Page 125 of Breaking Point

He coughs, a gun lazily pointed in our direction as he stumbles toward his sister.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demands, buthe shakes his head, still coughing as he stumbles toward her.

Dad aims toward him, his hands shaking as he says, "Stay back."

"You," Chase spits once he sees me.

"If you come any closer, I will shoot," Dad says, voice darker than I've ever heard it. And for once, I know he's telling the truth.

“Step away from them.”

I turn when the balcony door opens again and Charlotte stands there, covered in blood- gun aimed directly at Chase.

Sofia's shoulders fall. “Not dead then.”

Charlotte laughs, the sound tired. “Not yet.”

Sofia raises her hands in surrender as Skar, Ricky, and Crew walk through the door. Even Chase's grip on his gun goes lax as Charlotte stumbles closer. “Shame. Should have known you’d have something up your sleeve. You-“

Charlotte sighs, motioning to the floor with her gun. “Get on your knees.”

Chase obeys silently, pistol discarded, practically trembling in fear. When Sofia doesn’t, Charlotte prowls closer, prompting Sofia to drop. “What are you going to do with us?”

“Nothing,” Charlotte answers as she reaches for a zip tie from her vest. She’s too weak to tie it herself, but Skar does it for her, strapping Sofia’s arms around her back. Then Chase's. “I’m going to watch you rot behind bars.”

“What? Now you’re too good to kill us?” Sofia taunts, and when Charlotte stops walking, Sofia grins. “There will be more.”

Skar rips a wad of fabric from Sofia’s dress, gagging her mouth. “I’m so tired of hearing you talk.”

It’s then that the facade fades and the carefree Charlotte falls away. All that’s left in her place is the scared Charlotte- the Charlotte that lied. That hid her life from me because she had no other choice. That Charlotte stands in front of me now, eyes glossy.

“Are you okay?” I find myself asking, my voice hoarse.

She shakes her head no, eyes watering slightly. “Are you?”

The question almost prompts a laugh. “Hell no.”

She gives me a look that says we’ll talk later as Crew appears, his warmth enveloping me like a hug. Then I remember his bullet wound, and I reach for him carefully.

His shirt is stained with blood.

“You’re shot” is all I can say, my stomach twisting when I see his brown eyes sweep over me, leaving a trail of heat in their wake.

“I don’t think I give a shit about that right now,” he tells me, and something about the way he says it, about the way he’s looking at me, about the way his hand lifts to the throbbing wound at my skull, makes me burn.

Because he came for me.

“We need to leave,” he says, and we search for the cathedral doors on the levels below, leading to the exit. We’re lucky the fire hasn’t spread to the ballroom yet.

“I’m uh- I’m still on the floor,” Aleks says suddenly. “Any help?” he asks, and my dad reaches a hand down for him.

Charlotte shoves Sofia forward, Chase stumbling behind. We make it outside, and in the distance, I hear sirens as we make it to the far side parking lot. I clutch Crew’s hand, forcing all the strength I have into helping Ricky drop Crew and I on the grass where the other guests are huddled.

He’s still bleeding, my hand pressing on his ribs to slow it. I see a small smile on his lips. “Distract me, Princess.”

“What happened?” I ask, watching as Ricky, Skar, and Harvey disappear inside, coughing at the smoke filling the sky.

Sofia is shoved into the grass beside us, still cuffed. Charlotte collapses next to her, pinning Sofia with a look as she leans against a nearby car. Chase is thrown into the ditch beside us as Aleks ties off a makeshift tourniquet on Charlotte's arm, blood staining the grass.

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