“What’s wrong?” I ask, panic filling my belly.
“Ready to find out what it’s like to be used as a human shield?” My eyes go wide, and dread clings to my insides. He wouldn’t, would he? Who am I kidding, of course he would. He’s wanted me dead since the moment he laid eyes on me. A scream lodges in my throat and the need to run overwhelms me, but I don’t. That would be a stupid move, something that would surely get me killed.
He must be able to tell what I’m thinking because a moment later a soft chuckle, something I’ve never heard escapes his full lips.
“Just kidding, Princess. I don’t feel like listening to Trey whine that I broke his favorite toy, but we do need to get a move on it. As soon as we get outside, I’m going to toss you over my shoulder. We need to move quick, someone’s alerted your dad’s people.”
My dad’s people? That means...what does it mean? If what Wes, Trey, and Declan were saying is true about my father it means uncertain death for all of us, but if they were lying, it means freedom for me.
Which do I believe? My head is spinning, and bile rises into my throat. My stomach churns and I press a hand to it to get the damn thing to relax. The last thing I need is to be vomiting. I just got out of the hospital.
As we head toward the double sliding glass doors, I become more and more worried. What if they get caught? What if they were right about my father? The thought of being taken from them and thrust back into my old life terrifies me. I might be scared of them, but I’ve come to care for them, and they must care for me in some way too since they took me to the hospital when I was sick, instead of letting me die.
My heart hammers inside my chest so hard it feels like it’s trying to break free from my body. “I’m scared,” I admit, looking up at Declan who gives me an indecipherable look. I expect him to say something like, you should be scared, but he says nothing at all which is almost worse.
Instead, he just pulls me into his side a little tighter and that’s all I need to bring my boiling panic down to a simmering fear.
As soon as we are outside, an SUV pulls up in front of us. Declan opens the backdoor and pushes me inside, sliding in behind me before slamming the door shut. We speed off with squealing tires not even a moment later.
“Feeling better, Princess?” Wes asks from the passenger seat.
“She better be. We’ve risked too much for her not to be,” Declan answers for me, and I cut him a dirty look. He’s giving me whiplash with this back and forth.
“Yes, thanks for asking,” I answer, ignoring Declan’s cold stare that’s now piercing mine.
“We’re being followed,” Trey mutters from the driver’s seat, his eyes moving to the rearview mirror before the car swerves into the other lane.
“Buckle up, Princess, things are about to get a little wild,” Wes orders and I don’t wait for him to tell me twice. I snap my seat belt into place right as something slams into us from behind. I’m slung forward, the seat belt cutting into my skin around my collarbone. Trey curses and then we are swerving yet again. Declan grips onto the back of Wes’s seat to steady himself while Wes presses his hands to the dash.
“Turn here,” Wes yells. It’s hard to hear him over the swoosh of blood in my ears.
The engine revs as Trey floors it while taking a sharp turn. The movement makes me think we’re going to roll at any given second. I hold my breath until we are safely around the corner and I watch in horror as people jump out of the way. Storefronts and signs turn into blurs as we speed down the road probably doubling the speed limit.
“Hold on,” Trey warns right before he pulls into a side alley, grazing the side of the car against the brick exterior. I look back over my shoulder and when I don’t see the other car following us anymore, I briefly sigh. We must have lost them. Thank god. I turn back around in my seat and slump down in it. I’m about to ask where we’re going now when I catch something out of the corner of my eye.
A scream catches in my throat but never gets to come out.
A car comes out of nowhere smashing into the side of our SUV. The sound of metal crunching fills my ears. The sound is deafening, and with a jolt I find my head banging against the window. My whole body is jerked around like a rag doll as the SUV goes sliding across the road and into the wall of an alley.
For a long second everything seems to stand still. The smell of burning tires and gasoline is pungent and tickles my nostrils, somehow bringing me back to reality. A throbbing pain forms behind my eyes and I groan as I try and move. Before I can gather my wits, Declan is unbuckling me and dragging me out of the car.
Gunshots ring through the air and I twist my body around to see who is shooting. Fear grips my heart, sinking its claws into the muscle. I know I shouldn’t care if they live or die, but a part of me does. As soon as my eyes find Wes and Trey crouched behind the car with guns in their hands, I feel something as close to relief as it will get. There are three guys shooting at us from the side of the car that crashed into us.
Declan all but drags me farther into the alley and through the back entrance of a store. He continues pulling me, his grip on my arm bruising until I’m in a standing position. We practically run through the store without stopping, even with people screaming at us. Some salesperson comes running toward us yelling to get out or she’ll call the cops, but we are way ahead of her. My lungs burn as our pace quickens until finally we reach the front of the store.
Once we are out the front door, Declan slows down, his face is a mask of emotions, his eyes wild, as he scans the crowd, as if the three guys that were back in that alley are going to find us in this huge crowd.
“Walk normal, we need to try to blend in.” He leans into me, his hot breath fanning against my cheek. After a moment we step into the crowd, moving with the people as they do. The streets are busy, and for a fraction of a second, I had forgotten what the city was like. I try and skew my facial expression, keeping it neutral. I don’t want to draw attention, not that I think we would, but it doesn’t hurt.
We walk like this for a while. I try to stop myself from looking over my shoulder, which is easy with Declan’s arm draped around me, and my body pulled in tight to his side. Even though I’m wearing clothes that are way too big on me, to an outsider we must seem like a normal couple merely walking down the street and checking out the shops. If only they knew how false that was.
My heart rate is almost back to normal after a short time of walking. I’m nearly certain that we lost them. Now the only fear I have is for Wes and Trey.
“Do you think Trey and Wes are okay?” I ask, my voice a whisper.
“You worried something might happen to us, Princess?”
I shrug, even though I know there’s no point in hiding it. They might not care about me, but for some strange reason, I’ve grown to care about them.