Page 125 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“Don’t stop,” I tell her urgently. “And don’t look back.”

We run the way Phoenix and I came, until my breath is like a dagger in my chest and my feet are as raw and bloody as they were the night I ran from the Sanctuary. Violet stays with me the whole time, even when it looks like she’s on the verge of passing out.

Fear can make a person do crazy things.

I follow my own advice and I don’t look back. It’s what Phoenix would want, even though I hate it with every fiber of my being. I’m stricken with fear, but I have no choice but to keep going. We reach the foot of the cliff and start climbing at once.

“Eyes up,” I tell Violet. “Forget the ground even exists.”

When we finally make it to the jeep, I open the door and gesture for Violet to get inside. Then I stare at the front of the vehicle, wondering if I should get in the driver’s seat or not.

“Are we waiting for him?” Violet asks as I stare out at the hills below.

I can still hear gunshots.

“Please, God…” I whisper.

“Elyssa?”

“Quiet,” I snap. “Sorry. Sorry, Violet. I just need to think…”

I think about getting in the driver’s seat and just driving off. It’s what he’d tell me to do, I’m sure. But like I told him earlier, there are more ways to do things than just the Phoenix way.

And in fact, it’s long past time that I started doing things the Elyssa way.

I climb into the front seat and twist the keys that he left in the ignition. The engine roars to life. My hand is on the gear shifter, but I’m hesitating. I’m lingering.

What are you doing?Charity yelps in my head.Pedal to the metal, girl! Let’s get moving!

“We can’t leave him,” I whisper back to her.

“What?” Violet says, blinking in confusion.

“Nothing,” I say. I shake my head to clear the cobwebs out. “I just…”

Suddenly, there’s an angry rapping on the window. I scream as I twist around to see…

A bloody, dust-stained Phoenix.

“You’re in my seat,” he drawls.

I burst through the door and into his arms. He smells like sweat and blood, but I don’t care. “You’re alive,” I whisper into his neck. “Thank God, you’re alive.”

“I thought I told you to get the hell away from here,” Phoenix growls.

“Apparently, I don’t follow instructions very well.”

He holds me at arms’ length and at last, a smile breaks across his face. “No,” he agrees, “you do not.”

Within seconds, we’re speeding through the rough terrain. Phoenix presses the jeep to its limits. He doesn’t slow until twenty minutes later.

The fear takes a little while to die down. But when it does, it’s replaced with the swell of disappointment. I’m glad we’d managed to get out of there alive. But the plan had been to locate Theo—and we hadn’t even come close.

So the question is… what do we do now?

Phoenix doesn’t seem to be in the mood to talk. He keeps two hands on the wheel and an angry scowl on his face as we cross into the city limits.

Violet keeps looking back over her shoulder every few minutes. I recognize the signs of shock and trauma in her. She’s jumpy and pale. Sweat beads up along her brow and her eyes keep darting around as though she’s worried someone is following her.

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