Part 10

Dacre came awake like a man hauled up from deep water, lungs burning, heart slamming against his ribs as if it wanted out. His hand flew to his throat.

Whole. Unbroken. No blood.

The ceiling hovered above him, dim and cracked, perfectly still.

"Dacre?" Aliyah murmured beside him.

He sucked in a breath that shook. "Sorry," he whispered. "Just—just a nightmare."

She rolled closer, half-asleep, looping an arm around his waist like an anchor. "Bad dream?" she asked, her lips kissing his shoulder. "You're shaking."

Below them, Nathan shifted on the floor, muttering something that didn't make sense. Tyler rolled over, hugging his pillow like a shield.

"Thank God," Dacre breathed, staring into the dark. "Just a nightmare."

The room slowly stitched itself back together. Aliyah's breathing evened out. Her arm tightened, warm and real.

Then—

BANG.

Everyone snapped awake.

"What the fuck was that?" Nathan hissed, already reaching for his gun.

Dacre's stomach dropped. His dream clung to him like wet clothes. "No," he whispered. "No, no, no—"

Shouting erupted outside. Footsteps. Running. Then gunfire—sharp and close.

"DACRE, GET DOWN!" Aliyah shouted, shoving him flat beside the bed just as—

The door exploded inward.

Wood splintered. Men poured in, armed and wild-eyed, faces streaked with blood and grime. One of them raised his gun at Aliyah.

Dacre yanked her down as the shot cracked. The bullet punched the wall where her head had been.

The room turned feral.

Nathan slammed into one man, wrestling the gun free. Tyler grabbed another by the throat, screaming. Keira dragged Mary back as Avril fired wildly, hands shaking but steady enough.

"It's Mr. Johnson's men!" Dacre screamed.

The leader's eyes found him instantly. "GET HIM!"

And then Victor Johnson stepped through the doorway.

Dacre's vision tunneled. "You killed Alex and Stanley!" he screamed.

Victor smiled—a broken, rotten thing. "They got what they deserved." He lifted his gun. "Now it's your turn, kid."

"No!" Dacre screamed.

The gun fired.

Tyler moved.

He didn't think. He didn't hesitate. He just lunged.

The bullet hit Tyler square in the chest.

Tyler collapsed like his strings had been cut, blood spraying across the floor.

"TYLER!" everyone screamed at once.

Aliyah's scream tore out of her, raw and animal. Keira collapsed beside the body, sobbing, hands hovering uselessly over what was left of him.

Nathan made a sound that wasn't human and charged Victor, tackling him hard. Fists flew. Bones cracked. Victor howled.

"Kill him!" Dacre screamed. "KILL HIM!"

Aliyah grabbed a fallen gun and fired twice. Two men dropped, screaming.

Then—

"MARY! WATCH OUT!"

Mary had thought the couch would make her invisible. It was a stupid thought, born of terror and the childlike belief that if you couldn't see the monster, it couldn't see you either.

She peeked up anyway.

That was when the last man came out of the shadows behind her.

An arm like iron clamped around her throat. A knife kissed the soft, wrinkled skin beneath her chin.

"Drop your guns," the man snarled, breath hot and sour in her ear, "or this old fuck dies."

The room froze.

Mary made a small, broken sound—half sob, half prayer. Tears slid down her cheeks and soaked into the collar of her sweater. The knife pressed harder. Nathan stopped mid-swing, blood dripping from his knuckles. Aliyah's gun lowered.

For half a second.

Then she fired.

The shot cracked the air. The bullet tore into the man's arm, spinning him sideways—but he didn't let go. Instead, he screamed and shoved the blade harder into Mary's throat.

"YOU BITCH!"

"Shit," Dacre breathed. "That wasn't enough."

The man dragged Mary backward, boots scraping, her feet barely touching the floor. "I'll slit her throat!" he screamed, eyes gone wild.

Dacre didn't think.

He just moved.

He lunged, slammed into the man's side. The three of them crashed through the doorway and over the balcony rail in a tangle of limbs and screams.

They hit hard.

Pain exploded through Dacre's body, knocking the breath out of him. He rolled, grappling, hands slick with blood and sweat. For a moment he had the man pinned—

Then the headbutt came.

Stars burst behind Dacre's eyes. The man rolled on top of him, knife raised, face twisted with triumph.

Dacre twisted just enough. The blade missed his eye by inches. He grabbed the man's wrist, wrenched the knife free, and drove it up into the soft place beneath the man's jaw.

The scream cut off mid-note.

The body went slack.

Dacre staggered to his feet, chest heaving. "Everyone okay?" he shouted—

Then he remembered.

Keira's scream ripped through the motel room above.

"Tyler—!" she sobbed.

Dacre froze.

Nathan stumbled toward him, face smeared with blood, eyes blazing. "You fucking idiot."

"What?" Dacre yelled back. "Me?!"

Nathan grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Yes, YOU. You could've died out there. What the fuck were you thinking charging him like that?"

"Mary's alive!" Dacre shouted, shoving back. "That's what matters!"

Nathan released him slowly. His gaze drifted to where Mary clung to Aliyah and Avril, shaking but breathing.

Then Keira screamed again.

Dacre turned.

Tyler lay on the floor, chest torn open, blood pooling beneath him like a shadow that wouldn't move.

"Fuck," Dacre whispered. "Tyler..."

Keira knelt beside the body, clutching Tyler's hand, rocking back and forth. Nathan knelt with her, one arm around her shoulders.

"Is he...?" Dacre asked, already knowing.

Keira looked up, eyes red and ruined. "He's not breathing."

Nathan checked anyway. Then he shook his head.

"He's gone."

Silence fell heavy and cruel.

"He saved me," Dacre whispered. Tears spilled freely now. "He saved my life."

Nathan stood abruptly. "Yeah. He did. And now he's fucking dead."

He turned on Dacre, fury carved into every line of his face. "One of my best friends is dead because he tried to protect you're stupid ass."

"He was my best friend too!" Dacre screamed.

"Save it," Nathan said coldly. "Just shut the fuck up."

Aliyah stepped forward then, her face pale and hollow.

"This is your fault," she whispered.

Dacre stared at her. "Aliyah—"

"Tyler is dead because of you."

She turned away like the sight of him hurt.

"I thought—"

"You never think," she snapped, spinning back around. "You just charge in and expect everyone else to clean up the bodies."

"It's what Alex did—"

"Don't," she hissed. "Don't you dare compare yourself to Alex. He knew what he was doing. You're just reckless."

Reality hit like another bullet.

"What's happening?" Dacre whispered.

Nathan didn't soften. "You're out."

The words landed heavier than any punch.

"You're a liability," Nathan continued. "We can't keep you."

Dacre looked to Mary.

She shook her head sadly, tears in her eyes.

"What... what happens to me?" he asked.

Nathan pointed to the door. "You leave. Now."

"I'm your leader—"

"A terrible one," Nathan cut in. "Get out."

Dacre broke.

He sobbed openly, grabbed Victor by the collar as he dragged him along, and ran.

The door slammed.

Silence followed.

"Do you think," Nathan murmured finally, "we went too far?"

Aliyah didn't answer.

Victor groaned.

His eyes fluttered open to see Dacre sitting across from him, knife resting loosely in his hand.

"You..." Victor rasped.

Dacre looked up, eyes empty and shining.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Me."