"If I let you go, they'll find you," he says roughly, eyes trained on the road as he takes another sharp turn, narrowly missing a car driving the other way.

Another shot sounds, and this time it connects with the headrest right above Sebastian's head. He curses and ducks, still trying to speed up, but it's no use. We're outgunned, outnumbered, and not going fast enough. The realization makes my heart plummet.

Then, Sebastian pulls something from the seat beneath him and tosses it to me. It takes me a minute to realize it's gun. "Use this," he growls. I hesitate as soon as I catch it, so he adds, "Fucking now."

Another sharp turn. Another slam on the gas. The car is officially travelling at its maximum speed, but nothing is working. The men are still gaining on us. So I reach for the gun, flip off the safety, and cock it like Sebastian taught me to do, aiming at the broken window in the back of the car where I have a clear shot at the first truck. Then, I narrow my eyes, and I fire.

Everything slows for a second. It's like the whole world is in a slow-mo cam, and I just watch the bullet fly through the air, spiraling toward the first truck's windshield. I hold my breath, ducking down as someone fires in return, but then a scream pierces through the air and the first truck veers off the road.

Just like that, everything is fast again.

Sebastian turns another corner onto a totally deserted road, eyes darting between the space in front of him and his rearview mirror. "One down. Two to go," he says quietly.

As if on cue, another bullet fires at us, this time hitting the windshield and totally cracking it. More glass shatters, shooting every which way, covering me and Sebastian.

I turn back around, reloading my gun. My heart keeps hammering. The other trucks are still gaining on us. Twenty feet now. Nineteen. Eighteen.

Not much time left.

I try to shoot at the next truck, but my hand don't stop shaking and I keep thinking about how this might be the end, how Sebastian might leave my life forever, how I might leave my life forever. Everything aches, and I just can't focus anymore. My shot misses the truck by several feet, and I drop the gun, because it hurts my hand, and I feel myself crying again.

Fifteen feet.

"It's over, Sebastian," I say, shaking, the handcuff biting at the skin on my right hand. "It's fucking over. We're going to die. Oh god we're going to die and that will be the end of everything."

Sebastian jerks the steering wheel to the left, and the car skids across the street, knocking over a mailbox on its way, but we're still going, gunning down another empty street. Another round of gunshots bursts through the car. I keep my head down and so does Sebastian, but the bullets are getting closer and closer, shattering the glass right beside me.

Ten feet.

Sebastian's grip on the steering wheel is steely. His eyes are wild and filled with determination as he shoots down the street, his knuckles whitening with every passing second. "I'm going to save you, angel. I've always told you that. I'll die for you if I have to."

Five feet.

My heart is beating so loud that I can't hear anything anymore, just the roar of the engine and the ringing in my ears from the gunshots. I feel so desperate, so empty and useless, and I reach for the gun and try to fire at the truck again but I only manage to hit its roof. They are so close I could reach out and touch them, and no matter how hard Sebastian hits the ignition, they just keep gaining.

Two feet.

They're right there now. So close that I can taste the end. Every muscle in my body screams in protest, and I look at Sebastian one last time, look at the determination in his eyes, the hardness in his jaw, and I know how much I'm going to miss him, how much I love him despite everything.

"Goodbye, Sebastian," I whisper, just as their truck connects with ours. There's a squeal of tires, a scream, and then our car is jerked off the road, tumbling across someone's front lawn.

And then, there is nothing at all.

Chapter Thirteen

My eyes feel like lead as I force them open. My ears are ringing and every muscle in my body aches as I roll over. Blinding white light fills the air, forcing me to squeeze my eyes right back shut. I try to stand, but my legs refuse to hold my weight, so I continue to lie there, against a cool piece of metal, hurting all over. The blood in my head pounds and pounds, and I try to remember what happened, how much time has passed, or how the hell I even got here in the first place.

Smoke billows everywhere, causing me to cough and cough, burning at my face. I try to open my eyes again, and this time they adjust better, even if they still kind of hurt.

I look around wildly to figure out where I am. Scraps of metal are everywhere, tires smoking all around me. It looks like several cars were broken, like…

Then I remember what happened.

Sebastian.

Marco's men.

The truck.

The gunshots.

The scream.

Automatically, my body crumples up at the memory, and whether it's from thinking Sebastian's face before our car was uprooted or from the acrid smoke in my eyes, my eyes start burning with tears.

I force myself to stand, shaking off the pain.

It's sunny here, grassy too, and if it weren't for the smoke filling my lungs and nostrils, it would actually be a nice day. I stumble out of the wreckage, coughing repeatedly, trying to get my bearings, trying to find Sebastian. There are bodies strewn across the scraps of car metal, too, tons of them, all men with guns and angry looks in their eyes. I look around wildly, but none of them are Sebastian.

My heart aches. Where is he? Where is Sebastian? I stumble onto the empty street, trying to cry for help, but my coughing drowns it out. The cool air whips by me, and it would feel insanely good against my skin if I weren't so wound up. Desperately, I move in the direction of what appears to be a house, knowing based off of my growing headache, shirt covered in dried blood, and the way my vision keeps zooming in and out that I need food and water, and I need it badly. My throat is totally parched, and all of this feels so surreal, like I'm dreaming or something. I wish I were dreaming.

In fact, every part of me wants to rewind back to a few hours earlier, when Sebastian was touching me, when we were making love and everything was okay. I choke in another breath, and this time more tears are mixed with it. I sniff, continuing to stumble toward the house, not knowing what else to do.

The desperation has just about set in when I hear a sound from within the little shack I've been heading toward: a muffled grunt.

I freeze. My heart might literally stop.

Because I know that sound.

I know that voice.

It's Sebastian's.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I move in closer, more slowly this time, trying to keep from coughing. Why is Sebastian grunting? What if something is wrong?

My legs ache in protest as I draw near the little shack, but I ignore it, moving toward the door. I need Sebastian. I need to make sure he's okay. I need to--

My hand is at the doorknob when I hear a second voice. And I stop, because it's not a friendly voice, either. The sound is deep and guttural, filled with hatred. "Well, well," it's saying. "Is getting punched not enough for you? Because the boss will be here any minute now, and I hear he's bringing his knife with him, just for you." The man laughs, a vicious, sadistic kind of laugh that makes my blood chill.

"Go ahead, then," another voice snarls. My stomach seizes as soon as I recognize that it's Sebastian's, and based off of the fear gripping his voice, it could only mean one thing is going on: he's being tortured for information of some sort. And Marco must be coming soon to finish the job.