Page 116 of Sapphire

Looking around, I can see everyone else is distracted, so I commando crawl to where Mateo and Tomas are huddled. They pull me into their arms as soon as I reach them.

Tomas presses up against me. “I promise we’re not going to let him take you, no matter what.”

“I will not let him hurt you two.” Don’t they get it? He will kill them.

“Fuck.” We hear the driver groan as he is hit and drops to the ground. Brooks fires off a couple of rounds and takes out Nikolai’s two guards.

I scream as I watch the bullets go through their heads, their lifeless bodies falling. I start to shake as shock sets in.

“We are going to get out of here. We just need to hold off Nikolai until Enrique comes,” Tomas says calmly, stroking my back.

Nikolai lets off a couple more rounds and they hit their target. We watch as Brooks gets hit and slumps to the ground. Blood seeps through his black suit, pooling around him in the desert sand.

No!

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Zoe,” Nikolai taunts.

“You are not going anywhere,” Tomas whispers, holding onto me tightly.

“I must. He won’t stop until you are both dead.”

“No, we lost you once; we will not lose you again,” Mateo says.

But this is my fate, there is no happily ever after for me. Nikolai always said I was his and now I truly believe it. He is never ever going to let me go, especially not to Tomas and Mateo. The bloodthirsty look in his eyes tells me this.

“I love you both so much, but I have to do this.”

Mateo tries to stop me. “No, you don’t.”

I push them away from me as I move from my hiding spot.

Nikolai notices me and trains his gun directly at me.

“That’s a good girl. Your time is up, your fate has been decided, Sapphire. You must come home now.” Nikolai sounds calm as he speaks.

I take a step closer to my fate until I notice Mateo and Tomas stand up as well. What are they doing? I notice an evil smirk cross Nikolai’s face.

“So, these are the two you love? You’ve lost. I’m the one with the gun and believe me, I will happily put bullets through both of you.”

My body flinches at his menacing words. I go to take another step toward Nikolai, but the boys both reach out and stop me.

“No, no, no!” Nikolai screams. “Let her go, she’s mine. Mine!”

I look at Tomas and Mateo, memorizing their beautiful faces. I won’t let him hurt them anymore. “Please let me go.”

Mateo shakes his head, tears rushing down his cheeks.

“He will kill you,” Tomas says.

I turn and look at Nikolai, his hand waving the gun at us. “No, he won’t. He just needs to win.” I shuffle further away from my future. “Please trust me, I have a plan,” I whisper to them. I can see in their eyes that they don’t want to let me go. They are shaking their heads, but their hands fall from me. I turn around and start walking confidently toward Nikolai, even though my legs are shaking like Jell-O. I have to walk past Brooks’s still body to get to where Nikolai is. I pretend to trip over it and land right next to him.

“Fucking stupid girl,” Nikolai grumbles.

Tomas and Mateo flinch as I hit the earth, but I give them a reassuring smile as I see the knife holstered to Brooks’s leg and grab it as I pass. I continue my walk toward Nikolai, the satisfied look on his face as I move closer and closer irritating me. As soon as I am within reaching distance, Nikolai grabs me and pulls me closer to him, turning me in his arms so my back is to his chest. I can see Tomas’s and Mateo’s horrified expressions now that Nikolai has me. His gun is still trained on them both.

“I told you she was mine. Zoe will always be mine,” Nikolai taunts the boys.

I watch in slow motion as he shoots them both.