So, I just keep running.
Ignoring every piece of bark that bites at my skin, every leaf and limb that thumps against my face. I race through the woods with my heart in my throat, my anxiety now full blown panic, a terror that is quickly racing through my veins and pounding in my ears.
I have to get to Leo.
I couldn’t save her before but I have to try now, from whatever has her all the way out here, I have to try to save my girl.
I won’t survive losing her again.
Shaking the thought from my head, I keep running until I’m face to face with the iron gate that protects the entrance of the Bissonnette family cemetery, the heavy metal shoved almost all the way open to show the drag marks don’t stop here.
My fear hits an almost unhinged level as I set foot on what’s supposed to be sacred ground, weaving through a few of the smaller mausoleums before I come to the path that will lead me to the center. To the tomb of the bastard who built this shit hole, the shrine he had commissioned for himself as a reminder to everyone that was left where the devil was buried.
And when I get there, when I get to the very center of hell, I nearly drop to my knees.
There, crucified on the marble cross, naked and covered in blood and bruises, hanging above the lifeless body of her father, is my Leonor.
The air in my lungs whooshes out of me in a ragged sob, my chest heaving as I close the space between us. “Leonor,” I whisper, choking on her name while I step over Pierre. “Leonor, god, no, Leo, please.”
Reaching out, I lift her chin and check her pulse while feeling for her breath, grateful as fuck that I find both even if they’re faint and that’s when my panic takes the wheel.
I tear through the rope around her throat, my eyes never leaving her chest while I move to the zip tie around her left wrist. As carefully as I can, I avoid Pierre while I break the zip tie around her waist, my stomach rolling while tears begin streaming down my face. I step onto the base of the cross the best I can, supporting Leo with my body, flinching as she moans in pain while I snap the tie around her other wrist before freeing her ankles the same way.
Leonor practically collapses into me, her body completely limp while I maneuver her into my arms. I cradle her to me then, pulling my shirt off with one hand so I can cover her up but pause when I notice where all the blood is coming from.
See me.
The words are carved into her stomach, etched on her perfect porcelain skin deep enough to leave a scar, and there’s a goddamn piece of paper safety pinned to her chest.
You can’t save her thrice.
Next time you’re all dead.
The urge to remove that piece of metal from her skin, to rip up that fucking note and toss it into the wind is smothering but it’s evidence.
Fucking evidence.
My back hits the side of the platform as I drop to my ass, leaning against that fucking statue while I hold Leonor tighter.
I just want to run.
I want to take Leo and get the hell out of this cemetery, out of this goddamn town and never look back. I want to hide her away from the world and keep her away from everyone in it because once again, I wasn’t able to protect her.
I couldn’t protect my girl from the monsters who lurk around every corner, and I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive myself for it.
But she’s alive.
Her breath is puffing shallowly against my skin, her heart is faintly beating against my chest, and her quiet moans of pain are echoing in my ears.
I couldn’t protect Leonor this time, but she’s alive, and I got to her before…
Shaking my head, I pull out my phone, unlocking it through my tears, and dial Pete with trembling fingers.
“Luck,” he pants as he answers. “We haven’t?—”
“I’ve got her.” My voice cracks on the final word, turning into a sob I have to swallow down. “I’ve got Leonor.”
“Where are you?”
