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“Ava!” Widow’s voice is a warning, but I’m not listening. He’s here because of me, because he wanted to be with me, something no one else has ever wanted. And maybe there is something inside of me yet, not the patchworked parts of a girl trying to put herself together after the world tore her apart. Maybe there’s something deeper than the darkness, something that hasn’t been chewed up or torn, something that has desires and wants, needs and dreams.
Maybe I want to be alive, after all.
“Micah!” I yell just as the boys roll into Widow, taking her out at the knees. There’s a popping sound, and she goes down, screaming. The gun falls to the ground, and Ethan grabs it, coming up a second before Micah, who freezes when he looks up.
Straight into the barrel of a gun.
“Absolutely fucking not,” I say.
And I step in front of him.
Forty-Five
Micah
There’s dirt in my teeth and blood dripping from my mouth. I think one of my ribs is broken, and I definitely heard my ankle crack, but I can’t feel anything other than fear because a second ago there was a gun pointed at my face. And now it’s pointed at my heart.
At Ava.
“Get out of the fucking way,” Ethan says to Ava as I struggle to my knees, shaking my head to clear it.
The silver-haired woman is crawling toward the base of the tree, one leg dragging, twisted at the knee. Hailey looks up, comes to Ethan’s side.
“You can’t shoot Ava. I need her,” she says, reaching for the gun. He jerks it away, out of her grasp.
“Not aiming for her,” he says. “And fuck you, anyway.”
“Ava.” Hailey turns to her, coldly calm. “We have to go.”
Ava shakes her head. “I’m not leaving him to this,” she says, upper lip curling as she looks at Ethan.
“Ava,” Hailey tries another tack, voice lowering, quiet, her words only for the other girl. “Ava, what do you need right now?”
“Need?” Ava asks, her head lifting.
“There’s still time,” Hailey says, her eyes shifting to the side, glancing at her boyfriend. “You know you can ask. If you need someone to be safe, if you need someone to—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ethan cuts his girlfriend off, then jerks the gun back to Ava. “And why the fuck are you protecting him, anyway?”
From under the tree there’s a cracking sound, a muffled cry from the woman.
“Because he’s the only good person I know,” Ava says, her voice weak and thready.
“Oh, really?” Ethan says, his face twisting as he tries to smile, his broken nose spreading wider. “That’s funny, because—”
“Ethan,” I growl as I manage to get to my feet, bad ankle threatening to give out.
“I know things about him that would change your mind, real fucking fast,” Ethan says, digging into his pocket for his phone, handing it to his girlfriend while he keeps the gun on us. “Hailey, if you don’t want me to shoot this bitch, go into my photos.”
“Hailey.” I try to step forward, grab my side, where a rib buckles. Ethan levels the gun at Ava’s head.
“Don’t,” he says, eyes on me.
“Hailey,” I try again, breathing shallow, tasting blood. “Don’t listen to—”
“Shut up, both of you,” she says, looking between the two of us, and finally turning to Ethan. “I do this, I can have her?”
“You do this, she’ll let me shoot him,” Ethan says.
