Page 48 of Crushed Vow

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Tears surged up my throat. “Shut up, you idiot,” I choked, blinking rapidly as I brushed damp curls from his forehead. His skin was clammy. Too pale. “I never should’ve let you go in there. I should’ve stopped you.”

“You’d have done the same,” he whispered.

I paused, fingers stilled against his temple. “I’m going to get you out,” I said fiercely, even though my voice trembled. “You’re not dying on me, Ethan. Not like this.”

I hooked his arm over my shoulders. He groaned but didn’t complain as I dragged him to his feet. He couldn’t walk—barely stood. His entire frame trembled from blood loss.

We moved inch by inch, his weight sagging into me. My lungs burned. My heart pounded. But I didn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop.

“We’re close,” I whispered. “We’re so close.”

And then—

I froze.

The air shifted. My spine tingled.

We were being watched.

I turned, eyes scanning the trees. Nothing.

But something—or someone—was there. Watching.

Cassian? It had to be Cassian. He always watched.

But he never stepped out.

Only silence answered.

I kept moving. Nearly to the road. Just a few more steps—

Headlights slashed through the trees like blades.

A sleek black car pulled up, tires whispering against the earth like something out of a nightmare.

Two doors opened.

Two figures stepped out.

Vincent. Luca.

I stopped breathing.

Vincent wore a long dark coat, cigarette between his fingers, eyes empty. Cold and unfamiliar.

Luca, smug and slow, like he had all the time in the world to enjoy the kill.

“Vincent...” I croaked. “He’s not a threat. He’s my friend. Please—he’s bleeding. Help him.”

Vincent looked at Ethan like one would look at a dying animal. “He’s a liability.”

Then he raised his gun to Ethan's leg.

“NO—!”

The sound of the gunshot cracked the air like a whip.

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