Consumed by Truths (Truth or Lies 6)

I just nod.

Enzo stands and holds out his hand to me. I take it as he pulls me up. Archard has two guns loaded with one bullet a piece, and then he hands them to us.

“Good luck,” Archard says.

I frown, feeling closer to the end of the game as I’ve ever felt before. But I don’t know why this feels like the end. Enzo and I aren’t going to fight. It’s Beckett we have to worry about. This round will be another twenty minutes of time-wasting. Hopefully, Enzo will tell me the plan this time.

We step into the circle together, armed with our guns.

Archard yells, “Go.”

And then Enzo pulls me into a hug against his chest. He buries his mouth in my hair so no one can see his lips move or hear what he is going to say to me.

“I got a glance of the paper with each round on it,” Enzo says.

I don’t react, although this surprises me. I guess Archard is on our side after all.

“It continues just like this round for three more rounds. For three more rounds, you only get a gun with a single bullet in it.”

I nod. “That’s good. We are better shots than Felix. Beckett just has to dodge the bullet this next round. Then you or I can kill Felix.”

Enzo kisses my head. “Don’t shoot first. Let Felix get his shot. Then fire.”

I nod, agreeing, but I don’t know why we are talking about what I should do against Felix, when we don’t even know who will face Felix. Beckett could still win. We need to be thinking about how to get him to win.

“I love you, stingray.”

“I love—”

But his lips crash down on mine. And I’m lost to the kiss. I’m floating high above all the danger, above all the pain. Love conquers all—I know that when I kiss Enzo. There is no way Felix will win.

But then the kiss stops, broken abruptly.

My eyes are closed, but I feel the loss sweep through me. It’s more than the loss of a kiss. It’s the loss of love.

I open them, and I realize Enzo’s plan. To ensure I’m the one who wins. I’m the one who lives.

I watch as he runs for the cliff.

“No!” I shout as I run after him. There has to be another way. But I know Enzo has made up his mind. He thinks the only way to keep me alive is if I win the game. But after we beat Felix, surely we can convince the men we can rule together. But the angry eyes looking at me from all directions tells me that is a false hope. They will make us stay and fight until only one of us lives.

I run as hard and as fast as I can. For myself. For my babies. Enzo can’t die. There has to be another way. But as fast as I can run, I know that it’s not enough. Enzo is faster.

He flings himself off the edge of the cliff at the same time I dive for him. I grab his arm, and he dangles over the edge with me holding onto this arm with everything I have.

“You can’t die,” I plead, holding onto him as tears fall down my cheeks.

“I was never meant to live.”

“No,” I shake my head. “We are one. We live. I need you. Our babies need you.”

He looks at me tenderly. “I know. And this is what I have to do. You know it. I know it. The world knows it. I deserve to pay for the sins I committed. This is the only way to save you. These men won’t let us all walk out of here alive. Only one will leave. Only one will survive. That has to be you. Our babies need you. You are the only one strong enough to survive with everyone else dead. I've already proven I’m not strong enough. But you are. You were thriving without me. You are strong enough.”

“No, I’m not,” I cry, more tears falling. My arms are exhausted and tired from clinging to Felix earlier. I can’t hold on much longer. And Enzo doesn’t want me to.

“I love you. I can’t live without you,” I plead.

“I’ll never leave you. We are one. I’ll always be with you, even when I’m gone. Death will never part us.”