My gaze flitted from the weapon at the deep resonance of the new voice, knowing who I’d find holding the gun.Somehow, Eli had not only pulled himself to his feet, but he’d managed to get himself into a position to intimidate the hoodlum antagonizing me.
“Throw your gun toward the wall, prick.”Eli pressed the end of the weapon against the side of his head.“And do itslowly.”
Holding my breath, I watched as the goon obeyed, his anger swirling in his gaze as he reached for his weapon and hurled it down the passage to join mine.
“Who has the key to get out of here?”
Despite the long hours we’d spent snowbound together, I scarcely recognized Eli’s growl, my attention darting between the villain who’d smacked my head against the ground and the man who’d captured me.
“Fuck you, asshole.”Hawkins’ guy’s jaw clenched, his focus drilling into me as I shuffled out of his reach and slid back to the side of the wall.“I’m not telling you anything.”
“Of course not.”Eli smirked as though he’d clearly expected the minion’s reply.“But it turns out, all of your friends are out of it, so I’m going to need a little cooperation from you.”
From the new vantage point, Eli’s ‘work’ was easier to see for myself, as were the results of the gunfire I’d heard moments earlier.Aside from the one remaining goon currently held hostage, Hawkins and all of his men were sprawled out on the ground between me and the exit.A deep red puddle stretched between the bodies, suggesting some were hurt rather more badly than my conscience might have liked.
Logically, there were only so many conclusions to draw from the scene.I could have hoped Eli had pistol-whipped them all into unconsciousness, but the fact that I’d heard shots was a perturbing nudge to the potential unwelcome truth—he’d shot those men.
Just like I shot at them.
Blowing out an uneasy breath, my concentration slid back to Eli, though our eyes never met.I had shot one of them, but that guy had been on his feet when I’d last seen him.Evidently, something else had happened to him since I’d been knocked from mine.
Elihad happened.
He’d done what he always did and had taken control, in the most brutal way possible.
“Last chance, fucker.”Eli tugged back the trigger, his jaw clenched.In all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen him look so determined.“My lady and I are ready to leave, but the door’s locked…”
“I already told you.”The brute on his knees twisted to snarl back at Eli.“I’m not telling you nothing!”
Eli shook his head grimly.“Don’t think I won’t blow you away, you miserable fucker…”
The splatters of blood on Eli’s face corroborated that he’d hit his target at least once since I’d been knocked to the floor, the idea disconcerting as I attempted to reconcile it.He’d done those hideous things to protect me.
As if he sensed the weight of my stare, his attention slid to me.No words were exchanged in the lengthy seconds that passed between us, but I sensed a hundred warring emotions on his weary face; the things he was feeling but couldn’t tell me.
Silently, I put the piece of his puzzle together in my mind, imagining what he wanted to say; that he longed to end the idiot at his feet but knew I’d likely plead for compassion.That he worried I was okay, when in truth, he was the one still bleeding from a gunshot wound, and no doubt, that he was concerned about his old friend too.There’d been no sign of Paul since we’d left him behind.
In that one shared moment, his gray gaze conveyed all that emotion and more; the reality of the man he was versus a glimpse of the one he still hoped to become—with me.
“Last chance.”Eli’s focus never left me as he snarled the threat, and under his breath came the softer words he intended for me.“Don’t look, little girl.”
“Do it!”Apparently oblivious to Eli’s sentiment, the guy spat out the words.“I don’t give a sh—"
The brute on his knees never completed that sentence, the trigger at Eli’s finger compressing, ordering the bullet from the barrel and straight into his brain.
Chapter Six
Unraveling Reality
Eli
Watching the contents of his skull paint the corridor beside us, Erin screamed, her hands rising to cover her mouth.My instinct was to comfort her, but the autopilot in my head dissuaded me.There would be time for solace, but it wasn’t while we were still standing in Hawkins’ bunker.
Surveying the scene, I counted the bodies at my feet.Another three had been added to my kill list, but three were still alive—including Hawkins himself—only seemingly unconscious from my efforts.If we were going to get out of there—and I was resolute that we were—it meant acting instead of stalling.
“Are you okay?”
What a ridiculous question to ask her.
