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N o sooner was the needle buried in Jacob’s chest when Calista pushed down on the plunger.

I grabbed onto her, yanking her back. But as soon as I did, Jacob’s body jerked violently on the table, causing me to jump backwards.

His eyes flew open as he inhaled forcefully, his back arching, fighting against the straps that were holding him down.

“Jacob!” I threw myself at him, putting my hands on his cheeks, looking into his shocked oceanic eyes. “Oh my god, Jacob!”

His chest rose and fell with jagged breaths as his eyes tried to focus on me. “Ma-Mara?” He stuttered, breathless.

“Yes! Yes, it’s me. It’s me. Jacob, I’ve been so worried about you!” I kissed his cheek and then looked back into his eyes. “What did they do to you?”

His eyes looked around the room, and I could tell then that he was dazed, struggling to understand what was happening. “Mara?” he asked again, his breaths still coming in fast. “Wha—But how?”

“It’s okay,” I whispered to him as I stroked his hair, careful to avoid the bandaged area. “It’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine.” Matias went to Jacob’s opposite side and started undoing his straps as Blondie did the same thing.

Once finished, Matias placed a gentle hand on mine, nudging me. “We’ve got to go, Mara. Like, right now .” I nodded and then looked back at my brother.

“Who—who is that?” he asked.

“Shh, I’ll explain it all later, but we’ve gotta go,” I told him as I helped him sit up. “Can you walk?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head as though he were trying to shake something off. “I-I don’t know. I’m having a hard time remembering everything.”

“Matias, Jim,” Wes called, “help him up.”

Both men stepped in as I stepped back to give them room. Jacob slowly slid his bare feet off the bed and then tried to stand. His legs wobbled, and just as it looked like he was about to collapse, Jim grabbed him.

“Oh Jacob,” I whispered. This was bad. How the hell were we going to get him out of here like this?

Suddenly, the lights in the room changed color, shifting to a deep and ominous red as a loud, blaring, whoop sound rang throughout the room and repeated over and over. It didn’t take a genius to know what it all meant.

“Shit,” Wes groaned while Harper let out a slew of expletives. “You guys carry him,” he ordered. “I’ll take the lead. Calista, take the rear. Switch to lethals.”

Fear whipped through my body as I reached to my left hip, undid the clip of my holster, and pulled out my 9mm handgun.

And just like I had done so many times before, I pulled back the slide.

The gun jerked in my hand with the force of the slide whipping back into place as the bullet slipped into the chamber.

Calista and Wes did the same, ready to fire.

“Stay low, stay quick,” Wes said with a stern look painted across his features. “Let’s move out.” And then we were off.

Wes walked us across the room and opened the stupid door I had punched the living crap out of.

The once white room was cast in the same red glow, and the horrible long whooping alarm kept blaring repeatedly.

As Wes came up to the door that led into the hallway, he opened it quickly, checked both directions, and then motioned us forward.

I watched as my brother tried his best to use his legs, trying to support his own weight as much as he could, but he was so weak, so slow.

It was taking all of Jim and Matias’s strength to carry him.

What am I going to do?

There was no way I could carry him by myself.

If he couldn’t support his own weight, I wasn’t sure we would make it anywhere out of here.

My brain kept spinning in circles, desperately trying to find a solution to my problem as we tried to hustle down the hall.

Jacob partially limped and was partially dragged down the hallway, his arms looped over Jim and Matias’s shoulders, while his head lulled from time to time.

I sent a silent prayer up to the universe, begging that he would become more lucid soon.

Just carrying his own weight would be a dramatic improvement.

Wes motioned in front of me. I saw the stairwell access door several yards ahead and felt an enormous sense of relief at the sight of it.

We just needed to get down the stairs. Down the stairs, out the door, and a brisk jog to the fence.

Of course, that didn’t solve my problem of running away with my brother.

But right now, I’d settle for staying alive.

“Move it,” Wes hollered back toward us. And we responded, trying to pick up the pace while my brother tried using his legs as much as he could. The door came closer and closer, just a few feet away, when we heard the blast.

BANG!

“Hit the deck!” Wes hollered as Jim yelled out, dropping to the ground. I crouched low, getting close to the wall as several prison guards—too many to count—whipped around the corner at the far end of the hall, firing at us.

Wes fired two shots in rapid succession, taking out a guard who plopped to the ground as I fired my own gun three times, taking out one guard with two to the chest and one to the head.

I chanced a quick look at my brother, who had dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes when Harper screamed out.

Matias helped him move to the wall behind me and then crouched low at my side, firing away.

Calista shimmied over to Harper and dragged him closer to the wall by her, checking his pulse. And when I saw him, I almost threw up.

Harper’s eyes were wide open, staring lifelessly at me while blood trickled down his face from a massive hole that blew out the upper left side of his forehead.

I spun away, the scene too bloody, too gory for me to stomach.

I lifted my weapon again, trying hard to focus on the onslaught of guards that just kept coming from the end of the hall.

“Wes!” Matias called by me. “We lost Harper!”

“We need to move!” Wes acknowledged as he fired his gun off again. He glanced at Matias, “You and me”— Bang ! Bang !—“we’ll hold them off!”

“ What !” It wasn’t a question. Was he crazy? I wasn’t going to leave them here like this!

“Haeflinger,” Matias shouted over his shoulder as he released the magazine from his gun and slammed another one into place with ease. “Take Mara and Jacob through the stairs! We’ll cover!”

My eyes widened. “No, Matias!”

“We’ll be right behind you.” He fired off two more shots. “Your brother can’t make it to the door without cover. Go!”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell him to go get his head checked if he thought I was actually going to do that.

But when I looked at my brother—gaunt, weak, and barely able to move himself—I knew he was right and I had little choice.

With a deep breath, I aimed my gun and fired off four rounds in rapid succession, watching one guard drop to the floor while another grabbed his shoulder where the bullet sunk in.

Matias grabbed a flash grenade from his bag, pulling out the pin as he yelled “Flashbang!” and then rolled it down the hall like he was throwing a bowling ball. I dropped, curling into a ball, closing my eyes and plugging my ears to—hopefully—save myself from the effects of the grenade.

BOOM!

The entire floor shook with the intensity, throwing me onto my back.

Get up, get up, get up!

Feeling disoriented, I scrambled back onto my feet and turned behind me.

Grabbing Jacob’s arm, I placed it around my neck as Calista moved into action, doing the same.

Together, we heaved him up and began moving him as quickly as we could to the door while Matias and Wes marched forward, firing away at the new wave of guards whipping around the corner down the hall, ignoring their disoriented comrades.

“Jacob, you’ve got to help us,” I begged him. “ Please , you’ve got to try.” I felt his body stiffen as he tried to lift each leg, tried to carry his own weight.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

“Fuck!” I heard Wes scream. I turned to see him gripping his right shoulder as he tried to keep his right arm up to fire his weapon.

“Wes!” He was hurt. My heart hammered in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins as more shots were fired, this time getting Matias in the leg, and I watched in horror as he dropped to the floor. “No!”

“Never mind them!” Calista yelled. “Grab the fucking door!”

But how could I leave them? How could I leave both of these men, both these loves of my life, in this hallway of death? I couldn’t!

“Mara!” Calista screamed at me. “Either get the fucking door or get out of the way! Remember what you came here to do!”

BANG! BANG, BANG!

I looked at Blondie, and then I saw my brother, barely even alive, head bandaged up because of god knows what that they did to him.

And then I looked back at Wes and Matias, both still alive, but both bleeding, both holding back a wave of soldiers that they could never survive.

And that fucking alarm kept blaring, kept screaming that this was it, that this was the end.

“Mara, please…” It came off Jacob’s lips like a prayer. His deep blue eyes begging me to save him.

And I broke.

I broke because I loved all three of them.

My friend.

My brother.

And the love of my life.

I truly loved all three of them with the depths of my heart. But I knew at that moment that I was only going to be able to save one of them.

Only one.

“Mara!” I heard his voice…the call of my name said like a desperate cry for salvation, cutting through all the chaos.

I turned to see Wes as he fired his gun and then turned to face me.

And our eyes locked. The vibrant yellowed ambers in his hazel eyes burned like melted gold, captivating me, reminding me of every passionate moment, every death-defying event, every single touch, and desperate kiss, all in one powerful gaze. “ Go .”

It was all he said. One single word before he turned back to face the parade of soldiers coming down the hall. But the lines of his angular face, the look of his golden-green eyes, and the sound of his voice spoke so much more than that one word.

Go…because I need you to be saved.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t muster a single sound. And I couldn’t do it. Not this time. I couldn’t leave Wes or Matias to die.

I started to shift my weight to turn back into the fray.

But before I knew what was happening, Calista reached forward, pulled the door open, and then shoved Jacob and me through it.

I almost tripped as the weight of my brother’s body collided into me, throwing me into the stairwell.

And then Calista slammed the door closed behind her, leaving Matias and Wes to their fates.