AgentReyessworeto me he wouldn’t sleep.
Warned me up and down not to expect him to be off his guard even once tonight and to forget about any escape plans I had. He assigned me a tree to sleep against and told me he’d wake me up come dawn and we’d be on our way.
Less than two hours into the night, he was out cold and snoring softly against his own tree.
He was kind of adorable as I watched him, his head tilted back and to the side, arms crossed over his chest and legs sprawled straight in front of him. I nestled against the tree trunk, trying to get comfortable between the scratching bark and surprising pressure jabbing my sternum.
A melancholy guilt prickled the center of my chest as I stared at him, his mouth a sleeping pout, his bottom lip blowing out just so as he breathed in and out deeply.I tried to sigh through the feeling, hating that I felt guilty for leaving him.
That wasn’t a part of the plan.
He was a good man despite not wanting to be, and it was hard not to picture him waking up in the morning and realizing I was gone and that he’d fucked up.
He’d call out to me, knowing I wouldn’t answer. He might even scream for me, his face cracking in desperation as he wondered where I went. That desperation would turn to fury that would morph to sickening regret once they found my dead body wherever I laid down out here to die.
I would be a stain on his life for years to come, and I was never meant to care.
Yet, I did. I felt bad.
I felt a sinking sort of brick settle in my gut that scratched my insides with every breath I took. Nothing about what I was about to do to this man made me feel in any way good.
But the brick was nothing compared to the fire.
The brick was uncomfortable while the fire was unbearable. The fire incinerated the brick to rubble that caked my insides as a reminder. It ruled my body and my decisions and everything else was ash.
So with the fire simmering in my veins, I stood. I gave Agent Reyes’ sleeping face one last look over before the fire exploded beneath my skin in a reprimand impossible to disobey. Nothing mattered more than the fire, more than the half-dead heart lodged in my chest, more than Johnny.
Nothing and no one, and finally, there were no roadblocks in my way.
Then…
Agent Reyes made a noise.
A whimper almost.
The soft sound rooted my feet right where they were, anticipation gripping my spine stiff. I held my lungs still, not even wanting to risk breathing as I waited and listened, my eyes wide with alarm in the darkness.
For several seconds, there was no sound. No movement. Terror eased its hold on my muscles as the silence prevailed. I sucked down a calming breath, nodding to myself and the nightlife around me that I was okay.
And then it happened again.
Except this time, the noise that came from the man behind me shredded through the night like a bullet.
It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t unassuming. It was painful. It was gut-punching.
It was a shout.
I snapped back around with zero thoughts in my head and a rush of adrenaline spiking in my veins, smothering the fire as my eyes found Agent Reyes.
My half-dead heart kicked inside my chest, and I reared back to gasp.
Agony. It covered his face and rolled out of him in yells that pierced the night and right through my fucking stomach. His eyes were shut as he thrashed his head side to side, feet searching for ground as his legs jerked.
He was having a nightmare.
“Stop!” he bellowed, horror stretching his mouth wide as he shouted at nothing I could see.
“No, no...” He twitched, hands molding to fists against his jeans. “No!”