Page 44 of Bleeding Hearts (Pine Valley College #3)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

T he lock refuses to open. I lift my head, my lungs screaming. I shouldn’t panic, but it holds me in its grip, making me lose air as I nearly drop my key. My hands shake as I look at her, knowing it’s too late.

She’s always my hero when I’m scared, but not this time.

I gave her a thumbs-up because I thought I was fine. I have the key in my hand, and all I have to do is open the lock.

It. Won’t. Fucking. Open.

Panic engulfs me as I struggle in the chair and chains.

I watch through the escaping bubbles as Lally climbs from the pool, hauling herself over the edge before turning back to the water, realizing I’m still in it. I yank uselessly on the chains, my eyes wide as I start to feel weak.

It won’t open.

I’m going to die, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

I’m going to break her heart just like Tommy did.

I glance up to see her watching me.

Without a second of hesitation, she dives back in and swims down to me. I shove her, but she holds my face, stopping me, and blows air into my mouth. When I relax, she swims down and grabs the padlock.

I look up at the wranglers on the surface, but they don’t intervene. Hope fills me. We will live, and that’s all that matters. It’s going to be okay, she’s here now, but the chains don’t loosen.

She freezes and looks up at me, showing me the key. It’s way too big and clearly not meant for my lock. Either they made a mistake or I was never going to get out of this.

We share a look of understanding. This is punishment for my actions at the last game, and maybe it’s even to punish her. What better way than to force her to lose another person she loves? They made me lock myself into my own death.

She presses her forehead to mine, searching my eyes. I kiss her, and when I lean back, I let my love for her gleam in my eyes, and I tell her silently that it isn’t her fault.

I let go of her and push her toward the surface. She resists, shaking her head, her beautiful pink hair floating around her like a halo, and for a moment, I tangle my fingers in it for the last time as I meet her gaze.

“I love you,” I mouth as I release her and push her toward the surface again.

I will not let her watch another person she loves die, and I won’t let her blame herself for it. She meets my gaze, wearing a broken expression, and I smile, assuring her it’s okay.

She swims up, breaking the surface, and then makes her way to the edge.

My heart breaks, and I allow terror to consume me.

I wish I could have said goodbye to Alek and Evan.

I wish I could have told my brother that I love him and I’m sorry.

I wish I had one more day with Lally, but life isn’t fair like that.

You get what you are given, and you’re lucky at the end if it’s enough.

The stolen air in my lungs is running low again, so I close my eyes and focus on all the good times, ignoring everything else.

My body begins to give in, becoming heavy. The pressure in my lungs is too extreme, and I know before long, water will get in and I will drown, but I ignore it as best as I can. They decided how and when I’ll die, but I refuse to let them take these last seconds from me.

I focus on Lally’s smile and the way she looks in the morning. I concentrate on the way her laughter always lights up her eyes. I imagine I’m in our bed, wrapped in her arms.

A smile curves my lips as I remember the way she looked at me the first time I told her I love her.

I hear a splash that breaks through my memories and forces my burning eyes open.

Lally is swimming toward me, wearing a determined expression, and she holds a gun in her hand she must have stolen from a wrangler.

That means she broke another rule, but she doesn’t care as she swims down to my chains and fires at them repeatedly until I feel them snap, and then she pushes me toward the surface just as I run out of air.

There’s no more air. It feels like my lungs explode, and my mouth opens, water flooding in.

It’s not peaceful or quick.

It hurts, and I’m terrified as I choke on it.

Lally’s panicked face is the last thing I see before everything goes black.

I expect to see nothing, but in that dark, I see my friends and family.

I see Alek chasing me around the house when we were younger, then him holding me as I cried when we were older. I see quiet mornings spent eating breakfast.

I see Lally smile as she reaches for me.

I see my life and realize it’s so full of her. The happiest times are filled with Lally, the person I love.

As I slip into the blackness, it’s her who holds me, ushering me into the warmth and safety where nothing hurts anymore.

Suddenly, an ache pierces that oblivion, yanking me back.

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you fucking dare! You promised me! Come back here right now!”

Lally.

She sounds scared.

“Please, baby, don’t leave me. Don’t make me live through this again. You promised. Come back to me.” She sounds so hurt that I turn from the warmth and reach for her, wanting to make it better.

The ache grows until it consumes me, and I feel the moment I draw in a breath.

I gasp awake, jerking to the side. Water spills from my lips as hands rub my back. “That’s it, baby. You’re okay. You’re okay.” Lifting my blurry eyes, I see her tear-stained face. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You did well.”

“Lals?” I croak, but it seems to break her. Her lip quivers as she stares at me.

“You scared me,” she sobs, wrapping her arms around me. “You were dead. I heard your heart stop. Don’t you ever do that again.” She moves back, shaking me. “You hear me?”

“I’m sorry.” I lean into her, feeling weak as I glance at the pool then back to her. She got me out? She brought me back?

I remember hearing her voice calling to me.

She brought me back.

“I already told you I can’t live without you,” she whispers. “If you die, then I die.”

She presses her forehead to mine as I try to stop shaking. “I’m sorry,” I murmur, and she kisses me softly.

“You’re fine, safe, and alive. We’re okay.” It seems more like she’s repeating it for herself as I numbly stare at her, unsure what I should feel.

Shock, I assume.

There’s a noise, and we break apart, a wrangler appearing before us.

Lally uses her body to shield me. “Laila Stewart, you won, but you broke the rules, therefore you are disqualified.” He turns away, and she turns to me, pushing my wet hair out of my face.

“You gave up your chance to win,” I whisper when she doesn’t respond, just watches me. “Don’t you regret it?”

“Regret what? I don’t need money. You are the best thing in my life. I would regret not choosing you every day. It wasn’t even a choice, Alice. It’s always you. Fuck winning, I don’t need it. I just need you, okay?” she replies, and I slump in her embrace.

Looking around, I see others outside of the pool, wet and shocked. When I glance at the water, the wranglers are retrieving three bodies, but it’s over.

It was the last game.

Risk has its winner.

It’s finally done.

Lally rubs my arms and back, her jacket wrapped around me as we wait to leave.

“Risk-takers, we thank you for participating. The money for the winner will be wired into their account. For those who lost, we thank you for your dedication to the game.” The wranglers line up before us.

“For those who feel angry or . . . slighted, we remind you that Risk is a secret game. Anyone caught breaking this vital rule will face the consequences. We have eyes everywhere. Please find the exit behind you. Thank you for playing. We will see you again.”

I want to scream that they won’t, but Lally tugs me to the exit, reaching up slightly as we pass the door. I frown, but she just smiles at me, and once we’re back on the main campus, she takes my hand as we walk to her dorm.

When we get to her room, we’re still quiet, lost in thoughts about what happened.

She runs a shower and helps me remove my clothes, and I climb in, cranking up the water to the hottest setting to warm up.

I try to shake off the shock of what happened tonight as arms wrap around me from behind, and I lift my head to meet her gaze over my shoulder.

She was going to die with me, and that idea should terrify me, but all it does is remind me why I love her.

Turning in her arms, I cradle her cheek in my palm and kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispers.

“You came back for me,” I murmur, barely able to believe it. I accepted death in the water, knowing she was okay. I want to tell her off, to make her promise to never do it again, but I’m grateful.

I was so scared. I wasn’t ready to die, and she saved me.

“Always,” she says as she turns her head and kisses my hands on her shoulders. Her fingers trail down my back before she tugs me closer, and we stand pressed together in the wet spray.

After a few minutes, she starts to wash me softly.

I nearly died again tonight. I’m so glad it’s over, but as the shock disappears, pain and tears arrive.

She washes every inch of me before wiping my tears away, and then Lally turns the shower off and wraps a towel around me, but I don’t need her gentleness.

I need her.

I press my lips to hers, and at first, she pulls away. “Alice—” I cover her mouth with my finger, knowing what she’s going to say.

“I need you. I need you,” I tell her, and then her lips are on mine as we back from the bathroom and into her bedroom.

We stumble to the bed and fall into a heap on it, our lips locked together until I pull away for a breath, my lungs and throat still aching. “It was you. I heard you. That’s why I came back. I’ll always come back for you,” I vow.

She groans and kisses me harder, sliding her hands over every inch of me as if to assure herself I’m alive before she slows down, loving me as she touches me.

“You’re never going anywhere again. You’ll stay right here with me where I can look after you, and I’ll show you exactly how much I love you. ”

“I love you,” I rasp, my voice still raw as I reach for her.

“I love you too. I’ll show you just how much.”

She makes love to me, proving it over and over again.