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“Oh,” he says, looking at it before peering up at Roger. “That wasn’t very nice.”
I scream and lunge toward Heart, trying to stop him from collapsing to the ground. Spade grabs his other side, helping me as Club and Diamond swing at the men to keep them back. We push toward the exit. Everyone shouts around us, and when the men come closer and try to get us, Spade lets go of Heart and snaps his whip out, leaving me to struggle to hold him up. His strength is obvious as he manages to remain on his feet despite the gunshot wound. His arm is tight around my shoulders as I drag him along.
“Hold on, Heart,” I rasp, dragging him while the others watch our backs. “Hold on for me.”
“I am. Death can’t take me from you, Queen. Don’t worry,” he murmurs, but his voice is a little less lively than it usually is.
“Go!” Diamond snarls, swiping the machete across one of the men.
Roger points the gun at us without pulling the trigger. He grins when I look over my shoulder and blows me a kiss.
“This isn’t over, Ember,” he coos. “You can’t run forever.”
He’s right, I think as we barely make it to the car. Once we’re inside, the men beat against the Dodge, trying to bust out the windows, but Diamond throws it in gear and presses the gas pedal. We mow down a few of them on the way out, but I don’t even pay attention.
My eyes are on the man with his head in my lap, my hand clamped over his wound.
“Hang on for me, Heart,” I croak, tears welling in my eyes. “Don’t you fucking die on me.”
“I would . . . never,” he whispers, closing his eyes, his body going limp.
“Heart!” I cry, trying to shake him awake. “Diamond! Go faster!”
The engine revs as Diamond pushes the Dodge as fast as it will go, but I don’t know if it’s enough.
Fuck! I don’t know if it’s enough!
Chapter
Fifty-Two
Ipace outside the tent, knowing I can’t be in there even though I want to be. Dr. Louie has already kicked me out twice, saying he needed to focus and couldn’t handle the fear filling the air. I don’t blame him.
“He’s going to be okay,” Spade tells me as I walk back and forth, practically wearing a hole in the ground with my path. Club sits on a crate beside the tent flap, flicking a knife through his fingers. It’s his way of not panicking, just as pacing is my coping mechanism.
“We don’t know that,” I growl, feeling angry, desperate, and afraid.
Heart lost so much blood. Dr. Louie said we were lucky the bullet didn’t hit any major organs, but he’s still in there, having to dig it out and stitch him up. There’s also no guarantee that he’ll be okay after losing so much blood, especially since it took way too long to get back. I considered demanding we go to a real hospital, but I knew as well as the others that they wouldn’t help us there. Plus, I didn’t trust them to save Heart, not like I do Dr. Louie.
Heart won’t be doing trapeze for at least a month while he waits to heal, and he’ll be so pissed about that when he wakes up.
Freedom stands beside Spade, her tail twitching back and forth from the tension in the air. She looks at the tent flaps as if waiting, and she seems just as angry as I am. Heart is one of her favorite people. He always gives her the best scratches.
Diamond is inside with Heart, and I saw worry flash in his eyes just before doc kicked me out. The gunshot is bad. We nearly lost him, but I trust Dr. Louie to bring him back.
In the meantime, I can’t stay here.
I can’t do nothing.
Fury eats away at my gut, threatening to spill out at any moment. I can practically taste the acidic pain on my tongue. It demands retribution and revenge. Roger was already marked for death, but now I’m going to make it fucking hurt. I’m going to flay strips from his flesh. I’m going to pluck his fingernails off one by one. I’m going to carve him up into teeny tiny pieces and force them down his throat. He’ll know pain worse than anything he’s ever done to me because he tried to take Heart from me.
He tried to take what belongs to me.
“I can’t be here,” I rasp, stopping my pacing.
Both Club and Spade look up at me.
“Why?” Club asks, his gaze too intense.
