Deceiving Lies (Forgiving Lies 2)

“Carson, let her go.”

“Fuck you, Trent. They’ve completely stopped trying to get everyone out. We need her to get them out.”

“Carson, let. Her. Go.”

The hand around my mouth tightened and my eyes widened when I saw what was in Trent’s hand. “What are you going to do? Shoot at me in the dark when she’s in my arms? We need her to get them out, and when we’re done, you can have your whore back. What’s left of her anyway.”

“If you do anything to her, know that your death will be painful,” Trent said, and the sincerity in those words chilled me.

“Jaime! Come get her!”

“Already here.” Jaime’s voice came from behind Trent, and I watched as Trent straightened and raised his hands in surrender, gun still in hand. “Go take her to the room, I’ll be there as soon as I finish this.”

Carson didn’t wait for anything else; he turned and started walking me away from Trent. I bucked against him and bit down on his fingers, and when he began cursing, three gunshots went off in the hallway. I cried out, not from the loud echo in the hall, but because I knew Trent was dead. And it was my fault.

Before I could try to turn away from Carson and run back to Trent’s body, another shot rang out, and Carson and I fell forward. Landing with my hands behind me hurt like a bitch; and with Carson’s weight on me, I knew I was going to be bruised all over. But still I didn’t move, and I didn’t make a sound as I waited to see what Jaime was going to do.

Loud, running footsteps pounded down the hall and suddenly Carson’s weight was off me, and another, much louder, shot went off aimed directly next to me. I couldn’t force myself to look at Carson; I didn’t want to see what he looked like after those.

“Rachel, get up, we need to get back to the room. Now. Let’s go, come on.”

I looked up at Trent and sat there in shock until I heard distant yells echoing down the hall. I jumped up and, when Trent took my hand, sprinted back with him to the room with the mattress on the floor.

“I’ll be back,” Trent whispered and I grabbed his arm.

“No, Trent, don’t!”

“Trust me, I’ll be back. If anyone else comes in here—”

“I know, I know, I have to scream.” I sobbed and scrambled to the mattress when he rushed out the door.

Over a dozen shots went off and my hands clamped down over my mouth as I waited for what happened next. I now understood why all those stupid girls in horror movies couldn’t shut up. Though I tried to hold back my sobs, I was still making a choking noise, and my breathing was rough and heavy. A minute that felt like hours after I’d heard the last shot dragged by before the door slammed open.

I screamed.

“Rachel, it’s me!”

I’d never been so happy to hear Trent’s voice, and I ran toward him to help take the heavy chairs from his hands.

“Move back,” he

ordered and went about putting both under the lever handle of the door until he was sure it would hold.

“My room locks, but they can shoot through it. They don’t have the ammo to shoot through these walls. My magazine is almost empty, and the rest of it is in my room, but I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

“I know you will,” I cried and wrapped my arms around him, fitting myself to his body. “God, Trent, I thought Jaime killed you!”

His big arms tightened around my waist and he led us over to the mattress. When we were sitting, he pulled me onto his lap and held me there like a child. “I’m okay.” His labored breathing was all that filled the room for a torturous amount of time before he admitted, “I killed three others in the kitchen.”

That should terrify me, but right now, I was just so happy that he was okay. My hands gripped his shoulders, and I looked at his blurry face when his hand went under my chin.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt from falling? I’m sorry, I didn’t have any other option, I had to shoot him.”

“I hurt, but I’m okay. I’ve had worse. How did—how did you know it wouldn’t go through to me? I was right in front of him.”

“I have hollow point bullets, it was highly unlikely it would go through him to you. Where are you hurting?”

I sat up and looked him in the eye through the dark room. “How are you worried about me right now? Did any of them get you? Oh God, Trent, did they?” I started to get off his lap, but he quickly pulled me back down.