Page 171 of Tangled In Lies

“Hold, he shot Phoenix. His pulse . . . it was so weak.” I hiccup and bite my lip, trying to calm down, but it’s useless.

Holden repeats something.

This time, I catch the end. “Stay. One minute.”

I nod, even though he can’t see me. I couldn’t move if I wanted to.

And then he’s there.

As are others.

There’s a lot of noise. And flashing lights. And people.

“Princess.”

And then I’m in Holden’s arms, wrapped tightly against his warm chest. Someone takes the phone from me, and something soft wraps around me, covering me, and it vaguely registers I’m still only in my underwear.

I sag against him, tears rolling down my cheeks and onto his shirt. “Phoenix. Shot. Basement.”

“Fuck.” He cradles me tighter, his fingers tightening around my body before he relaxes them. “Tyler?”

“Dead.”

He blows out a breath. “Ruby and Mason?”

“Ruby injured in the basement. Mason upstairs. Save Phoenix. Please, Hold.” The words slip out of my mouth between sobs while Holden barks orders at people and sirens sound in the distance.

I nestle closer against Holden’s warmth.

“They got him, Princess. They’re taking him to the hospital, and we’ll be right behind him, okay? Get some rest.”

As if his words turned off the power switch in my body, a sudden wave of exhaustion washes over me. My eyes are too heavy to keep open, and I close them for a moment. Just one moment.

When I openmy eyes again, it takes me several attempts to blink away the blurriness. Eventually, Holden’s face becomes sharper.

The events rush back into my head with the magnitude of a bulldozer, and I gasp, “Phoenix?”

One corner of his mouth lifts in an attempt of a smile, but that’s all it is, an attempt. “He lost a lot of blood, and they rushed him into emergency surgery. There hasn’t been any update yet.”

“What? No.” I try to sit up, but for some reason, the blanket is tucked in on my sides, and panic rises in my throat at being restrained. My heart immediately gallops, the machine next to me speeding up in tandem until an alarm sounds.

A moment later, the door flies open, and a nurse walks in.

Holden steps aside. “She just woke up.”

“Shh, Evangeline. It’s okay, you’re safe now.” She pushes a few buttons on the machine until the beeping stops. A syringe appears out of nowhere, and she injects it into my IV.

I avert my gaze away from her and over to Holden.

The nurse holds my arms down. “You’ll feel better in just a moment. Everything’s all right.”

A sudden calmness spreads through my limbs, and I relax.

Holden’s sad look still pierces me straight through the heart though, and I hold out my hand to him. The nurse stops him, and they exchange a few hushed words. Eventually, she leaves, and he comes to my side.

“I can’t make it without him. If he doesn’t survive, I don’t want to either.” The words all blur together in my head, and I close my eyes after seeing Holden’s glistening eyes.

There’s only so much I can take.

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