AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At least, I really try to run. My ankle fucking hurts, and my feet sink into the wet forest floor with each step. But they're big guys, and it won't take them long to find a way out of the ravine or climb out. They're both swearing, and I'm actively trying to block out the stream of horrible threats spewing from Mad Blood's filthy mouth.
If they catch me, I really am dead.
I ignore the cold, my pain, and the fact that I have to vomit, racing through the trees like the devil is about to bite my ass. My foot snags on something, and I take a hard tumble. I can't tell if their shouts are getting closer behind me, but I can't care right now. I get back to my feet and push until I can't breathe, and their car is right in front of me.
I scramble inside, locking the doors and cranking the key in the ignition. It roars to life.
Thank God. Thank God. Thank—
Someone slams into the side of the car. I scream when Mad Blood's face finds mine, his filled with murder and stained with shadow and dark mud. Damn, he was fast. I fling the car into reverse as fast as I can, ignoring that he's slamming on the side, using his entire bulk as I throw it into drive.
Then I floor it. He falls somewhere behind me. I don't feel a bump under the tires, which is morbidly disappointing because a big part of me wouldn't have mindedaccidentallyrunning him over.
I don't look back in the rearview mirror once as I peel out of the state park like a bat out of hell. I accelerate and hyperventilate at the same time. Finally, I look down and see that the speedometer is nearly reaching ninety, and then I realize that I'm swerving around cars like a madwoman in the already-dangerous downpour. I slow down just slightly.
Holy shit. I did it.
I'm alive.
Tears try to build in my eyes, but I shove back my residual terror and compartmentalize. Right now, I just need to drive home. I can't think. I survived, and I can cry and vomit like the happiest pregnant lady ever, but it has to be later.
A few minutes later, it's clear that trying to block out my fear of Mad Blood isn't working well. I'm even worse at trying to not think about Percy, Ace, and Giovanni, all covered in blood and unmoving.
God, I hope Nico is okay. I have no idea where he could be, but he just has to be okay.
I'm going back to his penthouse apartment first. I don't know if there will be any Attolinis there, but I need to get to my unlikely friends who can still be rescued If they haven't bled out yet.
I don't know if I'm supposed to call an ambulance for them, but I don't care about the hazy rules of Nico's family. I'll do it if that's my only option. I just have to find a way to help them and keep my sanity until I can find Nico and not feel this terror crawling up my throat from my spine.
It could have been mere moments or hours later that I pulled onto the street that Mateo Mad Blood mentioned. It's hard to tell because my mind has been going in loops: Glass shattering, Nico's blood, gunshots, Ace, and Percy dropping to the ground, Mad Blood's lips on my face, the gun against my head, the mud on my feet and arms from falling in the forest.
I'm shaking too much to drive. I tighten my hands on the wheel and take a long, deep breath, which hurts because my throat feels raw after Mad Blood half-strangled me earlier. I don't think I'll ever forget seeing my reflection in his eyes like that.
No living in the past. Be like Angela. Live now and get someone to go help the mobsters that had better still be alive.
The rain pattering on the car is almost soothing as I finally pull onto Nico's road. It all looks so lovely and normal—nothing like what I just experienced. My gaze flicks to the parked car where I saw Giovanni slumped in earlier, and I frown. He's no longer there.
Did the Gattos take his body? What if they took Percy and Ace, too? I swallow and step out, trembling with every lurching step as I eye my dark, drenched surroundings. I just have to cross the street and get over there and find out for myself, but the residual shock from the night's events is trying to drown me.
A muffled gunshot sounds from somewhere inside Nico's apartment building. Another bystander might mistake it for the sound of a car accident a block away or something, but it makes my heart stutter as fear grips me tighter.
Oh, my God. Nico. He must be back. They must have left a Gatto waiting for him.They're trying to kill him. They might've just succeeded.
No. I need him. I fucking love him, and I can't stand the idea of not seeing him again.
I finally push through whatever is keeping me frozen across the street, but before I can take another step with my ankle-brace-clad foot, someone bursts out of Nico's front entrance. He's a blur of shadow, barreling straight across the street toward me—
Until he spots me and freezes in place.
"Sybil?"
Nico's voice is gravelly and broken. Rain drips off his sharp jaw, his turquoise eyes stunning despite the dimness of the unlit street. It's how I first saw him, only more dangerous-looking and about ten times more attractive. The weight of the world is in his gaze as it rakes over me, taking in the mud and the bruises already forming on my neck.
"Nico—"
Before I finish speaking, he moves. I'm pulled tightly against his warm chest, his arms like steel bands around me. And everything that just happened fades away, my world clicking into place.
Safe. He's safe. I'm not letting him go again.
