Page 64 of Last Breath

Four rings.

“Stop calling!” I shout. “The asshole’s dead!”

Silence follows.

“Thank fuck!” I yell.

Slipping down on the floor beside me, Malachi says, “Joy, honey, move away from the door, please. Now that you’ve yelled our hostage is dead, they’ll be coming in.”

The pain that pours from me is tangible and thick. Every fiber of my soul is rocked. “Let them. Let them come in. I don’t care anymore. Fuck this world, fuck this life, and fuck them, Malachi!”

Tearing me away from the lifeless body of Salem, I fight Malachi. Grasping me tightly around the waist, he slams me onto the bed. “And what about me, Joy?”

I squirm in his hold, trying to return to Salem. “Let me go, Mal! I can’t just leave him there!”

Wrestling with me, Malachi does everything he can to stop me. I want to leave.

“Without Salem, this world—”

“Don’t say it, Malachi, don’t.”

Gripping me in a hug, taking all my fury, he talks into my shoulder. “He was mine too. Don’t you think it hurts me, Joy?”

Deflating some of my anger, I slump into his hold, allowing him to coddle me. It’s not perfect, but it hurts a little less.

“I want you to live. You weren’t born for this life of pain. Yours wasn’t supposed to end now. The baby doesn’t deserve to end. Do you think it deserves to die just like it’s father? Sprawled out on the floor, leaking its life away? It deserves more from you, Joy.”

As his hold slackens, I think on it, breaking my heart into a million pieces, shattering my already torn soul. I’m crying uncontrollably. Sobbing cries, until it feels that my body can’t release any more moisture. “Malachi, we can’t leave him there.” Every word is a shattering sound to my ears.

Looking me in the eyes, I see his are as steamed up with tears as mine. “The baby deserves a better life than we were handed, Joy.” His voice is soft and melancholic when he places his hand on my stomach. “You need to run, Joy. I have to know that this child has a chance. You have to give it that. Do it for Salem. Show the world that this child can besomuch better than we were.” His fight ends as his pain is broadcasted.

Shaking my head, I brush at tears. “I can’t—”

“You have to. It’s not about us, it’s about that little one. Please, Joy, promise me you will.”

Lifting off the bed without waiting on an answer, Malachi grabs up one of our bags. Pulling out a shirt and a clean pair of pants, he starts to dress me like I’m a helpless child. Stuffing his wallet inside the bag, grabbing what cash is in the officer’s wallet, he hands it to me. “Go. You need to go, Joy.”

“You have no intention of leaving? Don’t lie to me, Malachi.” He’s pushing me away, trying to save me, to save us.

Holy shit! He’s going to give himself to the police.

Still talking and stuffing things in the bag, he goes on. “You need to show me how strong you can be, how brave you are. I need you to do that.”

“Not without you,” I order. Walking up to him, I stroke a hand down his scarred face. I can’t imagine losing them both.

Hugging me tight, he speaks into my shoulder. “You have to leave. I can’t do what I have to if I know you and Elle won’t live.”

He named our child?

Here’s a man, covered in the blood of another with his edgy scars that create the face of a demon, asking me to run and leave him behind? They won’t see past those flaws to see the amazing man he is. His bright green eyes, imploring me and begging me to give in to his whim, Malachi pleads for me to do as he asks. That scar turns up at the corners, not in a smile, but in a presentation of the scared, soft, broken soul he is. Malachi only wants me to live, wantsherto live. Right then and there, I decide. “Ican’tleave you. Iwon’tleave you!” Holding his face in my hands, I hope he trusts my gut-wrenching seriousness. “We’ve lost Salem. I won’t lose you too.”

Shaking his head, he gives me a sad smile. “You’ll never lose me. I’ll always be there for you, Joy. But right now, you have to run. You have to go.” Bending low, Mal hugs me tight. “I need to know she’ll live to be loved by you.”

“Malachi—”

He pushes a few stray hairs away from my face. “Look, I had a dream about her and you. She has to live. Elle has to swing on her swing, smile and laugh in the sun. I need to know you can forget all these horrible things we’ve done. She needs light and love. Tons of love.” Kissing me deeply, Malachi’s mouth is greedy and rushed against mine.

Pulling back, Mal reverently kisses my forehead once more before laying a peck on my nose. “Promise me, Joy. You’ll be safe.”

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