Page 145 of Altered

"Hope," he began to say, but his voice broke off when a huge sob tore out of his chest.

No.

No.

No.

"Don’t say it," I choked out, backing away from him with my hands held up. "Don’t you dare fucking say it, Noah!"

"I'm so fucking sorry, Hope, I couldn’t stop it," he cried as tears poured down his face. "I tried…I fucking tried to stop them–"

"Stop it!" I screamed, feeling like the ground was crumbling beneath my feet. "Don’t say it."

"He's dead, Hope," Noah strangled out, chest heaving. "I'm so fucking sorry…there was nothing I could do."

I couldn’t breathe.

He was gone.

No.

No.

Fucking no!

"You're lying to me," I snarled, trembling violently. "You're a fucking liar!"

"He'sdead, Hope! Lucky isdead!" Noah roared hoarsely. "I was held down and forced to watch those bastards riddle his body with bullets! David…Gonzalez betrayed him… I watched him bleed out on the fucking ground–" His voice broke off as a huge gut-wrenching growl ripped through him. "I watched himdie!"

Pain like nothing I had ever experienced ripped through my heart, slicing it open.

Clutching my chest, I tried to draw in a breath, but Icouldn’t.

I couldn’tbreathe.

"I need you to come over,"I could hear Teagan telling someone."It's Lucky. He's…oh god, he's gone."

Gasping for air, I stumbled backwards, landing on the stairs.

How was this happening?

Was this really happening?

Hunter wasn’t dead.

He couldn’t be.

I felt like I was floating out of my body.

Watching this from somewhere above.

"Where is he?" I demanded, shaking so violently I couldn’t control my body. "Where is he, Noah?"

"Hope…" Noah whispered. He moved towards me but I batted him away.

I didn’t want his touch.

I didn’t want anything from him.

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