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Shock flashed across her face. Then, she pressed her lips into a thin line. She leaned close, her gaze boring into mine. “We’re going to get out of here, Ty. It’ll be okay.”
I stared at her, amazed at her look of confidence. I drew in a breath. “She stopped taking her meds when I came back to town. She said she didn’t feel the same about me when she was on them and she wanted that feeling back. She wanted to be in love with me.” Nausea surged in my gut as I looked away. “She won’t let me go, Ellie.”
And now, she wasn’t going to let Ellie go, either.
“Tyson.” Ellie’s voice was soft, but strong. My blood heated whenever she called me by my full name. I met her gaze. “We will make it through this.” She said it with such determination that I almost believed her. She craned her neck and pressed a soft, sweet kiss on my lips.
It was like a salve to my wounds, reviving my very soul. Ellie’s lips parted and I breathed her in, inhaling her strength. I kissed her as if it was the last thing I’d ever do. The kiss turned desperate and hot and my hands ached to reach for her, to pull her close and never let her go.
Something stirred in the depths of my core. Something I didn’t know existed ignited within me, making all my terror and fear and guilt fade until there was nothing left but Ellie and my love for her.
I would not let anything happen to her.
It didn’t matter that I was weak, becauseshewasn’t. She was strong and she believed in me. I couldn’t let her down. I couldn’t let all the things I thought I was and all the things my garbage father had pushed on me, win. She was my purpose and I was going to protect her, even if I died doing so.
I was so lost in our kiss—lost in her—that I barely noticed when the door opened again. There was a screeching cry and Ellie was ripped away from me. My blood seethed as Clara flung her against the wall by her hair, screaming obscenities.
I saw red. Everything in me was ready to fight. I struggled against the ropes binding my calves to the chair. The bolts that kept the chair legs in place had already loosened some and I kicked against them hard, ignoring the pain. If I could get my legs free, maybe I could do something.
“You fucking bitch!” Clara wailed. She slapped Ellie across the face. Ellie didn’t make a sound as her head whipped to the side.
“Clara!” Abel barked from the entrance of the shed. He stalked inside, his body hulking over Clara’s small frame. I had no idea how such a big man could let someone so small control him. Then again, Abel was trying to protect his sister—as misguided as he was.
Clara glared at Abel. “She’s taking my boyfriend. He’s not hers…he’s mine.”
My heart stopped as Clara stepped back from Ellie and pulled a small, .22 pistol from a holster hidden beneath the hem of her shirt. Chills broke out on my skin. I had no idea she was armed.
Abel tensed. Apparently, he was as shocked as I was. I struggled against the ropes, hoping it wasn’t my imagination that the hold was getting looser, the chair more wobbly.
“What the hell are you doing?” Abel spat, stepping forward. Clara pointed the gun directly at Ellie.
No, she wasn’t going to hurt her. She wasn’t.
“This has gone too far, Clara. This is enough. We can’t keep doing this.”
Clara cocked her head to the side, her gaze trained on Ellie who had gone as still as a statue. “You’re right,” Clara said, her voice suddenly dead calm. She turned to her brother, who had taken a few more steps toward her. He was almost close enough to grab the gun. “We can’t keep doing this.”
In the blink of an eye, Clara turned the gun on her own brother and pulled the trigger. His head snapped back with the force of the bullet, his body crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. He didn’t move as blood pooled beneath his body.
Ellie’s screams pierced my ears as I continued to fight. The legs of the chair were loosening, the ropes started to slide down my calves to my ankles.
Clara turned toward Ellie again. Tears streamed down Ellie’s face as she sobbed. “You shouldn’t cry,” Clara said. “You’re going to join him soon.”
She raised her arm again, ready to point the gun back at Ellie. But Ellie only looked at me, her eyes latching onto mine.
“I love you.” She mouthed.
All at once, a surge of energy washed over me. I kicked and pulled my legs. Ellie wasn’t going to get hurt. I was going to get her out of here. I would save her if it was the last thing I did.
“Clara,” I said her name between clenched teeth, desperate to distract her. At the sound of her name, her head whipped to me. Her eyes widened and finally, the legs of the chair snapped. I leaned forward, planting my feet on the ground and hurled myself at Clara. She had just enough time to turn toward me before I barreled into her.
The crack of several gunshots reverberated through the shed. A piercing, burning pain hit my shoulder as Ellie screamed.
Everything happened as if in slow motion; my head swam, my hearing muffled, as if cotton was stuffed into my ears. I was aware of being on the floor, the hard concrete against my cheek. Suddenly, my hands were freed from behind what was left of the chair. Someone carefully turned me over and I cried out as searing pain lashed from my shoulder, down my arm.
“He’s been shot,” a familiar voice called, and I realized my eyes were closed. I pried them open, and Atlas’s face swam in my vision. I had no idea why Atlas was here, but I couldn’t find the words to ask him. My body started shaking, tremors ran up and down my limbs. I clenched my jaw against the pain.
“Medic! I need a damn medic in here!” Atlas screamed.
I tried to look around. There suddenly seemed to be chaos surrounding us. People were everywhere, but it was so dark and it was hard to focus.
A warm pair of hands grabbed my face, and I looked up into the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. She was crying. I didn’t want her to cry, but I couldn’t get my mouth to open to tell her that.
Ellie leaned down, pressing her forehead against mine. “I love you, Tyson Ranes,” she whispered in my ear.
I love you, too. But I don’t think my words made it to her before I lost the battle. My eyelids closed and I fell into a painless unconsciousness.
