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“Stay out of this. You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“Don’t I?” I turn my head to the side. I’m three feet away from him now, and I can see as the confusion widens his eyes. “I think I know exactly who I’m messing with,” I say in a loud whisper.
The man holding Evie adjusts her in his arms, obviously tired already. “What are you planning to do with her?” I ask casually.
The man looks from Bryce to me. My gun is in my hand at my side, but I don’t raise it. We don’t need a standoff, we need this man to put her down. Raising my gun will only cause more tension. It’s a power move, but one I’m willing to bet will settle the other two men more than alarm them.
“None of your business,” Bryce spits at me, finally lowering his gun.
“How do you know? Maybe I’m the one that set this all up, and you’re just here following my orders.” I play a game with him, knowing that he has no idea who he’s working for, and will fall for it quickly.
He scoffs, running his hands through his messy, greasy hair, “You’re her best friend. Besides, the person I’m in contact with called me and is clearly a man.”
I shrug, “Keep your friends close.” I look at my nails like I’m bored. The thing about being the peppy loud one is that no one expects you to be the calm one in chaos. They expect you to be a screamer, a crier. I’m neither of those things. I’m a manipulator, and one of the best, too. “How do you know that man doesn’t work for me? Has he ever seemed iffy about the information he gives you, or unable to answer one of your questions, like he has to run it by someone else first?”
Bryce takes a minute to think about that. Long enough for doubt to creep in. And that’s all I need. The man he spoke to could have very well been the one in charge of everything, but planting a seed of doubt, or making someone overanalyze any situation can create room for suspicion.
“Anyway,” I sigh, walking past him and getting everyone to turn their backs to the girls hidden on the other side of the bridge. “You should probably hurry, I hear you’re an oathbreaker now. Every mafia in the world will know what you did.”
I glance at Evie just in time to see her hand move. The man holding her is clueless about her posture changing, and it takes everything in me not to smile. “You should sit her down, it’s probably going to be a minute,” I suggest, having no idea what their next steps are, but also assuming they’re not standing in the middle of this bridge waiting for nothing. I casually walk over to the edge and look down into the water.
It’s about a twenty-foot drop. When I turn back, the man is setting Evie down against the edge of the bridge, putting us both out of the line of fire. If they don’t take this shot now, the window of opportunity is going to close quickly. My body goes cold at that moment, realizing I put all our cards on these girls being on our side. They may have helped us out in the arena, but we don’t know where their true loyalties lie, yet.
Two gunshots go off, and time seems to stand still. In that moment, I pray that they are intended for anyone but Evie and I.
Chapter 53
I run to Damien as soon as I can move. My stomach feels sick over how close he was to the blast. There aren’t supposed to be any explosives on the island, but judging from the size of the hole in the building, there was a shit ton of it hidden somewhere.
“D,” I yell, my ears ringing so loud I can hardly hear my own voice. Damien is laying on his side, coughing. He missed the pile of rubble, stacked easily ten feet tall, by mere inches. My eyes attempt to glass over, but I clear my throat to dispel the emotion. This is not the time to let feelings take over.
I kneel in front of Damien, taking his face in my hands and making him look at me. He coughs a few more times before giving me that stupid smile I’ve come to love, and I smash my lips to his. I pull away quickly, looking all around for Evie. When I don’t find her, I swear my lungs attempt to give out. I look up through the metal fencing to see Alexi surveying the field as well.
Suddenly, someone grabs him from behind, throwing a bag over his head and plunges a knife into his side.
“ALEXI!” I scream.
Arrow stands up across the field, taking aim with his bow and firing. All the blood leaves my face when I assume the arrow is for Alexi. Thankfully the moment it makes contact, I see the man holding Alexi fall to the floor. I can’t make out any of his features, but from here it looks like he’s wearing a mask. Another masked man takes his place instantly, throwing Alexi over his shoulder while blood seeps from his side.
“Go,” Arrow yells down to me, “I’ll cover you.”
I give him a nod and grab Damien by the arm, knowing we need to move. Chaos is erupting all around us, and too many people have weapons that they don’t know how to use.
“Lev,” Damien yells. “Where is she?”
I don’t have time to process everything. My body sways, overwhelmed by panic and adrenaline.
Damien’s arms wrap around me. “Focus, Lev, what’s happening?” I take a deep breath, just like I’ve taught Evie to do a million times by now.
“Evie is gone. So is Bryce. Alexi was taken, they stabbed him.” I choke on the words as they come out, but somehow Damien is able to decipher it.
“Let’s go. If they stabbed him, that means there’s a trail.” His hand wraps around my arm, dragging me at first until I can get my feet under me. As soon as I can, we take off in a sprint through the gaping hole in the building. Sure enough, drops of blood sprinkle the ground right near the upper exits, leaving a perfect trail of breadcrumbs.
My phone beeps in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a text from Laney.
Laney: Where are you?
Lev: Alexi taken. Stabbed. Evie missing.
