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I don’t look at her, not wanting to waste a precioussecond, but I feel that tether inside me that connects us. It gives me strength.
We’re going to make it out of here alive. Together.
I’m finally able to reach Tyler with my hands after what feels like forever. I haul him far enough toward me to get the keys out of his pocket.
Thank fuck.
I fumble with the keys. It’s not as easy to unlock your own handcuffs as I expected it to be. When I finally get them open, they fall to the floor with a satisfyingclunk.
I scramble up, my entire focus now on Eve. Getting to her. Freeing her. Going home with her.
Her expression suddenly changes, her eyes bulging. She screams, “Phoenix, watch out! Down.”
I dive toward her at the same instant a shot rings in the air.
But I’m not fast enough, and the bullet grazes my arm. My skin is on fire, the pain stealing my breath momentarily.
“No, no, no.” Eve strains to get to me.
But I’m too far away.
I toss her the key and another shot goes off. “Eve, get down. Now.”
This time, I jump out of the way, scrambling around the corner of the bed to put as much distance as possible between us.
Shit, shit, shit. What now?
“I thought maybe we could get through this, you know.” Tyler’s staggers toward me, his words slow and a little slurry.
Since there’s no real cover for me to take, I wait until he’s close enough and lunge straight for him. I collide with him, ramming my head straight into his middle, and we crash intothe wall. The wooden beams vibrate under the attack, but that deters neither of us. Tyler’s fist connects with the side of my head, taking the dull headache to an excruciating level.
The sudden dizziness and blurry vision are disorienting, and I twist away from him, allowing him to get in another punch. This time to my stomach. I wince at the assault, but the new pain distracts me to the point the fog clears in my brain. It’s enough for adrenaline to do its job, and my angry bull resurfaces.
After a punch from me and a tackle from him, we roll around on the floor, a tangle of limbs. Fighting for dominance. I hit Tyler in the same spot on his temple as before, and he squeezes his eyes shut and sways. I use that moment to get the gun but never make it there. Tyler pulls my legs out from under me, knocking the breath out of my lungs.
I accidentally kick the gun, and it slides across the floor to the other side of the room.
Tyler pushes himself up on all fours. I grab the chain and wrap it around his neck from behind. His hands tighten around the metal links, trying to tug them off, but I hold it as tightly as possible.
By the time he sputters and lets go, my reserves are depleted. Tyler’s hands fall limp before him. Without any strength left, the weight of his body propels me forward.
Then things get a little blurry. Tyler either faked his loss of consciousness or he got a superhuman adrenaline hit. Because one moment he’s limp, and the next, he’s reached the gun and points it at me.
This time, the bullet hits me in the shoulder, near my throat. There’s a snap, and then nothing but a white-hot burn like someone is jabbing me witha fire iron.
My vision darkens at the corners.
Tyler sways and drops the gun, and it slides under the bed. I clench my teeth hard to fight off the excruciating pain and dig deep to find every last remaining ounce of my energy to get to him.
He’s closer to Eve now than he is to me, and I can’t let that happen.
Tyler is not going to leave this room alive.
This is for Eve. This is for Connie. This is for me.
The pain is almost unbearable, but I push into a sitting position. Tyler groans.
When I see why, the ache in my chest almost explodes.