Page 29 of Hell Storm

“They won’t be killed,” I assured her. “They can tell the magistrates the truth, that I ran away and they had nothing to do with it.”

The silence coming through the helmet’s com conveyed Elle’s thoughts loud and clear.

“Listen, I know this doesn’t make much sense to you,” I sighed, “but there’s nothing here for me.”

“That’s not true,” she quickly rebutted. “You just have to give it a chance.”

She didn’t understand, didn’t get how it felt knowing I was being pampered and cared for here, while my team suffered. I didn’t fault her for how ignorant it was to assume the glitz and glamor of the Capitol made for a better life.

“You really think there’s so much more out there?” She wasn’t being condescending. Actually, I was certain she’d become solemn with the realization that I couldn’t be talked out of this.

“Elle, what’s out there for me islove,” I answered vaguely, slipping between the garden’s wrought-iron gates.

“You were … in love?” Her voice took on a thoughtful tone I hadn’t expected.

“No, not quiet. There isn’t a guy,” I clarified. “I have family.”

That answer rendered her speechless. For many reasons I imagined. To start, humans weren’t supposed to have familial connections. Our upbringing made certain of that. It seemed senseless to hide this fact from Elle now, so I didn’t regret sharing that with her.

“You love Julian, don’t you?” I asked, peering over my shoulder when a snarling bark echoed from my right. I faced forward again and tried to stay focused.

“I do,” she admitted, “but I don’t know what that has—”

“Well, imagine he’s all you have, imagine so much of his survival depends on you,” I challenged. “Now, multiply that feeling by a hundred and tell me you wouldn’t do this exact same thing. Tell me you wouldn’t fight to return to him.”

She was quiet and I picked up speed to outrun a second hellhound that, apparently, caught my human scent as I rode past. Things were heating up and I still had no idea how to get out of here alive.

“There’s nothing I can say that would convince you to stay?”

Her sweet tone tugged at my heartstrings in a way I never thought they would.

“I’m sorry, Elle, but no. There isn’t.”

There was another stint of silence before her voice rang through the helmet again.

“Then, I suppose there’s only one thing left to do.”

The many different actions she could have taken next drifted through my mind—wake Julian and the others, call the sentinels, hand me over to the Butcher.Only, she didn’t say any of those things.

“I’m going to help you,” she declared as a final act of kindness.

I didn’t know what to say to that. This one gesture confirmed something I already knew, but hadn’t quite been ready to admit. She considered me a friend.

And the feeling was mutual.

“Hang a quick left here,” she called out, shifting her emotions aside to help.

After doing as she instructed, the bike tipped close to the cobblestone walkway with my weight.

“What now?” I urged.

“Just keep going and leave the rest to me.”

Putting my safety solely in her hands made me anxious, but it wasn’t the first time I entrusted a friend with my life. Felix and Liv had talked me through plenty of tough spots. I believed Elle had my best interest at heart, just like they had.

Behind me, the yelp of the two hounds commanded my attention. I looked back just as their steps halted, which was confusing.

“I tapped into the security system to activate the electric fences,” she explained. “I can control them now, so the hounds shouldn’t give us much more trouble, but we’ll have to get creative dodging the Sentinels. There’s no shock collar for them.”

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