Page 138 of Reclaiming Adelaide

My gaze locked with Jake’s stolid expression as I grasped Franklin’s arm and pulled as my legs dropped out from underneath me. My blood acted like lubrication as I turned my head to the side, allowing me to slip free from his grasp. A spray of gunfire erupted around me as my ass landed on the corner of his boot, sending a dull, aching knot of agony up to my throat.

I curled into a ball, covering my head and ears from the volley of gunfire as wet crimson droplets sprayed over my bare skin like a spring drizzle. My mouth hung open in a perpetual scream as my legs squirmed and jerked with each blast. I drew my knees up to my chest, making myself as small as possible until the gunfire ceased and the ringing in my ears reigned supreme.

The scent of gunpowder and fear stung my aching nose as I sucked in a wheezy breath.

Jake’s voice roared from a dreary distance, as though I’d plunged into dark waters and the only sound breaking through was screams and him. The man who’d come to my rescue more times than I cared to admit because, for whatever reason, he loved me. And now, he’d nearly sacrificed his life for me—for us.

A strong vice wrapped around my wrists and pried my hands from my ears.

“Adelaide. Look at me.God. Look at me.“ Panic riddled his voice, forcing my clenched eyelids open. Droplets of blood splattered his forehead where his brows pulled together, causing a worry line between his eyes. “There you are.”

Seeing him as tattered and broken as me broke the spell cloud around my head that made everything fuzzy and dream-like. I scrambled over and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I buried my bloody face in his neck, not caring about his bullet-proof vest scratching uncomfortably against my cheek.

Drawing him closer, I wrapped my legs around his waist and melted into him, sobbing. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I repeated as I squeezed.

My muscles shuddered, and my teeth chattered, and yet I repeated my apology while my cheeks cooled from the tears trailing down my face.

“It’s okay, sweets. It’s okay.” He ran his hand down my hair, smoothing it over.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve listened. I love you. I’m so sorry.”

“I love you too. Now shut up, Adelaide. You’re okay. That’s all that matters.” His hand ran down the back of my skull again. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” I shook my head against his shoulder.

There was damage all over my body. The bloody glass cuts on my arms and my most likely broken nose, but if I’d told him, he’d want to examine them, and that meant I’d have to let go of my life support, and I couldn’t do that. Not now, probably never.

He wrapped his arms tight around me as the ringing in my ears drowned out the world until the only thing that remained was the scent of iron and gunpowder.

“Where’s all the blood from?” he asked.

“I hit my n-nose on the c-coffee t-table.”

“So he hurt you?”

I shook my head. “D-don’t let go of me. P-p-please.”

They’d killed a man—Jake, killed a man—who had stood behind me, my head no further than a foot away from his groin as they’d opened fire and annihilated the threat.

Was it over? It had to be if Jake held me in the middle of this blood-filled room. If he wasn’t whisking me to safety, that must mean we were safe, and there was no way Franklin survived that massacre.

This nightmare—

“It’s over, Adelaide. You’re safe now.”

Was I? Was it well and truly over?

“I’m just glad I don’t have to clean this mess up,” Charity said from somewhere in the room.

“You never have to clean up your messes,” Max said.

I wrapped my legs tighter around Jake’s waist and closed my eyes as he stood with me like I was weightless. His jarring footsteps, and the crunch of glass beneath a boot, assaulted my relaxing senses. One jolting step and a dip down made my stomach flip as the sensation repeated until his heavy boots hit the solid floor, my pained face still buried in his neck.

This was all my fault, and I couldn’t escape the hollowed pain in my chest because of it. His home was destroyed, my parents were gone, and so many people died because of me—because of the team I thought did good things.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as light mutated into darkness. The unsettling in my bones diminished as if my body knew he’d brought me to a place of refuge, where prying eyes and death didn’t exist.

“If you don’t stop saying that, I’m gonna put you in a cold shower.”

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