Page 44 of Undying Resilience

As I hold Wren in the bathroom, I let myself focus on the sliver of relief I’m feeling. I got her to laugh. If I can make her feel even a little better, that has to count for something, right? I’ll take my wins where I can get them right now.

“I want to kill him,” she whispers eventually.

“Who?”

“Jordan. I want to kill him, Oliver.” She pulls away and looks me in the eye. “For what he’s done. He almost killed a nineteen-year-old kid this morning just because he brought me a blanket. And Jordan’s been so cruel. Every time he holds me underwater, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold my breath for long enough. I almost inhaled last time, Oliver. I almost tried to inhale water because the urge to breathe was so strong that it made more sense to me than holding my breath.”

I swallow hard. If I could promise her that it won’t happen again, I would. But that’s not a promise I can keep. I have no idea how far behind Elliot and Rhett are. And Jordan sounded pretty damn angry when he locked us in here. If he decides to retaliate because Wren tried to escape...

Fuck.

“You can do it,” I say, placing my hands on your shoulders. “If it happens again, just remember that he won’t kill you until he has Elliot and Rhett here. And that’s not gonna happen.”

I absolutely hate myself for repeating Ludo’s words to her. They made me see red in the moment, but right now, they’re the only thing I can tell Wren to give her hope to make it through this.

“But what if Jordan thinks I can hold my breath for longer than I actually can?” she whispers.

“Let’s just hope that Ell and Rhett get here soon, okay?”

She nods, sniffling. “I’m trying.”

But then we both hear footsteps on the stairs, and I can’t help but wonder if I jinxed us. Wren tenses in my arms.

“Shit,” I mutter. In a matter of seconds, the sound of the door to the bedroom being unlocked reaches us.

“Oliver,” she whispers. “Oliver, I can’t do it again.”

“Get behind me.”

I don’t wait for her to move, stepping in front of her. When the bathroom door opens, two men step in. They both glare at me, seemingly surprised I got out of the zip tie.

Idiots.

“Step out of the way,” one of them says.

“You’re not touching her.”

“You really want to do this the hard way?”

I grin. “Always.”

“Fine.” He draws his gun. “I see no reason why I can’t put a bullet in you. What do you think? Arm? Knee? Foot?”

“No,” Wren says, forcing her way around me. “No. Leave him alone.”

I try to push her behind me, but one of the men grabs her and yanks her away. Wren’s eyes are filled with tears when she looks back at me.

“Wren, don’t—” I step forward, reaching for her, but the man holding her presses his gun to her temple.

“You really want to test us right now?” he barks.

I freeze. “No. Sorry.”

He doesn’t remove the gun from her head as he backs out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, I see there’s a third man waiting.

Fuck.

“Come out slowly,” one of them says.

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