But it doesn’t matter how much I kick, punch, and scream—his hold on me doesn’t loosen, and his steps don’t falter.
Someone opens a car door, and finally, Theo sets me on my feet, but being upside down for so long after drinking whatever I drank, my legs are nothing more than spaghetti and I immediately plummet.
Thankfully, the boys aren’t as wasted as I thought they were, or maybe the events of the past thirty minutes or so have sobered them somewhat, because they manage to catch me before I hit the floor.
“Come on, Princess. We need a head start to the hospital so we can be there for them.”
Knowing that Alex is right, I allow him to manhandle me inside. They pile in after me, but not before I spot Emmie running toward the car.
“Wait,” I cry, stopping Theo from closing the door.
“What’s going on? Someone said there were gunshots.”
“Get in or fuck off,” Theo grunts.
“Get in,” I cry.
She takes in the state of me before glancing at the full seats, but Alex is on my wavelength and drags her inside, depositing her on Theo’s lap.
“Seriously?” he grunts.
If the situation were any different, I’d be amused by his reaction… but as it is, I feel nothing but dread.
Ignoring her human cushion, Emmie twists around so she can look at me.
“What’s going on?” Her eyes are wide and full of fear as she looks between mine.
“S-Seb a-an—”
“Seb and Toby have been shot,” Nico says matter-of-factly, as if it’s not affecting him, which I know is bullshit because he’s feeling it just as intensely as I am.
“Holy shit, are they okay?”
Clearly my reaction to that question says it all, because she just reaches out and takes my hand.
“They’ll be fine. They’re mafia; they’re like immortal or some shit, right?”
“Something like that,” Alex mutters sadly.
His words don’t help at all.
Seb lost his dad in a gunfight. They are most certainly not immortal.
“It’ll be fine, right?” She glances at Theo, pleading for him to say that it will.
“Of course,” he breathes, studying her a little too closely.
“Where’s Calli?” Nico suddenly asks.
“Um…”
“Emmie,” he growls.
“I left her dancing with some guy. I came as soon as I heard, I don’t know where—”
“Fucking hell,” he barks, dragging his cell from his pocket.
“Shit, I didn’t—she’ll be fine.”
“I’ll get one of the guys to grab her and bring her to meet us.”
Silence settles around the car, the dread that’s already sitting heavy in my stomach only growing with every second that passes.
With my eyelids closing, I rest my head on Theo’s shoulder, soaking up the support from Emmie through her warm hand.
“I think I was drugged,” I confess, my eyes closing as my body shuts down.