This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening, Julien thought, hysterical, tears streaming down his face as he struggled in the chair, trying to scoot closer. The rope rubbed his wrists raw as he twisted his arms, trying to get them free.
“Joel…” Julien sobbed, shaking as shock began to set in, his voice fading as he realized nothing he was saying was working. He yanked at his arms until the rope cut deeper, and he hissed at the sting of it. But the pain and anguish made him grit his teeth and find that fight all over again, and that was when he saw it—Priest’s foot moving.
“Priest?” Julien blinked several times, trying to clear the tears away from his eyes so he could focus. “Joel?”
Julien shook his head and madly tried to get the chair to move again, but when he barely got it to shift an inch, he cursed.
Maybe he’d imagined it…
Maybe he was hallucinating…
Seeing what he wanted to see instead of Priest just…lying there.
But then it happened again.
Priest’s foot moved, and so did his leg, and then—he sat up.
“Priest,” Julien shouted, as Priest brought a hand up to his chest, rubbing at it as he blinked and coughed.
When their eyes collided, Julien opened his mouth to speak. But Priest was pushing up to his feet and rushing over to him before Julien could say a word.
As Priest collapsed in front of him, untying Julien’s ankles and then his arms, Julien watched in disbelief that the man kneeling before him was even breathing, and when Priest got the final knot untied, Julien yanked his arms free and threw them around Priest’s neck.
Priest caught him with a grunt, pulling Julien off the chair and into his lap, as Julien began to sob uncontrollably.
“Oh God, oh God,” Julien said, as he held on tighter, his fingers digging into Priest’s neck, as if to make sure he was really there, really real. “I thought you were dead. I thought you were…”
“Shh,” Priest said in Julien’s ear. “I’m right here. I’m here.”
As the sobs racked Julien’s body, he felt Priest vibrating against him in response. He finally raised his head and looked into eyes he never thought he’d see again.
“Joel…” Julien whispered, and touched his shaking fingers to Priest’s face, tracing them along the line of his beard and down to his lips. “How…? I saw…” Julien sniffed and shook his head. “I…”
“A princess,” Priest said, and kissed Julien’s fingers as his own tears escaped. “A princess saved me tonight.”
Julien trailed his fingers down Priest’s neck until he got to the collar of the turtleneck and pulled it back, and there beneath the fabric was a bulletproof vest.
“Robbie?” Julien said. “He made you wear this?”
Priest hugged Julien in close to him and flinched at the contact, his chest obviously aching from the impact of the bullet. “Yes. Gave it to me when I was getting dressed tonight. All outfits deserve an accessory, according to him.”
“Oh my God,” Julien said, and unbelievably, his lips turned up in a smile, which made him wince. “I’m going to kiss him so hard when I see him.”
“I think he’ll like that very much.” Priest let go of Julien so he could sit back. “Your head,” he said. “And your eye. That fucking piece of—”
“Joel,” Julien said, and took Priest’s hand. “I don’t even care about that right now. You’re safe.”
Priest leaned his forehead against Julien’s. “So are you.”
“Jimmy?”
“He won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Julien frowned. “But—”
“Trust me,” Priest said, and the chilly tone in his voice told Julien to believe what Priest was saying. “Let’s go. We need to get Robert and then get the hell out of here.”
Julien shifted off Priest’s lap and looked over his shoulder. “Robbie’s here?”
Priest grunted as he got to his feet and held a hand out to Julien. “He’s close by.”
Once Julien was upright and steady, Priest dug his cell phone out of his pocket, grimacing at the movement.
“Close by?” Julien asked, as Priest hit a couple of buttons and handed him the cell, and before Julien could ask anymore, the phone connected.
* * *
“WAS THAT A gunshot?” Robbie said, as he sprang to his feet in the empty transit shed where he and Henri had taken up residence.
“Shit,” Henri said, as he peered out the dirty window he was crouched in front of. “Don’t fucking move.”
Robbie froze, and when Henri turned his head to look at him, Robbie said, “Was that a—”
“Yes,” Henri said, and then jabbed a finger at Robbie and then the floor. “But you gotta sit down. Stay out of sight.”
“But I—”
Henri turned away, effectively cutting off communication as he peered back out the window, and Robbie did as he was told. He sat his ass back down on the dusty ground and started to bite at his nail.