Page 1 of I Promise You
1
KANE
Blood. It’s…everywhere. On my hands, on my jeans, and even on my face. It’s nothing new to me, but why does it feel like the first time?
Blood has never bothered me before; it’s become a staple in my life. You’d think that being a special operator would have prepared me for this, but I can’t seem to shake it out of my mind.
My pulse thunders rapidly and I flare my nostrils while every muscle in my body tenses up with no release in sight.
The way it spilled through my fingers as I tried to make it stop draining from Ari’s body was persistent and inevitable, no matter how hard I tried.
I still tried to make it stop even though deep down, I knew…it might be too late.
Why wouldn’t it stop?
No matter what I did or how hard I tried, more kept pouring out, her life leaving her with every drop on the floor.
When Grim took her from me, Ari’s mother scrambled up, trying desperately to reach her daughter’s lifeless body.
I'm holding Ari's mother in my arms as she wretchedly keeps trying to lunge for her daughter. I grabbed her before she couldget too close, holding her tightly so she couldn’t see what was happening.
She’s screaming at me, hitting me, and I tighten my hold on her. I refuse to let her watch anymore. I force her to turn around. I lift her in my arms, turning her in the opposite direction of the horrifying sight before us.
She shouldn’t see this. She doesn’tneedto see this. Ari’s mother has been through enough.
I can’t seem to take my eyes off of the girl I promised to protect. Ifeel numb, my ears ringing as the rest of the world fades around me. I forced my eyes closed, trying to calm the rising panic in my chest.
It’s too much for me to bear. I’ve seen shit like this all the time on missions. I’m back home, and the darkness has followed me back here, too.
I can’t watch this. I can’t watch the girl I admire so profoundly die.
Grim is working compressions on her, using all his strength to keep her alive.
I wish it were me holding her instead; I let that thought go as quickly as it came; she’s Grim’s girl.
If she survives.
Shehasto survive.
Grim looks like he’s lost his damn mind.
Every compression he makes on Ari’s body has me wincing. His strength never wanes as he tries to get her heart beating again. Hehasto push on her chest with so much force that her bones almost break; it’s the only way.
He’s desperate to revive her;I am desperatefor him to revive her.
I’ve never seen Grim so out of control before. He’s always calm, collected, and composed. Lethal anddangerous.
I’ve never even thought the man could cry, as a tear falls down his face and lands on Ari’s cheek.
His voice cracks as he repeats the same four sorrowful words repeatedly.
“Don’t fall asleep, baby.”
“Don’t fall asleep, baby.”
“Don’t fall asleep, baby.”
I repeat the words in my head, needing her to hear them, to listen to Grim, tolisten to us.
