want to die before I get my first real taste of freedom in my twenties.”

I kick until my muscles shake but it doesn’t deter him a bit. Weller clears the path while Freddie stays beside Tristan, and together they carry me farther from Owen. My eyes sting and blur, which is absolutely fucking unacceptable. I bite the inside of my cheek until blood fills my mouth.

The first loud pop punches through the forest.

I hold my breath. A second boom follows, then three cracks tumble over one another as red and green light flares between the trees. It goes on and on.

Freddie laughs, and the sound breaks in the middle. “He did it.”

Tristan sets me down and I’m immediately running for higher ground before my feet are fully under me. I need to see the house. I need to see Owen.

We climb until the trees open around a rocky ledge. Whitney’s mansion burns below, orange racing behind curtains and along the roof while fireworks blast through windows. I search every strip of lawn I can see and find no large, furious man.

Freddie takes my hand. His palm is cold despite the heat climbing the slope. “Give him another minute. He’s like a cat. Nine lives and all that.”

“His shoulder still isn’t fully healed from the gunshot wound.” My breath has shortened until the words come out clipped and ugly. “We go back to the edge of the lawn. We’re not fucking leaving him behind. We’re not.”