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Women in white slips are lined up next to me, chins hanging and eyes on the ground. Their feet are locked to a ball and chain, as are mine.
The circumstances have changed so suddenly that it almost feels like a dream. One minute I’m chasing the sunset, and the next I am surrounded by darkness and evil, chained and lined up like cattle for slaughter.
A figure is pushed to the front and stumbles next to the man in the silver mask. His hands are handcuffed behind him, and he wobbles like he’s unsteady on his feet. When he lifts his head, my heart stops as Roan’s eyes find mine. There’s a dark bruise under one eye and dried blood coming from his nose, but the scariest part isn’t his injuries. It’s the soulless way his gaze reaches out to mine like an apology.
My breathing stutters as the man in the silver mask begins to speak and I recognize his voice immediately. “You have gotten in my way at every step in the name of protecting her.” Daniel speaks to Roan, but his hand flies out to point at me. “The great protector,” he mocks.
My mind swirls like a storm as I realize Daniel is the Warden. I feel sucker punched, and breathing becomes physically difficult, like there isn’t room in me for this truth and oxygen.
“You’ve seen what happens on this island,” he continues, and Roan remains passive and dejected at his side. “So, I will give you one last chance to protect her. If you choose, you can walk off this dock with her and I will provide safe passage for you two back to the city, unharmed—well, not further harmed.” My skin grows cold from the smug chuckle that comes from behind his mask. “And the hunt will continue as planned. These fourteen women will meet their fate. Or you can save all fourteen. All you have to do is kill Regenia Cortez.”
“You sick bastard,” Roan erupts, headbutting Daniel with such force that he stumbles backward. Two men grab Roan and drag him back as he yells and thrashes.
I can’t take any comfort in his resurgence of energy because as I look at the women to my right, I find they are all looking at me too. The flames dance in their eyes like a promise of the hell to come. My heart breaks for them, and my heart breaks for Roan.
He’s spent his whole life trying to make up for his mother’s murder only to face a choice like this. It’s the most cruelly crafted torture for a man like Roan, whether Daniel knows his history or not. Either decision will break what’s left of him.
Roan’s manic gaze catches mine, and he fights against the men holding him. “I won’t do it. I won’t choose,” he bellows across the dock. His voice is hoarse and gravelly, worn ragged from the decision holding him down.
“I won’t choose,” he repeats, his voice choking, and I believe him. I believe he will fight until he has nothing left to give. He will never stop trying to protect and redeem.
So, I make the choice for him.
I heave my ball off the dock, clutching it in my arms, and run the two steps to the edge of the dock before jumping off.
Just as I sink below the water, I hear Roan yell my name.
Not Cortez. Not little menace or mentirosa.
Reggie.
Roan
My chest cleaves in two as soon as I see her reach for the iron ball. I lunge with everything I have, breaking free of the men holding me as she clears the dock.
“Reggie!” I yell for her with my whole heart, the destroyed and broken organ still fighting to beat for her.
Daniel buries a kick in my stomach, and I fold in half, collapsing onto the ground. I scream like a wounded animal as the seconds tick by, knowing Reggie is underwater losing air with each one. I barely register the hands pulling me up and immediately disappearing at the sound of gunshots. I barely register the screams of panic or the women dropping to the ground, hands covering their heads.
The one thing I register with utmost clarity is Daniel’s shoulder spraying blood and the keys in his hands flying. I sprint for them like half my leg isn’t sliced open. I vaguely recognize the faces of my brothers at the start of the dock, guns trained and firing.
I leap into the water in the same place Reggie disappeared without a second thought. It’s dark and murky, and I’m nearly sightless. I swim deeper until I find her. The ball has sunk to the bottom, and she’s suspended in the water at the end of the chain.
My lungs scream for air as I struggle to slot the key into the lock, my fingers numb from the frigid water. As soon as the shackles fall away, I wrap her under one arm and kick toward the surface.
There is no pain. There is only her.
As I break the surface and swim to the shore, I feel nothing but her head resting heavy and still on my shoulder.
When I crawl on my knees, cradling her, I feel nothing but the weight of her in my arms.
As soon as I am on dry land, I lay her on her back and press my cheek to her purple lips. “No, no, no,” I chant through broken sobs when I don’t feel any air coming from them. I check her pulse and heave a gulping breath when I feel one.
I tilt her chin to the side and kneel beside her to do compressions on her chest. “Come on, Cortez. Don’t you fucking leave me.” Her eyelids flutter from being jostled, but she’s still unconscious and not breathing. “Breathe for me Reggie, please!”
I continue to press the heel of my palms into her cold, wet abdomen. Pushing and pushing, my heart shreds like ribbons with every thrust that she doesn’t breathe. “Wake up, please, I need you. If you wake up for me I swear I’ll fucking marry you. I’ll take you skydiving. I’ll love you with every breath I breathe, every second of my life. Please, just come back to me—”
The first cough is so small I think it’s just my compressions shaking her. The second cough is definite though. It’s sputtering and weak, but she’s coughing. “Yes, that’s it! Come on, breathe, baby, breathe.” Hot tears stream down my cold cheeks as water dribbles from her mouth, more and more with every compression.
