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Leaving Jake behind felt like leaving part of herself behind.

It felt wrong.

They were partners, a team, she should be there with him.

Alannah believed that even as she knew there was nothing she could contribute right now. She’d be a liability to Jake, splitting his focus and putting him in danger. This might be what he needed her to do, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Jumping back into the water was the last thing she wanted to do. In fact, Alannah would be perfectly happy to never go back in the ocean again for as long as she lived. But if Jake thought that was where she’d be safest so he didn't worry about her, that was what she would do.

Running to the closest railing, she was just lifting her foot over it when she heard footsteps.

Before she could even turn around, she heard a soft whooshing sound, like someone was throwing liquid. For a second, she wondered if she was imagining that the sound was coming from behind her and was in fact nothing more than the sounds of the ocean below her.

Then something sloshed all over her.

Drenching her.

Only it wasn't water.

It felt thicker and the smell …

She would swear that it was gasoline she’d just been covered in.

Desperate to get the potentially dangerous liquid off her, Alannah was going to throw herself over the edge and into the water, when whoever had thrown the gas at her spoke.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” fire man said, and she heard the slight click of the lighter. “You might survive, but the fire mixing with the gasoline would still do tremendous damage in the seconds it would take you to fall and hit the water.”

Those seconds might be barely a couple, but he was right. The flames would still eat at her skin, and by the time she hit the water and hopefully doused them out, they would leave lasting damage.

“Turn around. Don’t be stupid,” fire man ordered, and since she didn't see that she had another option, it would be too big a risk to try jumping and hope for the best when she could feel how close behind her he was, she did as she was told.

Right as she faced him, gunshots echoed from below deck.

Perfect.

Jake was taking out more of fire man’s men right this very second. There had been four in that room, and another five dead before that, which meant only one more of them was up here somewhere.

Not somewhere.

There.

Running toward them.

“Kill him,” fire man ordered, and with a nod, the man took off for the stairs she’d just come up. “I don’t know how he did it, but even if your boyfriend kills him and survives, you won't, my dear.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she whispered automatically, the smell of the gasoline on her clothes, hair, and skin making her feel a little dizzy.

“Don’t lie, dear. I see how he looks at you.”

It was stupid to be taking relationship advice from a man who had clearly lost his mind when he lost the woman he loved, but she was doing it anyway. “How does he look at me?”

“The same way I looked at Wendy. Like she was the sun of my world, like everything revolved around her, like I couldn’t live without her. I’m glad I'm going to go out the same way she did, burned alive.”

With that, he lifted the plastic container sitting on the deck beside him and doused himself with the remaining gas. She tried to dodge around him, but he was too quick. His arm snapped out to wrap around her neck, pulling her up against his body, the lighter still in his other hand.

Maybe he was glad to be burned alive, she guessed as self-imposed punishment for not saving his love, but she certainly didn't want to die this way. Nor did she want her screams as the flames consumed her to be the last memory Jake would have of her.

Jake was at the top of the stairs, firing shots at the remaining man, who dropped while he stayed standing. Firing a few more shots into the body on the deck, Jake jumped over it, and she knew the exact second he saw her.

The horror on his face as he took in the situation had her heart sinking.

Jake knew there was no way to save her.

Both she and fire man were doused in gas, and he was holding a lighter.

If Jake shot at them, the bullet could do the same thing as the lighter and set them on fire.

If he tried to jump at them to get control of the lighter, he’d never cross the short distance between them before fire man could set them alight.

It was hopeless.

“I guess you get to live after all,” fire man said to Jake.

“But she doesn’t. I hope you all learn your lesson.

Nothing is more important than the people you love, certainly not answers from a two-decade-old crime, when the victim isn’t even alive to enjoy any justice they might get.

When you get home, tell your family to back off, leave the past where it belongs, and live for the future.

Live for those you love because you never know when you're going to lose them.”

Those words weren't for her because fire man thought she would be joining him in death, but they resonated nonetheless.

For so long, she had been living in the past. Allowing her parents’ lack of love and care for her to dictate everything she did, and because of that, she hadn't realized everything she’d ever wanted had already been sitting there staring her in the face.

Jake.

She wanted him to be her future, but to make that happen, she had to have a future.

No way was she just giving up and accepting her death.

Just because Jake’s hands were tied didn't mean hers were.

“Don’t, please,” Jake begged. “Don’t take her from me.”

“It’s the only way you’ll learn,” fire man said, lifting the lighter, his gaze locked on it, and she knew if she didn't try something right this second it would be too late.

Lifting her foot, Alannah rammed it down on fire man’s, at the same time she slammed her head back into his chin, and her elbows into his gut.

While she might be smaller than fire man and not as strong, she’d caught him by surprise, and his hold on her loosened, giving her the chance to scramble away.

“Shoot,” she screamed at Jake as she slid across the deck, putting some distance between her and fire man so she didn't get set alight along with him.

“Sometimes love really does win,” fire man said as his lighter flickered to life at the same time Jake fired at him.

There was no way to know which set the man on fire, but he was suddenly engulfed in flames. The sounds of his screams would haunt her forever. They were inhuman, something she hoped to never hear again.

Coughing as the smell of smoke and burning flesh mixed with the gas that still covered her body, she jerked when Jake was suddenly beside her.

“Hold on, sunshine,” he urged as he scooped her up and started running with her.

Where she wasn't sure, nor did she care. Jake was there so she was okay, he’d take care of her. The fumes were making her dizzy and giving her a headache, and she sighed in relief as she was suddenly pressed up against something cool.

“Keep your eyes closed,” Jake ordered gently, and she realized she had closed them.

Happy to do what he ordered, she was exhausted anyway and finally her body felt like it was ready to let go and get the sleep it needed, she kept them closed and cool water began to flow over her.

Focusing on her head first, Jake rinsed it off before stripping her out of the gas-soaked clothes and washing every inch of her body.

His touch was soft and steady, and he scrubbed at her skin.

While she’d thought if she was ever blessed with a shower again, she’d be able to stand for hours washing herself over and over again, Alannah decided this was better.

This was the man she had fallen in love with taking care of her.

His love for her felt echoed in every touch, how thorough he was, how careful not to hurt her, how he made sure to lean her against the shower wall so she wasn't putting all her weight on her cut and burned feet.

They did hurt, she realized somewhat absently as the weight of exhaustion crushed down upon her.

Actually, she ached all over.

“It’s okay, sunshine, let go, sleep, I've got you.”

Those words put a smile on her face, and trusting Jake to watch over her as he called his brothers and got them both help, Alannah gave in to the exhaustion and got washed away to sleep.