Page 31 of Fractured Onyx

And the gate is still open.

"Drive!" I blurt out on instinct, stunned at my own response.

Nate casts me a quick look that suggests he's equally surprised at my demand. But then he does indeed jump up from his seat to climb in to the driver's seat in front. Daveed left the key in, suggesting that they were prepared to make a run for it.

"The gate is still open!" I yell at Nate, leaning forward as if he couldn't hear me otherwise. "We can still get out of-"

"No!" he cuts me off, his hand already on the key when he turns around to me. "No, we won't, Malia. You'll get out. You'll stay here and let them find you!"

My eyes widen in terror. "What? But-"

"No but, Malia. We don't have time for this!" He cuts me off, his eyes darting back and forth between me and the impending danger behind our back. "This is an ambush—and they're here for you! If I take you with me, we'll have a tail on us in no time and-"

"And they'll arrest you, too," I finish his sentence, my hand reaching for the door while our eyes latch on to each other. "Nate, I-"

"Go!" He pleads. "Please, Malia. Trust me. You have to get out. Raise your hands, stay on the ground, call for help—so they'll know who you are."

My heart is racing, following a beat that's wilder than any I have ever lived to. I know he's right. I know I'm not doing him any good by staying inside the car.

And I know I have to be quick.

"Trust me," he repeats when our eyes meet for one last time. "You'll be fine. Stay low. Stay low on the ground-"

"I got it!" I exclaim, unable to fight the tears as my vision blurs.

It's true that everything happens incredibly fast, but seemingly in slow-motion at the same time, in a stress induced situation like this.

I open the door of the car, almost tripping over my own feet as I stumble outside, slamming the door shut and making sure to put some distance between me and the car before I fall down onto the ground, my hands flying up in the air on instinct when I'm facing the weapons pointing at me.

I hear the tires screeching, I hear the sand stirring up as Nate speeds up the car, making a swift turn before he flees down the driveway.

I hear gun shots, and I see heads turning his way, weapons being pointed at him.

"Help!" I cry out hysterically. "Help me!"

And suddenly, all heads are turning to me—while I see the car drive off into the distance.

Chapter 21

Nate

~ 39 days later ~

She never told me the exact date. And she didn't have to.

Once I figured out everything else about her, this became nothing but a minor detail, easy to track with the skills someone like me has at his disposal.

Looking back now, I feel like a part of me always knew. Like a part of me always understood that it wouldn't really come to it in the end, that things would not turn out the way the Covey—or I—would expect them to.

Maybe that's why I never saw it. Maybe that's why I never really saw the image of Malia in that house, surrounded by Scivolas and subjected to the enemy's hand. I trained her for it, I prepared her for everything that could come with it, but I never saw her actually having to go through with it.

But this. This I could see right away, when she told me about it. The sea, blinding me as it reflects the penetrating sunbeams, plants bending to the will of the cool breeze that covers the shore with its salty caress.

She described it to me, all of it. The beach, Easton's I think they call it. The little path at the shore that turns into the so called cliff walk, passing New England mansions that belong to the richest of the rich.

And one of them is Jayson Bowlan, her best friend's husband. I know that now, because I've had time to learn, time to conclude my research on everything I needed to know.

He was the one who orchestrated the ambush against us, because he found out that we were the ones to kidnap Malia from the hotel where they were celebrating his wedding. I always knew this guy was trouble and that he was dangerous to our mission—but now I can't help but feel grateful for him.

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