Torrential (25 page)

I take a step toward him. I’m shaking all over. I look at him—then at the barrel in the window—then at him again. It’s like Opal doesn’t exist anymore.

“Don’t come any closer.” His voice is nearly furious.

“Three more minutes,” Opal calls out.

I swing to face her. “
Opal, please. Don’t do this. Let us go—”

She nods ironically at the door. “You’re free to go right now.”

She’s not going to change her mind.

It’s like my muscles are disintegrating, like my legs hardly remember how to walk, but I take another step toward Sebastian. Then another.

“May, goddammit.” His voice is trembling. “If you won’t go because I ask you to, then go because you take pity on me. I can’t…watch this happen to someone else. Not again.”

Of course.
Opal’s replaying what happened to his mother. It hits me dully. “She did it because she wanted you to live, Sebastian.” Another step. “I want you to live too.”

“I’ll kill you,” he shouts at
Opal.

She raises an eyebrow. “You won’t get the chance.”

I don’t want to die. I really don’t. But I also can’t stop myself from moving forward. This love is pushing me forward—this intense, billowing love that’s almost like a physical force. I can’t escape it. I’ve never cared about anything like I care about him. And I know that there isn’t one thing in the world that could make me leave him alone in this warehouse.

I’ve almost reached him. He’s chalk-white, his expression begging me to turn around. It hurts to know I’m doing this to him. But it would hurt a hell of a lot more to hear the explosion behind me as I walked away.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

I reach for the ropes, my hands numb. Any moment the shot will ring out. I’ll feel it—in my back, maybe. Or my head. At this range, I probably won’t feel it for very long.

“If you love me, you’ll go,” he manages.

“Guess I don’t love you then,” I joke, though my teeth are chattering so it comes out as a stammer. I begin to yank at the knot.

“One minute,” Opal sings out. This is going exactly as she hoped. But it doesn’t matter, as long as I get them undone, as long as he can escape—

“
Don’t do this.”
The words rip out of him.

BANG

At first it’s just the noise, hanging in the air. I don’t feel it. I don’t feel the bullet. I grope for my back, waiting for the blood, for the hole, but my shirt is smooth—

“May!”

It’s not Sebastian’s voice. It’s not Opal’s voice, either. I swing around.

Ta
nner is standing in the doorway—
how
—brandishing a loose board. He sags with relief when he sees us. “I found you—”

“This thing is going to explode in thirty seconds, Tanner, talk later and help
now
.” I’m still weak with the shock of having not been shot, but my mind is working enough to register the fact that the barrel’s gone from the window and time is running out. I’ve got one of Sebastian’s arms free and he immediately reaches over to help with the other—

I hear
Opal yell something, and then there’s another bang. I glance behind me and Opal’s splayed on the ground, Tanner above her with the board held aloft, a startled expression on his face. He looks at me almost guiltily. “She had a handgun—”

“Nevermind, come on!” I shout. He leaps toward me, and together we rip the last ropes away from Sebastian. The light is blinking much faster now.

“
Run
!”

We sprint for the door, except for Sebastian, who throws
Opal across his back before following us.

We make it out the door and halfway across the street before the ground shakes. I spin, staring at the flames shooting out of the broken windows. A wave of heat rolls over me. Then a wave of realization. I’m alive. I’m alive—

Sebastian grabs me hard by the shoulders. “I told you to run. Why did you—”

“Why do you think?” I spit. “I love you!
You can’t expect me to be okay with leaving you behind! Or being
left
behind!”

“I was trying to protect you—”

“You can’t! If anything proves that, it’s this. I make my own choices, and I choose you, and I don’t care if that’s dangerous.” I’m standing so close to him our noses are nearly touching—practically screaming in his face.

His voice rumbles low and enraged in his chest. “You can’t do this to me.”

“Hey, Sebastian—” Tanner reaches to pull him away, but Sebastian shakes him off. For a brief second I think he’s going to shove me. Then he wraps me in his arms, burying his face in my hair.

“You don’t understand,” he says weakly. “You can’t do this to me because I couldn’t take it if you died.”

I hold on to him tight. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tanner shifting uncomfortably. “Not to break up your post-near-death-experience
Lifetime
love reunion, but I’m sensing that we should get the hell out of here.”

Beside us,
Opal is moaning. Behind that sound is the distant howl of cop car sirens.

“I agree.” Sebastian straightens, still breathing hard, but his eyes have cleared. “Ready to run?”

We run.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

MAY

“Keep those account numbers somewhere safe. If you write them down, don’t let the paper out of your sight. Once you’re out of the country, you’re home free, the two of you.”

“Ren
ée.” I grip the phone tightly. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

“Oh, hush. Anything for you two lovebirds. Tell Sebastian I expect a step-granddaughter at some point, though.”

“Er…”

“Whenever you’re ready! No rush! On the granddaughter, I mean. There’s definitely a rush right now. So don’t linger and get your butts to the airport. Kisses!”

The phone clicks. Renée was remarkably blasé when I told her that Sebastian and I were planning to leave the country. Turns out she already knew about Opal—had been keeping loose tabs on her, but never considered her a threat.

But she’s still out there. Still alive, and with considerable resources at her disposal. Between her and Mr. Crane, Sebastian and I are both screwed—unless we escape.

Together.

“Spain?” I offer as Sebastian holds my suitcase open for me.

“For a while, certainly. But I’ve always wanted to visit France.”

“Ooh, France. My new name can be Marie Antoinette.”

“She was beheaded.” Sebastian tosses a couple of my shirts on top of the toothpaste.

“Maybe not, then.”

Renee will make sure my mom knows I’m safe. And the account that Sebastian set up leaves her with more than enough money to live on for some time. She’ll be okay. I just have to keep thinking that—it’ll make it true.

Nobody can know where we’re going. Not even Tanner.

“It was pure luck,” he had explained, shrugging. “I went out to clear my head after we talked, May, and I saw her chatting on her phone. I was sneaking up on her—gonna jump out and surprise her, for fun—when I heard what she was saying. Telling someone to bring both you and Sebastian to some warehouse. She mentioned explosives and I kind of mostly thought it was a joke, but I followed her in my car anyway. Animal instinct, you know.”

“But what about the sniper?” I’d asked. “Don’t tell me you took him out with your board.”

“A ladder, actually. The one he was standing on top of. I just had to, well, knock it over.”

Hence the bang.

Once we told him who Opal really was, he just shook his head. “You’ve got a really fucked up family,” he’d said to Sebastian.

He’d smiled wearily. “You don’t need to tell me.”

Now we’re almost packed, and the long string of names—Spain, France, Germany—hang in front of me, barely real.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sebastian stares at the suitcase full of my clothes. “You’ll be leaving everyone you’ve ever known. Everything you’re used to.”

I snap the suitcase shut, making him look at me. “My whole life I’ve never known what I was doing. I’ve never been able to decide who I was or what I wanted. Sebastian, this is the first time I’ve ever been sure that I’m doing what’s right for me.”

He strokes my face lightly, his eyes warm. “You changed my life, you know.”

I kiss him in response.

We’re still kissing when Tanner opens the door to my room. I break away hastily, but this time, there’s no spark of jealousy in his expression.

“The cab’s here,” he babbles excitedly. “Man, this is like a spy movie. You sure you don’t need me to come? I could be your bodyguard.”

I step forward and hug him. “Thank you so much, Tanner. You saved us.”

He hugs me back, the joking expression suddenly gone. “I better see you again someday.”

“Of course. We’ll find you.” We break apart, and I try to breathe over the stab of pain that pierces me at the thought of being separated from my best friend.

But then Sebastian takes my hand, and suddenly I’m okay again.

Tanner waves us out. “Go on, then. Get out of here. And goddammit, Sebastian, you keep her safe.”

He nods. “I promise.”

The cab is just outside the building. When we get inside, I realize how late it is. Weariness settles into my bones. I rest my head on Sebastian’s shoulder. He puts his arm around me, and I feel safe.

I feel like I’m finally in the right place.