“How’d they find us?” I rush to him, but he seems to be already plotting our next move, hardly looking at me.
“Not now! We gotta get the hell out of here!” He runs to the front door and pushes his shoulder against it. Like that matters now.
His chest heaves for air, and sweat pours down his forehead. He checks the rounds left in his gun. Once he’s satisfied, he presses his lips together and stares out the front window next to the door.
I step over the bodies, retrieve my gun, and kneel below the front window, beside the broken lamp.
“You’re freaking me out,” I say. I peek through a bullet hole in the window and see a guard run around the front of the house.
“Promise me something,” Cole says.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the dark figure of a guard poised outside the front staircase. I keep my hand on the board, scanning for more while I listen to Cole.
“I don’t like where you’re going with this … ”
He slides down the wall so he’s on my level. “If I don’t make it out, promise me you’ll run.”
My heart thunders in my ears.
“No, I won’t do that,” I say. He shakes his head fast. “I won’t leave you.”
“You have to survive. Promise me.” His eyes plead with me. I grit my teeth and then let out a big sigh. I’m exhausted and hurt and terrified.
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
His mouth opens, but before he can say anything, the front door blasts open, throwing Cole back onto the floor.
Another guard storms in.
The new guard is taller than Cole, his shoulders broad like a wrestler. His muscles protrude from every inch of his body. His forearms are as thick as my neck and his neck as thick as my thigh. I realize it’s over. We can’t survive this. In his huge hands is an equally huge gun pointed at Cole’s head.
“Don’t move,” I say, trying my best to sound tough.
Cole looks like a deer in headlights.
The guard sneers and says, “Drop it, honey.” He laughs, never taking his eyes off Cole. He places the metal of the gun to Cole’s temple. “You try anything, and I’ll blow him to oblivion.”
“Clayton, never thought I’d see your ugly face again,” Cole says.
I can’t think straight. I bite my lower lip to keep from screaming. I want to run.
“Well then today’s your lucky day,” Clayton says. “You got to see me one last time before I kill you.”
“Not if I kill you first,” Cole says.
“I hope after all your heroic gestures you at least got in her pants.”
Cole remains silent. I can almost feel the rage rolling off his skin.
“You ignorant scumbag!” I shout, narrowing my eyes at Clayton. My stomach cramps, and I know that’s what they all must think—that Cole is only in it for the benefits. “If you even flinch, I’ll shoot.”
“I’m guessing that’s a no. She seems entirely too uptight,” Clayton says through gritted teeth. If he wasn’t pointing his gun at Cole’s head, I’d have shot him already.
“What do you want from us?” I ask.
“It’s simple, really. Wilson wants you alive.” He nods toward me without taking his eyes off his target. “But he wants your boyfriend here in a body bag.”
“I’m not going back to the Hole.”
“You really are a stupid whore,” Clayton says with a devilish smile, his eyes still trained on Cole.
“Shut up,” Cole says. “You know nothing about her.”
“Oh, I know some things,” Clayton says. My eyes quickly turn to slits as I stare at him down the barrel of my gun. “I know she’d be interested to know that after you left Keegan’s body to rot, it was strung up on a scaffold, for all the Hole to see. Just in case anyone was having thoughts about trying to flee as well.” I feel my face heat up.
“You did what to my brother?” I ask.
“Lexi, don’t believe a word he says,” Cole pleads, but I can’t get the image of Keegan’s rotting body being displayed in that way out of my head.
“I didn’t leave him there—” Cole protests.
“Sure you did,” Clayton says, before Cole can finish his thought. “Anyway, while I’m enjoying this reunion, I’m afraid our time’s up.” He brings his finger to the trigger.
No! With no other defense, I launch myself at him. But he’s too fast so I only manage to grab a tiny corner of his shirtsleeve before he smacks me to the floor.
I land on my side, my gun skittering across the floor. Clayton’s face pulses red as he kneels beside me, pulls my head up by my hair, and places his gun to my head.
I clench my teeth as he yanks me by my hair once more. It’s over. He’s going to kill me. But seconds pass, and all I hear is the sound of heavy breathing. Suddenly, the pressure eases up, and my face crashes into the floor. Cole and Clayton grunt, swear, and fight for control.
“Lexi, run!” Cole shouts as he pins Clayton like a pro wrestler.
I shake my head, scrambling to my feet. “Over my dead body.”