Page 160 of Us Deadly Few

Not Takeshi.

Not fucking Takeshi.

Takeshi lifted his head and searched for her, his gaze filled with longing.

As if she were the only thing he ever wanted to see in the world.

“Go,” he mouthed.

Like hell.

Khalani ran back for him, but Brock snatched her around the waist, lifting her off the ground.

“No! Get off me! We need to get him!”

She kicked and screamed, fighting him with all her might. Twisting her head, she saw the remaining Dealers rushing the tunnel. Runningtoward Takeshi,who struggled to rise, but hislarge body collapsed back to the ground.

“Brock, go back! We have to save him!” she cried, but Brock squeezed her tighter, his strong arms carrying her toward one of the empty transports.

“I’m sorry, Khalani. We can’t save him.” His voice was more distressed than she’d ever heard. But it didn’t matter.

What mattered was the man who knew her better than anyone else in the world—the man who had helped her find her strength, who pushed her when she needed it and embraced her dark heart, was just beyond her reach.

Khalani continued to thrash and fight against Brock like a feral monster.

A world without Takeshi was a living prison she didn’t want to survive in.

“Go fucking back! Please go back!!”

She refused to accept it. Khalani would gladly return to the black building and endure a million more torturous sessions if it meant Takeshi was safe.

Her furious screams continued to bounce around them, but everyone ignored her.

Brock carried her struggling body past the tunnel entrance, and Raziel nodded to the man with the device. He clicked a button, and the entrance shook.

An explosion rang out and rocks tumbled down, sealing the tunnel.

“NO!!”

Tears of agony streamed down her face as she was loaded into the transport. Her last glimpse was of the Dealers surrounding Takeshi, guns raised, while he lay unconscious on the ground.

Rocks blocked her blurry vision, and it felt like her heart stopped beating. Like her body couldn’t handle the pain and shut everything down.

Because the last thing she heard before the transport sped offinto the dark abyss…was the fatal sound of a final gunshot.

31

If I forget you, I forget the world.

If my heart could speak

The beats would lament and roar

I think it would terrorize my flesh

Refashion me from the inside out

Take all the power from me

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