Page 142 of Killaney Fire

"You'd let a lot happen, apparently."

He stops so suddenly I almost crash into him.

He turns, his eyes blazing.

"You don't understand what I was trying to do."

"Well, protecting me, the one thing you said to me over and over when we first met, sure as hell wasn't on your list, because I doubt that involves letting me be kidnapped and branded like cattle."

I brush the hair out of my face, ignoring the way my heart pounds, the way my body aches, and the way I’m fighting back tears.

"Let's make it easy. Did you know they'd take me tonight, and is that why you gave me the bracelet?"

His lips part, then close again. He looks down.

"Yes or no, Octavian."

"It's not that simple."

"Says a guilty man. Yes or no."

He just looks at me, his jaw tight, his teeth biting into his lower lip.

I can see the frustration on his face, but he doesn't say a word.

"Yeah, can't even say it, can you."

"There!" someone shouts from behind us.

Octavian's hand closes around mine, and he pulls me forward.

We run through another door, down another hallway, until we burst into a kitchen.

A man in chef's whites looks up, startled.

"You can't be here," he says, moving toward us.

Then his eyes drop to Octavian's arm, and I notice it for the first time. It's soaked in blood. Maybe he got stabbed or shot. I'm not sure.

Then the man looks at mine, which is still bleeding.

"We need to get out of here," Octavian says, his voice firm, gripping his gun.

The man hesitates for only a second, then points to a door at the far end of the kitchen.

"There's a service elevator that will take you to the loading docks."

We move through, shoving past racks of pots and pans, and find the elevator.

Octavian guides me inside, his hand on my lower back.

I don't push him away this time.

I'm too tired.

He presses the button for the ground floor and slams the close-door button until the doors slide shut.

The elevator jerks, then starts moving.