Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
I whirl around to Layla, one eye still on the soldiers, finding her standing against the wall, hands pressed to the concrete, accusation in her eyes.
“Why are you still standing, and they aren’t?” she demands.
“Why are we still standing, and they aren’t?” I counter.
“You…oh, God.” She curls forward, holding her stomach.
I close the space between us, bending down and taking her with me, cupping her face and forcing her gaze to mine. “I didn’t deceive you.”
She blinks up at me, her lashes fluttering. “I don’t know what to believe.”
My hand closes over hers, where it clutches the ICE. “You can trust me. I took bullets for you for a reason. I will not let you die.” I remove the vial from her palm and pop the seal before holding it near her mouth. “Drink.”
She hesitates and says, “If you betray me, I swear, I’ll kill you.” With that vow, her hand settles over mine, soft and trembling, and she helps me tilt it back so she can swallow.
I admire her so very much in this moment—her bravery, her intelligence, her fight.
She gasps as the liquid slides down her throat before curling forward again. “Please God, let it work quickly.”
I scoop her up in my arms and push to my feet. She’s done fighting me, snuggling close and leaning against my chest, her lashes lowering. She doesn’t fight, doesn’t ask where we’re going, doesn’t have any fight left in her. I go icy inside, and not from the drug. From the sheer terror that I’ve found her too late.
I start for the door, feeling her shaking intensify, and for the first time in a very long time, I’m shaking, too.
The End…For Now