Page 108 of Vengeful Melodies

Then—

CRASH.

Metal screams. Glass shatters. The side of the vehicleslamssideways, and I’m thrown into the wall. Something cracks. I think it’s me.

The pain is blinding. I’m still bleeding.

I hear groans. One of the paramedics is unconscious.

And then I hearfootsteps.

A door wrenched open.

“She’s still alive.”

The voice is too familiar. Slick with anticipation.

Bradley.

David.

Two shadows, warped by the flickering emergency lights, drag what’s left of my body out of the wreckage. Blood drips from my fingertips.

I try to scream. Nothing comes out but a gurgled whimper.

Bradley leans in close. His breath is sour and too warm. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to fix this. We’ll be together again.” he touches my face.

David’s hand clamps over my mouth.

The sirens are long gone now.

No one knows where I am.

And the last thought I manage to hold onto before the darkness drags me under is—

I hope they come.

Please, God, let them find me.

Before it’s too late.

Chapter Forty Three

Takoa

She was still standing when the shot hit her.

A single breath too late, and her body seized. My chest shatters inside me, every nerve on fire. Her legs buckle. Her arms fall like they’re made of ash. Every fiber of me screams:Dreya is dying.

“Dreya!” My voice tears out, raw, animalistic, unrecognizable.

Alix shoves through the crew, knocking over a security guard. Sebastian—Bash, my anchor, my brother in chaos—screams, a sound as sharp and violent as another gunshot.

Kaiser is already on his knees, hands slick with her blood, pressing into the wound as she writhes and gasps, her body breaking apart before us.

Blood pours like it’s trying to escape her entirely.

Her eyes find us—wild, glassy, terrified. Lips trembling. “Don’t… leave me.”