Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
I lunge instinctively for the detonator; he clamps it tighter, refusing to let go. “Callie, get out,” he hisses, voice raw.
“I—there has to be a way,” my words stutter into a scream-whisper. “There has to be an option here, Zane.”
His grin cracks his dead eyes. “You can’t fix this. It isn’t fixable. I need you to be a coward for once in your life, and I need you to leave me here and get the fuck out.”
“No,” I croak. “I won’t leave you.”
His free hand clamps my chin, turning my face so my eyes lock with his. “I’m okay with this. I’m not scared to die. I made a choice when I agreed to do this, and with those choices, there is a risk. This is my decision, and I’m making it. Don’t let it all be for nothing. Don’t let Ralston win. Go. Now.”
My sobs come in ragged bursts as I collapse against him, arms clinging like vines. “I love you, Zane. Knowing you has been a fucking privilege.”
He wraps an arm around me, presses me close. “Right back at you, girl.”
I’m a wreck—snot and tears, fingers trembling against his jacket. “Please don’t make me leave you—”
It’s the last, ditch attempt to make this nightmare go away.
He leans in, forehead to mine. His voice is soft. “You can. You will. I’ll haunt you if you don’t, and trust me, you don’t want that. Please, Callie, if you can do anything, do this. It’s the only way to get you all out alive. We are running out of time, I need you to go now. Because either way, this barn blows, and I’ll be damned if it blows with you in it. Knox needs you. Go.”
And in that moment, I know I have no choice.
I close my eyes and let out a noise that is half-scream, half-wail. I want to stay, want to help, but I can see it in his eyes—this is already a lost cause. The only thing left is leaving. He lets go of my arm, his finger never leaving the button. “Go now. Don’t turn around. Run until you can’t hear the noise, then keep running.”
I stumble to my feet, brain not really believing my body, and make it to the door. I look back, just for a second. His eyes meet mine, and for just a moment, he’s the same old Zane, the one who made me laugh, and he gives me a smile.
“Hey Callie,” he says, voice breaking. “Don’t fuck up, make it count.”
I nod, another sob ripping through me.
I burst out the barn door and run, tripping and slipping across the pasture, too blind with tears to see straight. I crash through the fence, crawl on hands and knees through the wet grass, body screaming at me to stop, to go back, to fix it, to do something.
I get a few hundred meters before I hear it—a sound like the sky being ripped open, a thunderclap that booms through my bones. The world goes bright white, then red, then black. I hit the ground and cover my head. My ears ring so loud it’s minutes before I even realize I’m screaming.
I look up, the whole barn in flames, the roof nowhere to be seen, smoke pouring up in a sick joke of a mushroom cloud. The heat is so intense that it’s raining ash. I scream again, but it’s swallowed by the noise. I can’t lift my body off the ground, I lay there, sobbing as the world changes forever.
Zane is gone.
He’s gone.
Because of me.
17
Idon’t know how long I lay there, in the grass, sobbing and screaming.
It seems like hours, but in reality, it is probably only minutes.
The chaos that comes is louder than the blast. Motorbikes, sirens, so many sounds filling the air.
Then someone bellowing my name, over and over.
Knox.
I can’t move.
I’m just glued to this ground, to this place, never wanting to leave. Zane’s face is in my mind, and every single time it flashes across my vision, I wail louder.
It is only seconds for Knox to find me out here, and when he does, his entire face sinks. I know that whatever I look like tells him that things went bad, and by bad, I mean his brother is dead. Someone who was far stronger than blood ever could be.
A club brother.
The strongest type.
He’s on his knees beside me in seconds, hauling me into his arms, and I’m screaming, my words babbled and making no sense. I keep saying his name, over and over again. Knox holds onto me so tightly I am certain I stop breathing, but right now, it’s the only thing stopping me from sinking completely.
Somewhere in the distance, sirens wail—muted, but closing in fast. Knox holds me like the world just went off its axis, his arms locked so tightly around my shaking body I can feel his heart pumping through his chest, like it’s trying to beat enough blood for both of us. All I can do is sob into his shoulder, sucking air that tastes copper and smoke. My mouth won’t stop saying Zane’s name, like if I say it enough, this will all be different.