Page 62 of Unmasked Rivalry
I stare at him, disbelief burning in my veins. I force a laugh but it tears apart in my throat. I edge closer, hands shaking so hard I can barely form the question: “What do I do? Tell me how to fix it.”
He shakes his head. “No time. Ralston’s men are here. If this goes off, you’ll die in the blast. You’ve got to go, Callie. Right now.”
My world contracts to the space between us. A sob rips free. “No—I’m not leaving you. Tell me what to cut, to fix, to do. What do you need?”
He shakes his head, eyes never leaving that blinking fuse. “You need to go. Tell Wolfe...tell him I didn’t mean for this. Tell him I’m thankful for everything he’s done and that I love him, that I love all of them.”
I wrench out my phone again and dial Knox with numb fingers. Zane’s hand lashes out, slapping it away. It skitters across the dirt floor. “Don’t call him. If he comes, he dies too. Don’t do that to him—or any of them. They’ll be killed.”
“They’ll come up with a plan,” I gasp, tears streaking down, “they can kill them all, you know they can. I’ll go back out, tell Ralston the deal is off, and we can call in the bomb squad.”
His laugh is a bark of pain. “No. Because Ralston will get word of it, and then he will kill you and everyone you love for trying to double-cross him. If the club tries to come in for an attack, the cartel will hunt them down forever. I won’t burden them with that. There is no way out now, Callie. You need to get out. Now.”
I lunge instinctively for the detonator; he clamps it tighter, refusing to let go. “Callie, get out,” he hisses, voice raw.
“I—there has to be a way,” my words stutter into a scream-whisper. “There has to be an option here, Zane.”
His grin cracks his dead eyes. “You can’t fix this. It isn’t fixable. I need you to be a coward for once in your life, and I need you to leave me here and get the fuck out.”
“No,” I croak. “I won’t leave you.”
His free hand clamps my chin, turning my face so my eyes lock with his. “I’m okay with this. I’m not scared to die. I made a choice when I agreed to do this, and with those choices, there is a risk. This is my decision, and I’m making it. Don’t let it all be for nothing. Don’t let Ralston win. Go. Now.”
My sobs come in ragged bursts as I collapse against him, arms clinging like vines. “I love you, Zane. Knowing you has been a fucking privilege.”
He wraps an arm around me, presses me close. “Right back at you, girl.”
I’m a wreck—snot and tears, fingers trembling against his jacket. “Please don’t make me leave you—”
It’s the last, ditch attempt to make this nightmare go away.
He leans in, forehead to mine. His voice is soft. “You can. You will. I’ll haunt you if you don’t, and trust me, you don’t want that. Please, Callie, if you can do anything, do this. It’s the only way to get you all out alive. We are running out of time, I need you to go now. Because either way, this barn blows, and I’ll be damned if it blows with you in it. Knox needs you. Go.”
And in that moment, I know I have no choice.
I close my eyes and let out a noise that is half-scream, half-wail. I want to stay, want to help, but I can see it in his eyes—this is already a lost cause. The only thing left is leaving. He lets go of my arm, his finger never leaving the button. “Go now. Don’t turn around. Run until you can’t hear the noise, then keep running.”
I stumble to my feet, brain not really believing my body, and make it to the door. I look back, just for a second. His eyes meet mine, and for just a moment, he’s the same old Zane, the one who made me laugh, and he gives me a smile.
“Hey Callie,” he says, voice breaking. “Don’t fuck up, make it count.”
I nod, another sob ripping through me.
I burst out the barn door and run, tripping and slipping across the pasture, too blind with tears to see straight. I crash through the fence, crawl on hands and knees through the wet grass, body screaming at me to stop, to go back, to fix it, to do something.
I get a few hundred meters before I hear it—a sound like the sky being ripped open, a thunderclap that booms through my bones. The world goes bright white, then red, then black. I hitthe ground and cover my head. My ears ring so loud it’s minutes before I even realize I’m screaming.
I look up, the whole barn in flames, the roof nowhere to be seen, smoke pouring up in a sick joke of a mushroom cloud. The heat is so intense that it’s raining ash. I scream again, but it’s swallowed by the noise. I can’t lift my body off the ground, I lay there, sobbing as the world changes forever.
Zane is gone.
He’s gone.
Because of me.
17
Idon’t know how long I lay there, in the grass, sobbing and screaming.
