Page 76 of Bleeding Hearts
“Table five and six have been selected to participate.” Two wranglers walk toward us and the table next to us where the woman tried to run away.
I was right. It’s a punishment.
I angered them, as did she, and now we are paying for it.
“The rounds will be continuous until only three people from both tables remain.”
That means one of us has to die—either me or Alice or one of them.
“Lals,” Alice whispers.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” I nod, but it isn’t fucking okay.
The gun is set on the table between us.
“The game is now commencing. You have three seconds to pull the trigger,” the voice announces.
Picking it up, I take aim and fire, then I pass it to Alice. “We just need to outlast them,” I say, which is horrible but true.
I see them doing the same. There is one man and one woman. I don’t know them, but they look as scared as we are. They each drag it out until the end of the three seconds, so I do the same when Alice passes it back. She notices and does it as well as we pass it back and forth between us while I try to plan.
When it’s Alice’s turn, I stop her, my hand on her arm as I count back.
That’s when it hits me.
The bullet is in the chamber.
Stealing the gun from her, I press it to my head. The bullet is all that’s left. I meet her gaze as she reaches for me. “It’s my turn,” I snap. “You missed me.” The wrangler doesn’t notice that I’m lying, so he doesn’t stop me. If I’m going to do it, then I’m not messing it up. Not this time.
“Lally—”
I memorize her face, allowing myself that one last look. “I love you.” I press my finger against the trigger, ready to fire, just as a loud shot goes off. Alice smacks the gun down, and I automatically remove my finger as we whirl around to see the female face down on table six.
“Congratulations! Those who won the bonus round will receive a helping hand in the final game. You’re now all free to go, players. Thank you for playing Risk tonight.”
The shutters roll up, and everyone dashes for the exit, but Alice and I stay rooted in place, staring at each other. We came close to losing everything tonight.
Standing, I tug her to her feet and turn to hide my shaking hands as we glance around at the bodies left on the floor like trash.
“Let’s go home.” My words are forced and sad, and we hold each other tightly as we head for the door.
Suddenly, a wrangler steps into our path, and I push Alice behind me. “Don’t defy the game masters again. You won’t get a second chance.” He steps aside, and I hurry out before they change their minds, dragging Alice with me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ididn’t sleep at all. The sound of gunshots lingered in my mind, as did images of the bodies left behind. It haunted me every time I tried to close my eyes. I know Lally felt the same way. We didn’t talk about it, but we did hold each other until dawn.
We almost lost each other last night. My heart stopped when she grabbed that gun. I thought she was finally going somewhere I couldn’t follow her. We got lucky. If it were a split second later, she would have died. The idea terrifies me, and I hate the fact that tears fill my eyes again.
“How will they even get rid of the bodies?” I stumble over the word. “They can manage to hide one or two, but so many died last night. Surely people will notice.”
“I don’t know,” Lally murmurs as she sits up, and I curl into her side. Neither of us is in a rush to get out of bed, even as sunlight streams into her room. “They will find a way. They won’t let anything stop them, not before their big finale.”
Staring at her, I’m reminded of how close I came to losing her last night, and I can’t handle it.Cupping her cheeks, I run my eyes over every inch of her. That moment where she took the gun from me . . . it haunts me. She knew, we both did, yet she wasready to take the bullet meant for me. If I didn’t know Lally loved me, I would now.
“What are you doing?” she asks quietly.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I whisper. “The bullet was in the chamber. You knew and you took it anyway.”
