Page 96 of Madness & Mayhem

She’s none of those things.

She’s dead.

My brow furrows, and I pull her fully out of the water, slamming her back against the ground. My fingers pinch her nose and chin as I open her mouth, leaning down to blow into it.

Then fold my hands together and shove my palms into her chest for compressions.

Breathe into her mouth.

Compressions.

Breathe into her mouth.

Compressions.

“Stop,” Lakyn says from beside me, her voice cracking on the end. “She’s not alive, Reign.”

I scowl. “I just need to get the water out of her lungs.”

I go back to compressions, when she pulls on my shoulder again. “Reign, stop.”

“What?” I snap.

“Look at her chest.”

I glance down and realize her entire shirt is red. Lifting my hands, I can see them covered in blood too.

She didn’t drown.

She lost too much blood.

I sit back on my knees, taking a deep breath as I stare at another dead friend at my hands. I maybe wanted to toy with her once upon a time, thought of killing her, but not today.

Today I wanted her to live. And she didn’t.

“Fucking hell,” Archer growls, and I turn my head to his, seeing his side bleeding. Fuck, he was shot.

Posie starts crying, and Lakyn rushes over to her. “It’s just a graze, Posie, you’re fine.”

“What happened?” I ask.

Lakyn steps to the side, and I see a gouge through Posie’s cheek.

I glance over at Kyler, and he’s already staring at me. “I’m good, I’m just fucking beat.”

I shove myself to a stand, my body soaked and heavy, numb and in pain. We’ve been moving for hours, and we’ve finally made it.

Though that doesn’t mean it’s over. Border patrol can still get us, which means we need to move away from here quickly and find shelter.

Bending down, I lift Eloise up, tossing her over my shoulders. She lays limp and heavy, but I refuse to leave her on the edge of the border. She made it across, and we can’t just leave her.

“Where do we go now? Can’t we just relax a few minutes?” Posie pants, wiping at her cheek.

I shake my head. “We need to find somewhere to go. A motel or something. Somewhere to hide out until shit dies down and we figure out our next plan.

Posie turns to Archer. “When are we going home? I didn’t think we were even coming to Canada.”

“When they’re shooting bullets at us, we don’t really have a choice, Posie,” Kyler says.