Page 125 of Dangerous Promises

No. No. No.

Jumping over the fence I run for the exit, standing in the cars path as it speeds towards me while I fire. I am not getting out of the way. My heart pounds hard enough to match my breath and my shots are shaky as panic overwhelms me. My adrenaline rush starts to fade and all the pain from my injuries begins to pulse back into my body.

The car doesn't slow, even with all the firepower I've put into it.

I brace my shoulder as the car hits me and I roll over the hood down and over the roof, smashed against the pavement. I grunt as I hit the hard concrete, pushing up on my hands to see the car as it peels out of the parking lot, stinging my heart.

He's getting away. He's taking her. He's taking her from me.

I chase after them as much as I can, falling to my knees in the middle of the street when the pain in my stomach and new injuries in my shoulder and thigh take me down.

There's nothing that I can do but hopelessly watch as the car grows smaller and smaller, disappearing along the horizon. And taking Sage with it. I am useless and nothing but a failure, staring into the spot where it was supposed to be. The tearing ache inside me hurting far more than the stab wound.

He has her now.

I know that if she doesn't survive this then neither will I. How have I gone from being so sure I could not live without killing her, to being so certain it is really living without her that would kill me?

Anton and Dimitri make a far too late appearance as they come sprinting, guns in hand, to my side. Anton gives us cover as Dimitri's eyes scan me with a frown. "Where's Sage?"

I expel a huff of air, unable to speak as I hang my head in a labored sob and clutch at the gaping wound in my stomach.

Isla joins us now, running out of the bar only to slow her steps when she sees me cowered on the ground. She covers her hand with her mouth.

"Answer me, boy!" Dimitri demands, kicking senselessly at the dirt.

"Chet got her," Isla says, tears in her eyes as she correctly surmises what has happened. "You couldn't stop it," she says, gently addressing me. I look up to her and am met with sympathy that only makes me feel worse. I shake my head.

"Don't fucking mind me," Freddie says, groaning as he hobbles towards us. "I've only been shot." Nobody pays him notice as it's clear he'll be just fine and I can't think about anything other than that a car carrying the love of my life just drove away.

"You let her get taken!" Dimitri says, barreling for me, but Anton wraps his arms around his brother's shoulders to hold him back.

Dimitri continues to struggle and argue against Anton's hold as Isla kneels down on one knee to comfort me. She meets my eye level as she places a hand on my shoulder. "She is smarter than they give her credit for. She knows what to do."

Isla nods, the tears in her eyes bringing one to my own. I can't even move. I am stuck in this limbo knowing that the second I step up from the ground this is all real.

"She knows how to stay alive," Isla assures me again, though it's of no use.

"Not for long enough."

"Then you have to find her."

Isla meets my gaze with a hard, imploring stare. Not as a command but as a belief, that even though Chet is more cunning and dangerous than before, it is still no fucking match for me. I have always been the best. Always had plenty more fight than anyone else. And that was long before I had something worth fighting for.

"We should go," Anton says, letting go as Dimitri slumps in his arms. "Try and chase them down."

"He'll have gotten too far by now," Freddie says.

"Well somebody do something!" Dimitri demands, clearly as distressed as we all are.

I take a deep breath and suck the air through my nose. Channeling everything that I know I am. And I get off the fucking floor and I act like the scary motherfucker I have always been.

"I'll find her," I vow, holding onto Isla's arm for support to pull myself up.

Everyone looks to me as I stand tall, pulling the knife out of my belly and grunting as I throw it away like I feel nothing.

"I'll hunt him down, I'll tear strips of skin off his back and I'll make him pay for everything he's ever done to us."

Dimitri's lost gaze finds me. There's not an ounce of fight left in him. He doesn't even look at me in anger. He looks at me in hope, like he is praying that everything I'm saying is true. Like every fiber of his being wants to believe that I am capable of everything I am promising to him now.