Page 41 of Vicious Deception
“Wren.” Elliot crawls onto the bed and lies down next to me. Sliding an arm under me, he pulls me close and tucks my head into his chest.
“I don’t want you to go back.” My voice breaks as I say it because I know it’s no use. The others are dead if he doesn’t.
“It’s only for a couple days,” he says soothingly. “And then we’ll never leave your side again.”
“Please,” I sob. “Elliot, please, I need you all to come back to me alive.”
“I promise,” he whispers, and I wish I could pretend he didn’t hesitate.
I’m not sure how long we stay there before we hear a knock on the door. Immediately, I tense, realizing the door is unlocked and I’m completely naked.
“Just give us a minute,” Elliot calls. He crawls over me and grabs my bra and shirt from the ground before helping me pull them on.
“What if something goes wrong?” I ask.
“I . . . I don’t know, love.” Elliot grabs the rest of our clothes and sorts through them. “But the plan is for everything to goright.”
Neither of us voice what we’re both thinking—that was the plan the day after the wedding, too.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” I say as I continue getting dressed. “I do, Ell. But . . .”
“Life is unpredictable,” he finishes for me, “and working with Axel feels wrong.”
Nodding, I hug myself. “Obviously, tonight wasn’t a trap to capture me, but what if it was a bigger one? What if . . . oh, I don’t know! I’m just so scared, Ell.”
“I know,” Elliot says softly. He draws me into his embrace, kissing me tenderly, before his arms fall from my waist.
No,everything in me screams.Don’t let him go. You may never see him again.
But I don’t move as he opens the door to let Finn and Axel back in. I don’t beg for him to come with us. I can’t. If Elliot runs with me and Finn, it means a guaranteed death sentence for Rhett and Oliver, along with Rhett’s brothers. Even if leaving Elliot means there’s a possibility that he won’t make it out alive, I refuse to abandon the others. I can’t live without them, either.
“We worked out the rest of the details,” Finn says, car keys in his hand.
Elliot zips my jacket up and pulls me in for one last kiss. “Three days, love.”
“Three days.” Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I step back, immediately missing his warmth. “I love you.”
His knuckles brush my cheek. “I love you, too.”
Finn pulls me away, his gaze locked on Elliot. “Stay safe.”
“You too. I’ll see you soon.”
As Finn and I exit the room and walk across the parking lot, I stifle my sobs. It feels like my heart is being ripped in two.
I open the passenger side door to Finn’s car and look back to find Elliot still standing in the open doorway. He’s barely more than a silhouette, framed by the light coming from the motel room behind him.
“Get in, Wren,” Finn tells me.
But my feet are stuck on the pavement. I’m frozen, unsure of how I’m supposed to turn away.
Time seems to slow for a few seconds as we watch each other. I thought I knew pain—thought I knew grief—but the ache blooming in my chest threatens to overtake me completely.
Finn starts the car.
I can’t do this.
“Ell,” I whisper as the first tear falls. Fear grips my heart, and I’m halfway across the parking lot before I realize I’m running.