Page 51 of Blushing Bride

“She saved your life, and you were going to kill her, you fucking bastard,” I spat at Jamie. He raised his gun and I dipped behind a desk, using it as cover as I listened to the sounds of his boots scraping against the tile floor.

“What do you care? She’s just a woman. Barely even a human to you men back home,” he growled.

She was so much more than that.

Without a second thought, I sprang up and squeezed the trigger for a fifth time, shooting him right in the middle of his forehead. The shock was permanently etched into his eyes as he slumped to the side and crashed against a metal desk before landing in a heap on the floor.

“To think that she could have died saving your life,” I growled.

Hurriedly, I rushed toward the door. I couldn’t stop myself from spitting in his face before I left that room.

I was silent as I made my way back to the reactor. Vince had Naomi in his clutches, the barrel of his handgun pressed firmly against the side of her scalp.

“Don’t,” I said boldly.

His wild eyes jerked to mine.

“What did you do to the others, asshole?”

“They’re back there in the control room,” I said, using my thumb to point backwards over my shoulder.

“I thought I heard gunfire,” he muttered suspiciously.

“We had to shoot up the mainframe to cut the power,” I lied. I met Naomi’s gaze, taking a deep steadying breath. Her eyes were wide with fear, and I could tell that she was doing everything in her power to stay strong.

“Kneel, my little girl,” I shouted, and she dropped to the floor instantly. Vince wasn’t ready for her sudden change in position, but I was.

I lifted the gun, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. Vince stared at me with disbelief for a long moment before his eyes deadened. After a long tenuous moment, he finally collapsed to the floor. Naomi crawled forward, her face falling with terror. She practically hurtled into my arms.

“Shhh… You’re safe. There’s no one that’s going to hurt you,” I assured her. Her arms closed tightly around my waist as if she didn’t want to let go. I didn’t make her.

“The control room?” she finally asked, her voice shaking.

“There never was one. I can power down the reactor from here,” I explained. I led her over to the reactor and slid open a panel. Carefully, I shielded her as I switched off the power. Slowly, the reactor shut itself down. When it was ready, I disconnected the whole thing and slipped it into my backpack along with the other solar cells I’d already collected.

“Let’s get out of here,” she suggested. She was trembling against me.

“That sounds like a great idea,” I agreed.

CHAPTER12

Naomi

“What now?” I asked.

We’d just finished climbing out of the underground section of the lab. Ryker had used the badge to shut several doors along the way, which would hopefully ensure that none of the team would follow if any of them happened to still be alive.

Ryker paused, swallowing heavily as he stopped and turned back to face me. His eyes were soft, but somehow tumultuous with his thoughts. When he finally spoke, he didn’t sound like his usual self.

“You come home to Pacifica with me,” he said, his voice authoritarian.

For a moment, I just stared at him, not really taking him seriously. Slowly, I began to realize that he sincerely believed that was something he could just decide. Like it was even a possibility.

“You can’t mean that. I have a life, a home, a career. I can’t just turn away from that,” I argued.

“It’s not up for discussion. It’s too dangerous for you to go back to New Englandia, so I’m going to take you with me,” he answered. There was zero room in his tone for negotiation. I chewed my lip and sighed. The sun was low overhead, which meant that it would set very soon, and it would be too dangerous to traverse over the bridge in the dark.

This was an argument I’d leave for tomorrow.

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