Page 36

Louhi

Taking a deep breath, inhaling the humid night air, I close my eyes and try to think. I’m not even at the edge, and I can tell that the drop will be as steep and treacherous as the one I came from. Letting my gut guide me, I veer right, avoiding more tropical vegetation. More gunshots sound in the distance, and I grit my teeth.

Adrenaline and sheer determination spur me onward and dispel any possible uncertainties. The taste of freedom is so close and I long for a sip.

I dash through the trees as fast as I can until I hear the low thrum of voices over the sound of the crashing waves. Crouching down behind some bushes, I’m sure I haven’t been spotted, at least not yet. As quietly as possible, I eject the magazine from the Glock and count how many rounds I have remaining— nine. Replacing the magazine, I begin to crawl forward on all fours between the branches and heavy foliage.

Getting as close as I can, I peek through the leaves on the bush in front of me and see… a beach . But more importantly, my eyes lock onto a bloody boat . With a way off this God-forsaken island, I squint to make out only two men standing by my means of escape. I unstrap the rifle from my back and thread the barrel through the branches as I lie on my stomach on the ground, getting cozy.

This could easily be my favorite position in the entire world: lying on the ground with the butt of a rifle nestled in the cushion between my shoulder and chest, my finger hovering over the trigger, my breaths coming evenly as I lean forward and observe my target in the viewfinder.Through the scope, eyebrows pinched, I watch the two masked men. As I take in their familiar builds, my entire body locks up, recognition taking hold. Potent relief washes over me like the salty water sliding up the sand.

“Sean,” Honey Eyes declares, his voice barely audible over the waves slapping against each other, but his words and the solemnity of his tone reach me. Honey Eyes and Sean face each other, the surf threatening to cover their boots as the waves swim toward them.

“If you do this, you won’t just be a deserter, you’ll be an enemy of the State. Is she really worth that? I want you to be sure,” Honey Eyes asks, and my lungs trap my intake of oxygen, refusing to let it go as I anticipate his response.

Sean doesn’t so much as hesitate before stating, with unwavering and impenetrable confidence, “She’s worth everything. She’s worth more than my life.”

My mouth parts in a radiant beam that I can feel in the depths of my soul as carbon dioxide whooshes out of me. He bloody loves me .

Just as I’m about to climb to my feet, I hear Honey Eyes speak again. “What if she didn’t make it? What if she doesn’t come? I better not have killed Martinez for nothing. Sucks that he had to die, you know, he was one of the better ones.”

Even from this distance, I catch the anxiety woven into his voice, and it makes my heart squeeze. Bloody hell, I really need to lock that organ up again. She’s going to get me into trouble.

“She’ll make it,” is the only thing Sean says, but it’s enough to have me stretching to my full height, swinging the rifle back over my shoulder as I saunter toward them .

“Hello, darlings,” I chime casually, drawing their attention, the Glock dangling at my side. Both men whip their heads in my direction as I slip between the bushes and descend the sandy slope toward the beach.

“You’re here.”

“Of course, Honey Eyes. When will you stop underestimating me?”

Then, I shift my attention to Sean, who has turned to face me fully. He tugs off his mask, crumpling it in his fist, shoving it into his friend’s hands. His face is marked with relief and something else, something almost light and sugary that my tongue is desperate to taste.

Just as I come to a stop before the two men, thunder cracks in the distance, and I tilt my head toward the sky. The air is thick with the threat of a downpour, and I don’t think we have long before that storm is upon us.

Still in his mask, Honey Eyes tilts his head to the side and narrows his gaze on me. “Wait, how did you get out?”

“Drainage pipe.”

“The one that leads to the cliff?” Sean clarifies, speaking for the first time since I made my presence known.

His eyes are wide and disbelieving as I smile broadly. “That’s the one.”

“Fuck, we figured you’d kill a guard, put on his uniform, and walk out the front gate,” Honey Eyes explains. “That was our plan, anyway.”

I shrug. “I suppose that might have worked, but I’ve never done things the easy way. Besides, the path I took was far more impressive.”

“I won’t argue with that,” Honey Eyes admits, and I wink at him.

“You ready to get out of here, Lou?” Sean inquires, and I bounce on my toes, practically skipping toward the boat anchored in the ocean not far away .

I’ve just begun wading into the chilly water as Sean’s low register rings out from behind me. “Tell my mom… Fuck.”

Frowning, I spin around to find him running a hand over his buzzed hair, his profile etched with determination. He stands on the beach, his gaze locked with Honey Eyes, the surf spilling onto his boots. If I had to describe his expression in two words, I’d choose despair and grief.

In light of what I overheard them say on the beach, I didn’t consider that Sean might be…coming with me. Abso-fucking-lutely not. I don’t want to be the reason he abandons his family, his career, his entire bloody life. I’m not worth that.

“Fuck, Sean. You’re not escaping with me, are you? You can’t. You’ll be a criminal. Let me go alone.”

I’ve barely gotten the words out before he’s stomping toward me. I march back toward the beach, meeting him where the water laps at the sand, both of us glaring at one another, our breathing heavy. I don’t know what I plan to do to keep him from chucking his life away, but if I have to shoot out his kneecaps to stop him, I will.

“You don’t get it, Lou. I can’t let you go. I spend every damn day with criminals anyway, so it only makes sense for me to become one.”

Those words hang between us as I let his declaration drag me under the tide. Who am I to stop him? I’m a huge believer in free will and the freedom to make your own choices in life—even if they’re idiotic. If this is the choice he’s making, am I so hypocritical as to try to stop him? However, I would like to fully understand the motivations of his actions. ‘ I can’t let you go’ doesn’t quite cut it for me.

Softening my tone, I ask, “Why are you really doing this?”

“Because I like being a defector and enjoy being hunted by my own government.” Sean’s sarcasm is wholly unappreciated as it drips like thick molasses from his tongue.

“No,” I declare firmly. “Why?”

He sighs inordinately, the exhale audible over the bellow of the ocean around us. “There’s not another option for either of us. There’s no other way out. But even if there were, I wouldn’t take it. I’m with you, Lou.”

His fists clench and unclench at his sides as evidence that he will fight me tooth and nail to get on that boat, but it won’t come to that. I won’t be stopping him, not when my heart and gut are begging me to escape with him. It feels right to let him come along. It feels right to be with him.

Dipping my chin in a solemn nod, I turn in the direction of the boat, trudging into the ocean, ignoring the way the salty water makes my cuts sting. He loves me, even if he hasn’t said it. He’s choosing me . And if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve chosen him too. With my back to him, I find myself smiling a real, honest smile.

“Lou, hold up,” Honey Eyes calls, and I shift toward the beach once more. Bloody hell, we have got to go.

He bends at the waist and pulls off his boots, tossing me one, then the other, and I nod gratefully. I’m still barefoot in my black prison uniform, so these will be useful.

“Take care of my friend, Lou.”

“With my life,” I reply honestly. Wading through the ocean, I can still hear their conversation, though I don’t turn around.

“Tell my mom that I love her. Tell her…tell her that I took her advice and that my head couldn’t be trusted,” Sean requests. The sorrow in his voice is heavy like too-thick cream, but I take a deep breath and bite my tongue.

I can’t possibly imagine what Sean’s about to go through, abandoning his family and Honey Eyes.

“I’ll tell her,” Honey Eyes promises in return.

The water floats around my ribs, and I’m almost to the boat— to my means of escape —when I hear some small splashes behind me and Sean speaks again. “Watch out for Callie, too. Don’t let her think the worst of me.”

“I won’t.”

There’s a long beat, the sound of more water sloshing, followed by Sean’s admission in a low, quiet register that barely reaches me over the roar of the vast ocean. “I love you, man.”

His mate chuckles, replying slightly louder, “You’ve gone fucking soft, bro, but I love you, too. Now, get the fuck out of here.”

Water laps around my chest as I toss the boots I’ve kept dry into the boat. Before climbing aboard, I submerge myself, letting the water wash over me, cleansing me as I smile into the sea. Hoisting myself over the side of the dust-colored quad engine offshore boat, it’s obvious that we’ll be adding theft to our list of crimes tonight.

Sean climbs in a few moments later, and I gaze at the shoreline as I wring out my hair, calling out curiously, “Hey, Honey Eyes, what do you look like?”

He chuckles boisterously enough that the sound reaches me. “I’ll show you next time I see you.”

“Deal. Do me a favor, yeah?”

Cocking his head to the side, he shouts over the waves, “You mean, another one?”

I giggle, yelling back, “Look out for Kazi, will you?”

He shakes his head and replies, “You two would be friends.”

A laugh trickles from me as I tread on wet feet toward the cockpit, still smiling, where Sean starts the engine.

Standing next to him as the motors kick on and the boat begins backing away from the island, I explain gently, “Sean, if you come with me, know that you’ll be walking into my world.”

While I won’t deign to try to talk him out of something he wants to do, I want to ensure that he knows what he’s getting into by running away with me. His future won’t look anything like his past.

He shifts his attention to me long enough to confirm, “Your world is mine now.”

Sean’s bare forearms flex and his jaw ticks as he maneuvers the boat, and I have to admit that he pulls off the whole criminal-on-the-run look way too well.