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“She ruined her own life,” I mutter. “She didn’t have to shoot me.”
“Of course, she did. Our mother put so much pressure on us to be perfect. Vanessa was no longer satisfied with sharing the limelight with me, and then you would beat her at every turn. We had to do something.” She’s so calm as she explains her reasoning away.
None of this makes any sense. Not them working together, not the amount of vitriol towards me. “You’re both insane.” Mother gets pissed and screams at me; Veronica laughs and walks out.
“I’m really going to enjoy killing you,” Ursula snaps as she leaves.
Left alone, I look around the room. I need a way out. Spotting the window in the corner, I wonder if I could jump through it and survive. Inching my way up the wall to my feet, I shuffle over to the glass panel and peer out. From here, I can tell I’m on the second floor, which, sadly, is much higher than a typical building. I don’t know how far up it is, but I know falling at that distance would be too much for me to pull through.
I need out of these cuffs. If I can get loose, I might be able to trick them and run. Or hinder their attempts to murder me.
Breathing deeply, I close my eyes and try to center myself. I’ve been ignoring the throbbing pain in most of my body since waking up, and it’s doing its best to make itself known. I can’t embrace it, or it’ll swallow me whole. Just like if I think about what’s happened to Lorde for too long.
* * *
Lorde
My vision is blurry from a mix of blood and what I’m sure is a fucking concussion. My wrist is broken, and I cracked a rib, too. None of it fucking matters, though, because Sol is inside this goddamned warehouse with her batshit crazy mother and the twin of the cunt who shot her.
She’s in danger, and nothing else matters. When this day is over, I’m going to fucking kill as many of these assholes as I can because, for damn sure, Sol will not feel another moment of fear because of them. I’m not letting her suffer through another bout of guilt over me being hurt again, either.
“You need to stay here,” Noble bites out again.
“I already said no. Fucking stop,” I snap back. I had Duke jimmy a brace on my wrist so I could be here. I’ll get shit taken care of after. I need to be here for Sol.
Duke shakes his head as he waits for a signal from Beau and Gabriel. Apparently, the shooter's mother confessed that her secret twin daughter—who was often swimming in place of the other one—was also in on this, and the same with Sol’s mother. That vicious bitch was paying for everything in the hopes she wouldn’t have to get her hands dirty.
Too late now.
Titan blew a gasket when he found out what she was up to. He’s all for our relationship now and has even apologized for the things he said to Sol. Fat lot of good that will do him if we can’t save her life right now.
“Here we go.” Duke nudges my shoulder. I can’t hide my hiss of pain from the movement. “Sorry,” he grunts, not looking remorseful at all.Fucker.
The warehouse is empty except for Sol, Ursula, and Veronica. Gabe and Beau toss flashbangs through a few windows as we stand ready to breach the door. Masks on, we wait for the sound of screams before slipping inside. Noble and Duke are posed to contain Ursula and Veronica while I go in search of Sol.
Because we had to act fast, we didn’t have time for a full-on assault of the building, just what we could come up with in the short period of time we had.
“You won’t save her!” I hear shouted, and fear zaps through my veins as I rush towards the voice up the stairs and enter the room just as a coughing Veronica holds a gun to Sol’s head.
“You don’t want to do that,” I say, raising my weapon. I could shoot her in the head, but that risks her pulling the trigger on Sol.
“Why not? She took everything from us.” Her voice shakes. She’s a good actress, pretending to be scared. To be a victim. But I see the rage in her eyes. The dead emotion that she can’t fake.
Her gun wavers as I speak. “No. You did that to yourselves when you decided your life meant more than anyone else’s.” I squeeze the trigger, the sound echoing around the room. The bullet hits her before she can blink. A neat little hole between her eyes as she drops to the ground. The dead look in her eyes, now lifeless.
“Little girl.” Sol is frozen in place as her body shakes. “Take a breath,” I instruct her as I pull out the handcuff keys I always keep on me. She remains motionless. Unlocking her hands, I work her feet free next before cupping her face in my hands and dragging her in for a soul-searing kiss.
Sweeping my tongue across her lips, I wake her up with my movements until she’s clasping onto me, giving me her tongue, and moaning into my mouth. That’s when the pain assaults my body, and I nearly collapse. The adrenaline crash has taken hold, and I slap my hand against the wall as I try to stay on my feet.
“Lorde!” she cries out, sliding to the ground with me. “Oh my god. Noble! Duke!” Her scream pierces the air as my vision blackens, and my body feels like it’s on fire. “Please don’t leave me.” Her soft hands brush through my hair and trace my jaw. I fight for consciousness, but my body fails me, and I slump over into her lap.
FIFTEEN
Lorde
Beeping and antiseptic invade my senses before I pick up on the slight weight at my side and the warm breath floating across my bare chest. Turning my head, I groan at the throbbing headache but don’t stop until my bleary eyes focus on Sol’s sleeping form.
“She’s fine,” Duke assures from where he stands at the foot of the bed.
