“No.”
“Please, this isn’t your battle to fight.” I grab on to his neck, needing him to go. Needing him to be safe.
“I’m not leaving without you.”
“Well, isn’t this sweet?” Arlo says from behind me.
I turn and see him standing in the doorway of the plane.
“Neither of you will leave without the other. And I thought you got married because of the free gifts.”
I frown. “Let him go, Arlo.”
Arlo grins and steps aside from the doorway, holding his arm out. “He’s free to go. A deal’s a deal.”
I grab Heath’s hand and pull him up. “Go.”
“Not. Without. You.”
Arlo’s eyes narrow, and I know he is growing impatient. If we aren’t careful, he won’t let either of us go. One of us needs to survive this.
I turn to look at Heath and kiss him like I’ve never kissed him before. A kiss to last us both a lifetime. A kiss to top all other kisses. I don’t do it to put on a show for Arlo. I don’t even do it for Heath. I do it for myself. I need to have something to hold on to, to get me through whatever is ahead.
When I stop, I look deep into Heath’s eyes, and then I pull him in for one last embrace. I say, “Go. If you don’t, he will take us both, and one of us will be dead by the end of the night. I need you to go. It’s the only way you have a chance at saving me later. If you come with us now, you’ll be dead before the night is over.”
I pull away and firmly look him in the eyes again. The words I said aren’t for me. I know he can’t come rescue me. He won’t even know where to start looking. The words I spoke are for him. To get him to leave. It’s the only way I can protect him.
Heath thinks about going, but it’s still not enough. He still can’t leave me.
“I love you,” I say as tears flow down my cheeks. “I won’t lose you. I wouldn’t survive it. I need you to go. It’s the only way I have a chance at getting through this.”
Heath kisses each of my cheeks, taking my tears in his mouth. “I love you, Nina. You’re strong. The strongest woman I know. Just stay alive. I’ll come after you. I promise.”
And then I let go of his hand. I take a step back, and I watch him walk down the aisle of the plane. Heath hesitates at the door.
Because I have no voice left to speak, I mouth, I love you. Go.
“I’m going to find you. I’m going to save you. I promise.”
Heath walks off the plane, and I’m alone.
I don’t move as Arlo closes the door on the plane after the pilots step on and into the cockpit. I don’t move as Arlo enters the cockpit to talk to them, leaving me by myself in the back of the plane.
I should move. I should make a run for it. There is no one stopping me. But I’m tired of running. I will not run anymore.
The only things that move are the tears dripping down my face.
Arlo reappears. “Take a seat, Nina. We will be taking off soon.”
I sit. I want to fight, but I’ll have plenty of time to do that soon enough. For now, I need to mourn. I need to feel the pain of losing someone I wanted to spend my whole life with, but instead, I didn’t even get one night as husband and wife. I just lost the only man I’ve ever loved, and I need to deal with that first before I can handle anything else.
Arlo takes a seat next to me. “Buckle your seatbelt,” he says.
I don’t. I can’t move anymore. I can’t function. I just need to deal with everything.
Arlo stands up and reaches across my body. He buckles me in before taking his own seat next to me again.
I feel the engines purr to life. The plane starts moving forward, and it won’t be long before we are up in the air.