"Do you?" I clear my throat, "Answer the question."
"I asked him to distract you. I told him I needed him to do something to get your attention off of me so I could escape from you."
I stiffen. "So you did come to an understanding with him?"
"Yes, but it's not what it seems, Christian."
"Oh?" I narrow my gaze on her. "I’m not sure I believe you, Aurora."
"What the fuck are you doing?" Massimo asks in a low voice.
"This is not the place for this conversation," Seb adds.
"Christian," Michael growls, "are you trying to get us all killed?"
No, just me. Why the hell does my heart feel like it is breaking in half. Why does my chest feel so heavy? I try to draw in a breath, and my lungs burn. "Aurora," I say through gritted teeth, "answer the fucking question, you—"
"Yes," she bursts out. "Yes, I did. What else was I supposed to do? You all but kidnapped me and held me captive and threatened to kill my family."
"I saved your life by doing that."
"Did you?" She swallows. "You’re no better than…than him in what you did, and you know it."
Anger grips me; the band around my chest tightens. The blood pounds at my temples, and my vision tunnels. "You dare compare me to him?" I take a step forward, and that’s when he swerves his gun in my direction.
Something… Someone moves in the shadows of the tree line beyond him. The glint of metal catches my attention. My gaze widens.
Something in my stance must alert the man in the mask because he swerves around, gun in hand, and fires.
The sound echoes through the trees, and a flock of birds takes off into the air, squawking. There’s a returning c-r-a-c-k as the person in the shadow of the tree line returns fire. The stranger in the mask moves so fast that he blurs. He steps in front of Theresa, and his entire body seems to shudder. He stumbles back, raises his gun, and fires again. Then he collapses to the ground.
"Oh, my god," Theresa screams. She drops to her knees in front of the fallen stranger, even as Seb, Adrian, and Massimo race past her and in the direction of the man who had fired at us.
Aurora turns toward me; her features are pale, her eyes huge in her face. "Christian," she wrings her hands together, "Christian, I am so sorry."
I close the distance between us, then walk past her and toward the sobbing Theresa. I kneel down next to the stranger, take in the blood flowing from a wound at his temple.
I pull off his mask. My breath catches in my throat, and my head spins. My heart beats so fast in my chest that I’m sure it’s going to break out of my ribcage.
"It can’t be," I whisper. "No way. This is not possible."
47
Christian
Footsteps sound behind me. Michael draws abreast; he takes in the features of the man collapsed on the ground and draws in a breath.
"Che cazzo!"He breathes, "How is this possible?"
Theresa glances up between us. "He’s bleeding out," she cries, "why are you not helping him? Why are you standing there and—"
She follows the direction of our gazes, takes in his features, and gasps. "No," she shakes her head, "no, no, no." She reaches out, her fingers splattered with his blood. "Xander?" she whispers. "Is that Xander?"
The man’s eyeballs move behind his closed eyelids. He opens and shuts his mouth. Theresa leans in close and places her ear close to his lips.
"What is it?" she cries. "What are you trying to say?"
"I am… You are…" He lapses into silence again, and she pulls back.