Page 152 of Wasted Grace

Dev groans, shifting in his chair. “You need my security key for AWS. That’s... where w-we store everything.”

Advik stiffens—just enough for me to notice. “Yeah. I... need your account password. I can gather that then.”

Dev smirks through his split lip and rattles it off. “Delete it. It’s... okay. The data bucket is under Sitara underscore client119.”

Advik holds his gaze for a moment, then finally nods.

A beat later, Dev whispers again. “Please... tell Meena—my wife. And my Gauri and Madhav that... I love them.”

Advik mutters, “Please. God! Shut u—”

“Aah! It doesn’t work, Devbhai,” Mehul chuckles. “See, you’re not getting out of here anyway. None of you.”

Then he bends close to Dev’s ear. “ButIcan tell them.”

Dev thrashes violently in his chair—helpless, frantic—but says nothing. The sound is worse than screaming. It’s the sound of resignation.

I realize his words have probably stopped meaning anything to Mehul—waybefore we arrived. Sorrow heats up my entire body. Knowing that this will not end well. The tremor in Advik’s frame doesn’t go unnoticed either.

I don’t just feelhelpless. I feel like I’ve surrendered for the first time. The way I’d felt when I was sitting in the chair Karim had tied me up to, feltlessoppressive and powerless than this.

My expectations from my back up have dwindled to zero.

A few minutes pass and Advik finally slumps his shoulders. “It’s done.”

Mehul has been chatting with his “friends” this whole time. But the moment Advik’s words reach him, he beams like a kid at Christmas. “Perfect! It’s done?”

He doesn’t askAdvik. He’s projecting his question to the goons behind my man. Who promptly nod.

Dev sighs, his body turning in on itself. “What n-now?”

His voice is breaking at every syllable. And my heart breaks at his surrender. I know the moment Advik uttered those words—we weredone.

My gaze slides from Advik to Viraj to Dev. This is it. We’re finished. I keep worrying at the ties on my hands, but they don’t budge. I hope togod, Advik found a way to get the evidence transmitted before deleting it. But I can’t be sure.

“Now...” Mehul brandishes a gun from behind his back. “We’re done. You’ll all be killed in... hmm... acar accidenton your way home. That sound good?”

He mock pouts, pressing the barrel against Dev’s head.

Just then, I hear it—the clatter of laptop on tile.

Three shots. Three bodies collapsing.

My scream is muffled—harmless,insignificant, swallowed by the sound of blood rushing in my ears. The cloth in my fucking mouth.

Another volley cracks the air. My vision blurs with red and terror.

Then—hands. One of them scrapes the tape from my mouth, pulls the cloth out of my throat.

I look up. Someone’s eyes find mine—but the terror sitting in them doesn’t feel like it belongs to me. Orforme.

“You’re okay,” he whispers shakily.

That’s when I seehim. Arms still raised. Aim still fixed on where Mehul should have been standing.

But his eyes—his eyes are on Dev.

And now mine are too. Tears welling. Heart stopping. Breath gone.