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I lean into Aurora, whispering, “I couldn’t sleep, and it’s the most guarded area. I tried to look around, but nothing.”
“Hayden said she was no one.”
“Then she wouldn’t be this guarded.”
“I didn’t believe him, anyway.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch the front door explode. I cry out as gunfire erupts around us, armed men storming into the house. Carnage unfolds, blood spraying in all directions, bodies dropping right and left.
“We’re going to die!”
Aurora is frozen in place, but I grab her hand. I search frantically for somewhere safe. A guard runs to us, gun raised, and points toward the most guarded building.
“Move, move.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, functioning on survival instinct and nothing more.
“To the safe house.”
A bullet rips through his forehead, and the guard drops to the floor next to us, blood oozing from his temple, eyes lifeless. I scream, and Aurora yanks my hand. “We’re going to hide in the woods. They won’t find us there.” She hesitates, giving my hand a firm squeeze. “Run!”
“What are you going to do?” I ask when she doesn’t move.
“I need the phone.”
“I am not leaving you.”
Aurora must see the determination on my face because she gives in. We run toward the house. I scan for a gun when I hear Aurora’s hiss. A bulk of a man has her by the hair. So they’re here for her. Nothing is going to happen to her. I’d kill every one of them before I’d allow that.
“Got her,” he says in an earpiece.
While she thrashes in his grip, hitting him repeatedly, he doesn’t even flinch. I take a fortifying breath, lifting my acquired weapon from the floor. I aim at his head and squeeze the trigger. Blood and brain matter spray around as he falls on top of her. I shove his lifeless body off Aurora and help her to her feet. She eyes me quizzically, but I don’t have time to explain that Cato taught me how to use a gun.
With no time to lose, we run toward the exit. But the safe house is surrounded. Around us there are grunts, pops of gunfire, and the heavy scent of death. I swallow the terror I feel. I have a mission—get us somewhere safe. Trying to stay undetected, we duck on our knees and elbows toward the forest, but we’re surrounded and outnumbered. The battle leaves me deflating, like a popped balloon.
“There are so many,” I say, giving my desperation a voice. “We’re going to die.”
“No, we won’t.”
“I wanted my freedom so bad, I guess I am getting it.”
“We’re going to make it.” She tries to cheer me up while I am drowning in guilt and terror.
No, I am not giving up. Never have, never will. Infused with a fresh wave of belief, I look around for an escape route, while she’s on the phone, voices sounding near us.
“Got you, bitch.” A masked man hits the side of Aurora’s head with his gun.
I scream but everything turns dark.
***
When I blink awake, my head throbs with a headache. I lift my hand to the side of my head, gingerly fingering a bump. It’s eerily quiet, and when I look around, I cover my mouth, a sob tearing from my throat. Aurora . . . my chest caves under the pressure of despair.
I went through hell, but to witness my best friend being taken while they knocked me out and left me here is worse.
Blood. So much blood. The grass and the pool are tainted in red. I shot and killed a man too. Heaving, I throw up.
“Breathe,” a soft voice says above me, penetrating the eerie silence.
