But to learn the truth of a tragedy, to learn that there was more to the story, more than what you were told before and to still have no control, it adds salt to the wound.
And for Jase… he’s in fucking agony, knowing it was supposed to be him.
The vibrations from my phone are a muted distraction. I don’t even know how long it’s been going off – Jase’s is going off too – and I’m eager to pick it up, only to realize what Marcus meant.
He didn’t want my attention back then. He wanted it now, because he didn’t want my attention elsewhere.
Anger ignites inside me like never before as I read the message out loud. “Aria’s gone.”
I’ll kill them all.
Chapter 17
Aria
My heart won’t stop racing. It’s all moving so fast. One decision could change the course of everything. I didn’t know when I walked through that gate that it would happen like this, moving easily from one side to the other. I was foolish to think I could just run away from this life. The thought echoes in the chambers of my mind as my left foot crunches the twigs on the ground and my right side leans heavier into Nikolai. He’s walking so fast, pulling me in closer to him. It’s all moving too fast.
There are small scratches everywhere. My jeans are torn and covered in dirt and my arms are smeared with blood. What’s worse is that I can’t stop shaking. I think it’s just the adrenaline, or maybe it’s due to anxiety. I don’t know which, but I can’t stop shaking and it makes Nikolai hold me that much tighter.
The branches crack beneath our feet with every step and I keep looking back. They must hear us. It’s darker with every passing moment, and I don’t know where we’re going but it doesn’t matter; Nikolai leads me away. Nikolai will be the one Carter blames.
Every small sound behind us makes me jump, but even then, I’m not given a moment to stop; Nikolai doesn’t let up. I can hear his heart pounding, and I know he knows he’s dead if Carter’s men catch us before we get out of here.
I don’t think he’d hurt me, but he’ll kill Nikolai.
“He can’t find us together.” The words rush from me as I reach up and grab Nikolai’s shirt, forcing him to stop and think. “He can’t think you took me; he’ll kill you. He can’t–” the words don’t stop tumbling out of me, but Nik hushes me.
“I have you, and I don’t care if he knows it.” He’s surprisingly calm, and justified in his response. “I’ve waited too long to get close enough to save you.” My thoughts race, wondering how he even got through Carter’s security, where they are and how long Nikolai has waited out here for this moment.
“How did you know?” I ask him, my eyes searching his for all of the answers.
“Someone told me to come. He told me I’d be able to save you.” As he speaks, Nik’s voice is full of so many emotions. “I’m sorry it took so long, Ria,” he says, his voice cracking as he grips my waist and urges me forward. I stumble, refusing to move and waiting for him to look back at me. I need him to realize how serious this is.
“He’s going to kill you,” I say and stare deep into his light blue eyes, knowing it’s true. Before I can urge him to run, he tells me, “Not if I kill him first.”
“Don’t talk like that.” The words are torn from my throat, immediate and raw, just as instincts are. Betrayal flashes in Nikolai’s eyes and I wish I could take the words back, if only to ease his pain, but I can’t. He’s stunned and pained, crushed from my words, but it doesn’t last long.
The sound of heavy footsteps behind us forces me to crush myself into Nik’s embrace. Gripping onto his shirt, I beg him in a whisper, “Run.”
I can feel his large hand splayed along my shoulder, pulling me closer to him as he whispers against my hair, “Never. Never again.”
My face is buried in his chest when I hear my name called out behind me. For a moment I imagine any way that I can barter my life for Nikolai’s, but I don’t believe for one second that Carter would negotiate with me. Not when I have no control and nothing left to offer.
The moment is short lived, because I hear the voice again. So familiar, yet it feels as if it’s been forever since I last heard my cousin Brett.
Shock forces me to pull away from Nik, but again everything happens so fast. Even as he grabs me in a bear hug, Brett drags me along the edge of the woods to a dirt road where an old, beat-up truck is idling. There are two other men with us, but I don’t remember their names and with Brett clinging to my side, I don’t have time to ask.