Page 114 of When We Fall: Part Two
I kicked open another door at the end of the hall and stopped dead in my tracks.
Fox lay on the floor, shirtless, covered in blood.
I rushed forward and went to my knees beside him, letting out a choked sob.
He was beaten to piss. His arm was clearly broken. His feet were wrapped in dirty, bloody bandages, and the broken arm was in a metal cuff, screwed into the floor.
Smoke began to fill the room, making me cough.
“Fox. Fox!” I shouted, cradling his face. His lips had a blue tint to them. “Fuck! FOX!”
Nothing.
His face was so severely beaten that I could barely recognize him.
With quaking fingers, I reached out and checked for a pulse to find him cool to the touch.
“No. NO!” I screamed, my men behind me. I felt Elijah drop to my side. He reached out and checked Fox’s pulse.
“NO! Fox, man, please. NO!”
I wept over him, trying desperately to get him unbound from the metal cuff. Elijah tried to help me, both of us working. He even shot it, but the bullet didn’t do shit to it.
The room was filling with more smoke. If we didn’t leave, we’d die down here, too.
“Fuck. FUCK! FOX!” I wept harder, just cradling his body to mine, his blood on my shirt. “Brother. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Please… don’t go. Don’t fucking leave us. I need you. I fucking need you! Rosalie… Rosalie needs you. I’m begging you to please wake up. Please, Fox. Fucking please!”
I was sobbing as I held his dead body, knowing I had to leave. I was gutted. I was broken.
I was spiraling.
I’d never had a fucking panic attack in my life, but I couldn’t breathe, and it was because of more than the smoke.
Rosalie. Rosalie. ROSALIE.
“Lorenzo, please,” Christian shouted as more smoke filtered in. “We have to go.”
“I-I can’t leave him. I can’t leave him. I can’t… I can’t…”
“You have to. We can’t bring him. Come on! This whole place might go up with us in it! We need to find Cole. There’s nothing else you can do. Come on!”
I fought against him as he tried to tear me away from Fox. I stared at Fox’s barely open hand and saw the coin he’d played with before. I snatched it, vowing to kill every motherfucker who hurt my family.
“Come on!” Dmitri yelled, grabbing me with Christian and Elijah as Memphis let out a cough and tried to wave away the thick smoke. “Lorenzo! We have to go!”
“I love you. I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them all!” I shouted as I was torn away from Fox, whose body fell back to the floor, blood oozing from the thousands of wounds on his battered skin.
The sounds of his chains clinking filled my ears, making it that much fucking worse.
We made it to the hall with Jake and Randy dragging me with them. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I could barely see to reach for it through all the smoke.
“H-Hello?”
“I have E. I fucking have him,” Cole shouted. “This place is on fire or something. I can’t fucking breathe. We have to get out. Did you find Fox?”
“Yes,” I choked out, not having the heart to tell him. “I’m coming to you.”
“I’m already on the top floor, man. Headed to the door. Get your asses up here before this motherfucker goes up in flames.” The call disconnected, and we continued rushing upward.
