Still, my mind was trying to wrap itself around what was happening. My father had to be behind this attempt on my life. He knew that I wouldn’t go willingly, though I didn’t think he would have wanted me to die either. I was far too valuable to him, to a future that he wanted.
And Lucas. He had come. My breath caught as I watched him fire at the enemy, the gun recoiling against his shoulder. Had he gotten a call from my father, or had he realized that he was an idiot and didn’t want me to go?
Either way I was glad that he was here. It meant more that he had come after me than that he had let me go.
There was a scream as one of Lucas’s bullets hit its mark, and I felt the small pride of victory, urging him to finish off the rest. It was the only way that we stood a chance of surviving this.
Another went down, and I kicked at the door harder, my vision swimming at the exertion. I couldn’t pass out, not now.
Lucas needed me.
The door budged, and I tried not to get too excited. Maybe this was going to work. Kicking at it again, I screamed for it to open, not caring if I hurt myself in the process. None of this meant anything if Lucas got hurt.
Finally, the door flew open, and I scrambled out, crying out in pain as I tried to stand. My side felt like it was on fire, and when I looked down, blood coated my entire left side. The wound was worse than I thought.
I gritted my teeth and forced my feet to move toward Lucas, where he had moved to a handgun, the AK discarded at his feet. He had taken cover behind a fallen tree off the side of the road, and I moved toward him, finding it more difficult to do so. My limbs felt like they were moving through water, heavy and disjointed from my body.
It was the blood loss, but I had to reach Lucas. I had to help him.
He turned, and his face was nothing but a mask of horror as he saw me moving toward him. “Leda!” he yelled, abandoning his post to run to me.
“Lucas!” I shouted, my voice weak. He was giving up his hiding place, and just as the words came out of my mouth, a bullet ripped through the air and he fell down instantly.
I screamed and tried to make my way toward him, urging him to get up.
He couldn’t be dead. Lucas couldn’t be gone. I would know it.
My vision dimmed, and the world tilted on its axis as I fought to remain upright, the blood loss catching up with me. I had to get to Lucas. I had to save him.
But my feet wouldn’t move any longer, and I fell to my knees, panting. “Lucas,” I said weakly, reaching out my hand toward his unmoving body, wishing that I had gotten closer.
I doomed us both, and in our final moments, we wouldn’t even be given the chance to touch each other.
I crumpled to the road, and my world turned black.
Chapter 50
Lucas
I woke with a start, and for a moment, I didn’t know where I was. The bright lights above momentarily blinded me, and as I moved my hand to cover my eyes, it was stopped by something metal.
It was then that I realized I was lying down. Wherever I was, it wasmoving.
“You’re awake. It’s about time. Welcome back.”
I looked over and found a man staring back at me, his grin hard and not friendly. He looked familiar “How do you feel?” he asked as he threw the syringe in his hand onto the table before him. “Feel like you have been kicked in the chest?”
I attempted to pull my hand back once more, and the handcuff rattled against the railing, giving me pause. “Where the fuck am I?” I growled.
He peered out of the window. “Look at that, we just crossed the GWB. You, my friend, are in the back of an ambulance, and I just gave you the biggest dose of adrenaline to your half-dead heart.”
I stared at him a moment longer, trying to process what he was saying. “Lawrence,” I sneered, recognizing him. “You piece of shit.”
His grin grew wider. “One and only. You are looking rough, Lucas.” He shrugged. “I figure I shouldn’t call you Don any more. Not after y’know, Adrian tried to whack you and you didn’t do anything back. Feel me?”
Lawrence was one of Adrian’s minions, one that I had never fully trusted since I had known him. Clearly I had good reason not to. “Watch your mouth,” I told him, letting the steel of my voice come through. “I can still kill you.”
He laughed and settled back on the seat as the ambulance swayed over the bridge. “I just saved your fucking life. You could’ve at least said thank you. I mean, okay, I get it. It’s not ideal what’s about to happen. But I just wanted to let you know: no hard feelings. Just doing my job.”