Page 125 of Captured Immune

Trey’s body stiffens. I knowgoodbyeis a trigger word for him. I didn’t mean to use it against him like that. Still, if given the choice, I wouldn’t take it back. I’m right, and he knows it. If he leaves without me, it’ll be the last time we ever see each other.

“Arella,” he says, choking up, “I can’t lose you again.”

“I can’t lose you either.”

Roughly, he yanks me to him and smashes me against his chest. We stand there for a while, just holding each other. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move either. This reminds me of the night he held me for the first time. It was right after he fought Nathan in my apartment, and it was the first time I had felt safe in a man’s arms in years.

I tilt my head back to look at him. “Last night, you promised you’d always fight for me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How about we fight together?”

He captures my face between his hands, then plants his mouth over mine. His kiss is full of agony. As he slips his tongue between my lips, it feels like he’s using me to heal himself, like he needs my kiss to quell his anxieties and kill off his demons all at once. I’ll gladly be his emotional Healing Goo if it means he’ll always kiss me like this.

He’s about to pull away when I grab him by the collar of his polo and drag him back toward me. We embrace again until we’re panting and my lips are numb.

Trey presses his forehead against mine. “All right, babe. Let’s go find something to eat while we make a plan.”

30

TREY

The waterfall concealingShadow Ridge’s cavern pours into a small lake. Crickets chirp throughout the darkness as Arella and I crouch behind a bush overlooking the shimmery water. I can’t believe I allowed her to come. Earlier, when we stopped at a drive-thru, she went inside to use the bathroom, and I almost put that Lincoln into drive and left her there. It’s not like she could have found her way to the Ridge without me. The only reason I didn’t take off is because she’s right. Without her immunity protecting me, I’d be waltzing straight into a death trap.

“You need me to go over the plan again?” I ask in a low voice.

“Nope. I’ve got it all up here.” She taps her temple three times.

“Do you remember what the most important part is?”

“Yes. If you die, I need to get out of there as fast as possible.”

“Right. Don’t try to save me. Don’t try to stop the bleeding. Just go.”

She gives me a curt nod, but that defiant look in her eyes tells me she only agreed to my terms to shut me up. She’s already proven that she won’t leave me behind if there’s even achanceI’ll make it, and that’s the part that worries me the most. If I’m about to die, I need her to forget about me and save herself.

“All right. Stay close and—” Suddenly, a bunch of people’s emotions cloud my head, all coming from inside the cavern.

Arella stills, but she doesn’t say anything. She just watches me with wide eyes, wondering why I’ve frozen up.

More emotions invade my head as ten—no, fifteen—no, twenty-some people come marching out the Ridge’s entrance.

“I sense people coming out,” I whisper. “They’re walking through the cave now, toward the waterfall.”

“How many?” she whispers back.

“Maybe close to thirty.”

“Do you think they saw us on the camera feeds and are coming out to kill us?”

“I’m not sure, but they’re not in a rush, nor do their emotions feel urgent.” Which is why I’m so confused.

We remain where we are as I continue sensing the large group approaching the waterfall.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” a man shouts.

I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s Victor, and he sounds lethal.

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