“What happened?” Wyatt asks. He’s acting aloof and quiet—a show for whoever is behind that window. All I want is to wrap my arms around him but weakness isn’t allowed in this room.
“Cole beat the crap out of me.” I hold up my hands. “It’s no big. It’s just sort of what we’ve been doing for the last six months. Beating the snot out of each other is sort of our
thing.”
Cole looks up at me and smiles and I can’t help but grin back. God, things are twisted between us. Add in a dash of back-from-the-dead Wyatt and everything just got crazier.
Cole’s chains slide and clink against the floor as he struggles to his feet. He looks rough, but that’s nothing new. Wyatt’s arrival has put a new glint in his dark eyes. Something I can’t quite place. The three of us stand in a triangle in the middle of the room.
“Add a campfire and it’s like the day we met,” Wyatt says.
I snort. “We’d need a few Eaters on our tail.”
“I’m sure my sister can arrange that.”
There’s a brief lull, a hesitation where we look one another in the eye. Three old friends who’ve loved, lost, and fought our way to this very day—this very moment. I feel an anticipation, something charged flowing between us, but when I hear the chains slither to the ground, coiling like a metal snake, and see Cole lunging at Wyatt, who is already crouched defensively, I’m stunned.
“How?” I ask, looking at the chains. How long had he been unbound? Who released him? Cole’s head snaps back from a hard punch to the jaw from Wyatt. And I recoil involuntarily.
I don’t know where Wyatt has been all these months but he’s strong and agile. I recognize some moves, quick legwork and solid punches that remind me of Jackson’s handiwork, creating an even more lethal fighter. A piece of the puzzle clicks together.
Cole picks up the chains and swings them menacingly.
The problem becomes clear as I watch the steel chains flash between them. I don’t want either to lose—or either to win. I need them both alive to get out of here. It’s the only way we can get away from Chloe.
“Stop!” I scream, rushing between them. Wyatt’s fist comes inches from my face as he course corrects, making him vulnerable to a kick in the thigh from Cole. I spin and shove Cole backwards but his eyes light up with glee and he wraps the chain around my waist. There’s a fight around me, punches are thrown, and I try to release myself from the twisted metal.
“Duck!” Wyatt shouts and I drop, feeling the air move above my head as he kicks Cole in the gut. The Mutt flies backwards and I’m dragged toward Wyatt, who pulls me and the chain to his chest.
Cole staggers to his feet, eyes narrowing as Wyatt whispers in my ear.
“Grab the gun from my left boot. Shoot Cole. That’s the signal they’re waiting for.”
“Who’s waiting for?”
“Three,” he starts. Cole doesn’t wait for the countdown to end, his spidey-senses clicking in that something is afoot. He swipes my legs, sending me tumbling to the floor. Wyatt punches Cole and I scramble to reach his boot and shoving my hand inside. Dammit! Wrong boot!
I push back, tangled in the chains, while the men pound the crap out of one another over my head. I push my fingers down the correct boot and touch the hard metal weapon. It’s wedged tight and I feel myself and the chains being dragged away. I wrap my hand around Wyatt’s ankle with one hand and grab the gun with the other. Spinning on my back I look up at the men. A drop of Wyatt’s blood drips off his chin and lands warm on my forehead. I hold the gun up.
“I’ll shoot you both,” I tell them, cocking the trigger. The sound echoes through the room. I can nearly feel Chloe’s face pressing to the window.
“Alex,” Wyatt says. “Just do it.”
I point the gun at Cole, whose eyes seem to dare me to do it. He wants out of this hell hole just like I do. Dead is definitely one way to go.
The men are quiet above me, nothing but the sound of their breath. I aim the gun at Cole’s face and glance at both men before saying, “I’m sorry,” and pulling the trigger.
Chapter Fifteen
The gun blast ricochets through the small room, splitting our ears like a busted drum. Cole’s eyes are wide the whole time—he only blinks when the two doors into the room fling open. Wyatt’s eyes lift to the ceiling, following the bullet I placed there.
I’m not killing either of these men today. Not until we’re out of this god-forsaken place. I’m not sure what Wyatt’s plan is, but the room is filled with guards dressed in Hybrid uniforms. I shift the gun to the closest one. The dark eyes peering out from under the helmet look familiar but it’s not until he removes it that I recognize him and lower the gun.
“Benjamin?” Pure relief floods my body.
Wyatt gives me a nod. “You ready to get out of here?”
The first smile in forever graces my mouth. “Months ago.”