Page 117 of Crave Me

I launch forward. He points his gun and fires, the blast echoing as I haul Wren into my arms.

I wrench her behind me, catching her when she can’t keep her feet. I’m unsure why until warm fluid spreads across my palm.

“No!” I yell, my heart sinking when she collapses.

I ease her down, her body quaking in agony and her breath mere gasps.

As I watch, the light that shimmers her deep blue eyes fades.

Wren

My vision blurs as Evan sets me on the ground. Pain like I’ve never felt sears through my back, setting the surrounding muscles and bones on fire. I want to claw at the ground, it hurts so damn much. But I can’t move my arms.

I can’t move at all.

Evan’s saying something, but his words sound muffled and far away.

“Help is coming.”

“Don’t leave me.”

“You can’t leave me.”

Bryant was going to kill him. I realized it the moment he learned his actions and confession were captured on video. He knew he was screwed. Just like he knew he had nothing to lose. I could tell by the way he loosened his hold. He was done with me and going after Evan.

I didn’t think about me or what could happen when the pressure eased off my throat. My full focus was on Evan as I threw myself forward.

It’s too late for me, anyway. I know it, and I think Evan does, too.

Blood seeps through my skin, cooling as it spreads along my back and pours across the concrete in tiny rivers.

I don’t want to die . . . I want to stay with Evan and travel the world him. I want him to take me to all those places he’s told me about, like that castle in Scotland that overlooks a valley covered with lilacs, and that trattoria in Milan with the best risotto he’s ever tasted.

I want to be with him the day he decides to expand his company, and celebrate with him when it becomes the global giant we always believed it could be. I want to tell him that I’m proud of the man and leader he is, and how I never knew how great I could be until he showed me.

Mostly though, I want to tell him that I love him, that I want to make babies with him, and watch them grow up as we grow old together.

But as my vision clouds and grows dark, and that pain morphs into an uncomfortable numbness, I’m not sure I’ll be able tell him anything.

Another gun blast has me whipping my eyes open. But it’s the one right after, and the pained grunt that follows, that forces me to loll my head in that direction.

Evan and Bryant are rolling on the ground, their fists pounding so hard, each strike reverberates across my skull.

The gun lays a few feet from me, and even closer to Bryant.

I try and tilt, but it’s like everything hurts and nothing is working right. The need to close my eyes returns. I fight it, trying to stay awake.

A spurting sound follows the solid crunch of bone. I can’t tell who’s winning. All I know is I have to move and get that gun.

My head spins as I pitch onto my side. Pain radiates from the hotspot in my shoulder, streaming out to my limbs. I fall onto my stomach, grunting as another wave of agony radiates down my spine and causes my feet to spasm.

I crawl forward, each movement making me want to puke from the way my vision fades in and out.

I reach for the gun, my fingers slipping over the handle several times before I’m finally able to grab it. I pull it to me, knowing I don’t have the strength to fire, but scared shitless Bryant will turn it on Evan.

But Evan and Bryant are gone.

Angry shouts ricochet from the bottom of the driveway and what sounds like hard bodies collide against the asphalt. I crawl away from them and toward the garage. I think I see my phone lying on the floor. It’s hard to tell, my world taking another revolting spin.