Page 100 of Pretty Lethal
“No.”
My heart shatters into a million irreparable pieces at the fear brimming in her voice. She’s doing her best to appear strong in front of Carrie, but there’s no disguising the terror that is shaking her to her core. I fucking hate that she’s going through this—again. Alone and with no way of knowing that we’re coming for her. Because you can bet your motherfucking ass that wearecoming for her.
“Knowing you’re dying slowly, all alone, while he can do nothing except watch will break him. He’ll fall apart. Completely disintegrate. And I’ll be there to sweep up the pieces left behind. They’ll be all mine to hoard and pull out as needed. Without you, he’ll lose touch with his humanity and become the son he should always have been.”
“Jesus Christ, she’s insane,” Kai mutters under his breath.
Well, duh! Is he only now realizing that?
“No. NO!” Gone is Emilia’s fear for herself, replaced with concern for Wilder. The fact she can think past her own impending doom to consider his well-being shows just how big Emilia’s heart is. She always puts us first. Even now.
My heart swells with pride at the defiant glare in her eye as she stares up at the camera, speaking directly to Wilder. “No, Wilder. Do not let her manipulate you. No matter what happens to me, our love will live on in you. Fight for us. Even when I’m not here. Fight. For. Us. Be the man I know you can be. The one who gives his heart wholeheartedly and would do anything for the people he loves. You arenota monster; don’t let her turn you into one.”
Wilder roars like a wild beast, uncaring of the pain he must be in from his shoulder as he launches the tablet across the room. It crashes into the stone wall before dropping to the floor, effectively silencing the live feed. “Fuck that,” he snarls. “Iama monster, but only for Emilia. I will become whatever the fuck is needed to keep her safe.”
I clap a hand on his non-injured shoulder, drawing his attention. Showing him I’m right there with him, I imbue, “We all will.”
Kai gently places his hand on Wilder’s other shoulder, the three of us in agreement on this—we will do whatever it takes to save our girl.
The next second, an audible click echoes around the chamber before Wilder’s deafening roar of pain drowns it out.
“You fucking asshole!” Wilder roars, glaring at Kai like an avenger of death, blood coating ninety percent of his body. “That hurt like a bitch!”
Completely unapologetic, Kai simply shrugs. “It’s best if you don’t see these things coming. Besides, now you can actually use your arm to take down your mother and rescue Emilia.”
“Huh.” Dismissing Kai, Wilder rolls his shoulder, testing it by lifting his arm and making a fist with his hand. Once he’s happy that there’s no lasting damage, he leans over and pulls a cell phone from a strap around his ankle.
“How do you have that?” I ask in confusion.
He scoffs. “After being caught out once, the last time those deluded fuckers took my phone, I bought a second backup phone.”
“Smart,” Kai says, sounding impressed.
Wilder pulls up Emilia’s app for the tracker but curses colorfully when it flashes saying there’s no signal.
“We must be too deep underground,” Kai growls in frustration. “We need to get out of these fucking tunnels.”
* * *
It feelsas though we race through the tunnels for hours. I had no idea there was an intricate network of them down here. However, without any knowledge of how we got here, we’re the blind leading the blind as we run around like rats in a maze, searching for the way out.
With every passing second, my patience wears thin and my temper escalates. Between the hammering of our feet against the stone floor, I hear Emilia’s pained ‘No’ and see the terror shining in her eyes even when she was trying to put on a brave face for Wilder’s sake.
I can’t stop thinking about how scared she must be, and with every dead end we come across, my concern for her amplifies.
“God fucking dammit,” I snarl, driving my fist into the wall when we turn a corner and are faced with more of the same dark oppression stretching out into oblivion before us.
“This is fucking stupid,” Kai growls, growing as irritated as I am. “You need a fucking map to find your way around down here. Robbie needn’t have bothered trying to shoot us—he could just have left us alone to die of old age while we fail miserably at finding our way out.”
“Just keep going.” Wilder sighs in exasperation before pushing forward.
We continue on in disgruntled silence for a while until Wilder points ahead. “What is that?”
I squint through the darkness, barely able to make out the outline of metal spiral stairs. “Are those… stairs?” Hope bleeds into my tone as I pick up my pace, sprinting in my haste to discover if we’ve finally found a way out of this hell-maze. “It is!” I yell as I draw closer, my eyes lifting to where the set of steps disappears into the rock above me.
The others are right on my heels as I take the stairs two at a time, uncaring of what is at the top as I bound upwards. The rock face around me grows damp, soil clinging to the sides, and a wet, earthy smell invades my nostrils as I pass through the earth's surface before the stairs stop at a narrow platform leading to a nondescript wooden door.
Kai shoulders past me before I can reach it, his switchblade grasped firmly in his hand as he silently turns the handle and pushes the door open.
