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FORTY-SIX

Phoenix

M aking it to the boat wasn’t an option. I’d moored it too far from the border.

Car lights streaked past me as I pulled off of the motorway, my vision blurring with each passing mile.

Laura sagged against me, her body floppy but her chest still rising.

My blood loss was peaking, and I couldn’t drive for much longer. Every breath pained me, and I needed to see Laura in safe hands before I gave into the jaws of death that snapped at my heels.

The McGowans’.

Their mansion was on the outskirts of the city, not too far from our location. I’d helped them out on occasion, and hoped they wouldn’t just leave us to rot.

The bike slid on the road, rocking and swerving as I neared the elaborate gates which blocked the entry.

My gloved hands left a bloody print on the buzzer, my bodyweight leaning too hard as I pressed it.

‘Hello?’ a female voice crackled over the tannoy.

‘It’s Phoenix. We need help.’ Even talking had become difficult. Between holding Laura on the bike, and my own ailing consciousness, I couldn’t take any more. I just had to see her to safety.

The McGowans’ were a crime family, but ones with somewhat of a conscience at least.

‘Please?’ I begged, my breath feeling wetter with every inhale.

Silence greeted me.

I pressed my helmet against the back of Laura’s, wishing that the plastic didn’t separate us. If I were to die on the spot, I wished to inhale her scent one final time.

With a creak, the gate swung open.

The bike juddered beneath me, my control of it slipping. Sleep beckoned me with her sweet embrace, enticing me away from the pain and hardship.

Nearly there, I told myself. Just get Laura to the door.

Gravel crunched beneath my wheels as we neared the mansion. The ornate wooden door stood open, a female figure blocking the yellow glow from within.

So close.

The bike skidded out from under us, our glacial speed causing it to topple us from the seat. The ground met me with a final, desperate bite before I gave in to the call of nothingness.

Laura , I whispered as footsteps sounded beyond the darkness. Save Laura.