We settled Kat against the tree trunk.
I whispered, “Guard them,” to Jaclyn. To Reeve, “Keep Kat warm.”
“Where are you going?” Reeve wrapped herself around Kat, offering what heat she could. “What are you going to do?” Terror glazed her moon-darkened features.
“Let her do what needs doing, and ask questions later,” Jaclyn said, already in position, gaze scanning. She would shoot anyone who approached, without hesitation.
I squeezed Reeve’s hand and tiptoed away without another word. When I reached the edge of the forest, I pressed against another trunk, peering out at the building. Lights spilled from the windows, illuminating the area around it. Kelly stood just outside the doors, his hands on his hips, his breath misting in front of his face every time he exhaled.
Just how far would the tranq gun shoot?
Just how good was my aim?
While staying at the cabin, I’d continued my training. Nowadays, I hit more than I missed, as proven by the guards in the lobby. But just then, I was shaking so badly I couldn’t hold the gun steady.
Gotta try. I set the scalpel in front of me on a rock, just in case, and stretched out flat on my belly, my elbow beside the blade. No matter what I tried, however, my hand couldn’t be steadied.
A crunch of snow at my left. Instinct kicked in, and I had the scalpel palmed and thrown in the next second. A man fell to the ground, gasping for breath, the blade sticking out of his throat.
How many other guards were already out here?
In the distance, I heard a crash. Metal against metal. A second later, a Jeep skidded into the lot, the tires locked. The moment it stopped, Cole, Justin, Frosty and Bronx hopped out.
A second vehicle arrived, and out came Trina, Gavin, Veronica and Lucas.
A third vehicle pulled in, and out came Mr. Ankh, Mr. Holland and the rest of the slayers.
I wanted to... Was about to have... Hold it together. Just a little longer. They were here. They were here, and the girls would be saved, and all of the pain and suffering would have been worth it, and oh, glory, I was crying, the tears hazing my eyesight and freezing on my cheeks.
“Where are they?” Mr. Holland demanded.
Every slayer unsheathed a gun and aimed at Kelly.
Every guard around him unsheathed a gun and aimed at the slayers.
Kelly’s hands fisted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do, however, know that this is private property and you were not invited. Leave, before I’m forced to take measures you won’t appreciate.”
“We know they’re here,” Cole growled. “Ali!”
“You’re surrounded,” Kelly gritted out. “Are you sure you want to go this route?”
“Are you sure that you do?” Mr. Ankh said, as calm as ever. “I’m sure a dozen dead bodies in your parking lot would be too difficult for even you to explain away or hide.”
“We want the girls,” Cole spat. “Now.”
“Here,” I called. “We’re here.”
Kelly stiffened.
Frosty and Bronx followed the echo of my voice. They reached me in seconds.
“Where’s Kat?” Frosty demanded.
“Back here,” Reeve called, and I knew she was doing her best to sound brave and unaffected.
“Jaclyn, lower the weapon,” I said.
“Jaclyn?” Justin took off in a run.
Frosty and Bronx, too. It wasn’t long before Frosty was carrying Kat, Bronx was carrying Reeve and Justin was carrying Jaclyn. I think every one of them was crying. I forced myself to stand, to inch forward, toward the slayers.
Cole kept his gun trained on Kelly, his finger twitching over the trigger. He wanted to kill the man. Like, bad. I saw it in the posture of his body. Felt it in the rage radiating from him.
“I know you hate the man and want him dead for taking Ali, but you need to go get your girl,” Gavin said, wrapping his fingers around the barrel of the gun. “Or I will.”
Cole cursed under his breath but relinquished the weapon without tapping the trigger; he rushed to my side. His gaze swept over me, and his expression hardened. He swept me up in his arms, and I could only rest my head on his shoulder.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he whispered, “and I’m not ever letting you go again.”
My chin trembled, a fresh round of tears threatening to fall.
“Go ahead, take them,” Kelly said, his body trembling with rage of his own. “You’ll find no evidence that they were ever here. In fact, I should call the authorities and let them know four teenage girls were sneaking around the premises.”
“Shoot him,” I said, my voice weak, strained.
Of course, no one obeyed. They’d begun to back up, heading for the cars. Well, sorry, but I couldn’t let Kelly walk away unscathed, no matter how noble he considered his cause. I had to do something. Now, while I had the chance.
With Cole’s body heat surrounding me, some of my tremors waned. So, with my last burst of energy, I lifted the tranq gun and squeezed the trigger.
A dart sank into Kelly’s cheek.
I’d aimed for his eye. Oh, well.
His knees buckled and he went down.
Some of the guards rushed to him. The others cocked their weapons, ready to retaliate. I was shoved into a car as shots rang out, Cole using his body as a shelter.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Couldn’t resist.”
“Don’t be sorry. Ali, I don’t know what I would have done... I couldn’t stand...” His arms tightened around me, squeezing me. “You have to tell me what happened in there.”
“Not now,” I said, even the thought threatening to immobilize me. “Please.”
“Okay. All right. But soon.”
“Soon,” I promised.
The first two days back at Mr. Ankh’s, I slept, my body doing its best to recover from the abuse it had suffered—but its best wasn’t quite good enough. My strength continued to diminish. I was vaguely aware of Nana coming to see me and clutching my hand, Emma pacing beside my bed and Mr. Ankh checking my vitals.
Where was Cole?
It wasn’t until the third day that I discovered he’d been sleeping in a chair in the corner of my room the entire time. I woke up crying and couldn’t stop. I cried until my tear ducts dried from overuse, and he rushed over, gathering me in his arms, whispering the sweetest words into my ear.
I missed you so much.
I tore the world apart looking for you. I wasn’t going to stop until I had you back.
You are so special to me. I need you.
I clung to him as if he were my only lifeline.
Just then, he was.
He told me Kat and Reeve were on the mend. That he knew Reeve had been the unwitting spy, and because of her, Ethan. He’d told the slayers everything that had been going on; they were eager to see me, he said.
“How is Jaclyn?” I asked.
“She’s at home with Justin, and he says she’s healing physically but not mentally. She refuses to leave the house.”
“They were terrible to her,” I said with a shudder.
“The were terrible to you, too. To all of you. Will you tell me now?”
“Tomorrow,” I whispered, not wanting the taint of dark memories to intrude upon this moment.
Then tomorrow came. My fourth day back. Mr. Ankh and Mr. Holland strode into the room, asked for details, and I told them everything I’d learned...and suffered. Cole held me then, too, and I was glad. Though he stiffened and cursed, he remained tender with me, sifting his fingers through my hair, whispering how brave I was when I thought I’d have another breakdown, telling me how sorry he was.
The adults were pale by the time I finished.
“Well,” Mr. Ankh said, then cleared his throat. Were his eyes gleaming with tears? “I’m sorry for everything you endured, Miss Bell.”
I nodded to let him know I’d heard him.
“But I’m afraid you’re not in the clear yet,” he added. “The antizombie toxin in your blood is higher than ever. We gave you more antidote, and it helped...for a while. You burned through it so quickly I believe you’re already developing an immunity to it. You’ll be able to use it another few weeks, is my guess, but not much more than that.”
So little time.
I gulped.
When the adults left the room, Cole parted my hair and held on to the pigtails he’d created, peering into my eyes. “Kelly isn’t going to get away with this. You have my word.”
He was so beautiful. So fierce. “Cole.”
“No, don’t say anything. You’re still recovering, and I want you focused on that. I just... I want to show you something.” He rolled to his back, leaving me on my side, and lifted the hem of his T-shirt to reveal the entire expanse of his muscled chest.
His tattoos were—oh, glory.
In big, bold letters, my name had been added among his plethora of tattoos.
ALI BELL arched from one nipple to the other, the pierced one, taking up far more real estate than any other.
“Cole,” I repeated with a tremor.
“I wanted to give you more than words. I wanted to show you that you’re it for me, that there is no one else, that there will never be anyone else. I don’t care what happens. I don’t care what the visions tell us. I just want you.”
No boy had ever made such a finite gesture for me. No boy had ever looked at me like this one did, as if I were the most important part of his life. As if he couldn’t not look at me. “I love you,” I whispered, my heavy eyelids drifting closed and my mind falling into a pool of black.
I think I was smiling.
My fifth day back, Cole moved me into Reeve’s suite. With both Mr. Ankh’s and Mr. Parker’s permission, Kat had moved in as well, and the two girls had been asking for me—needing me. An unbreakable bond had formed inside that cell, one that would last as long as we lived.
The men in our lives weren’t willing to upset us, so, regardless of the danger I still presented, three twin beds now dominated the sleeping area.
