As soon as I had, the air outside was filled with screams, gunshots, and shouts.

“Gun!” someone yelled.

Another screamed, “Run!”

The next second, I heard a stampede. People ran past the car. The thud of people being shoved came next. “Get out of here.”

Someone barked out, “Move away from there! Now!”

“Ahh!” a girl cried out. Another thud came and her scream cut off.

That was all it took. I scrambled out of the car. I didn’t want innocent people to get hurt because of me. When I opened the door, more people were running past. A guy almost ran into me. He caught himself, bounced off the car, and rotated in a circle around me. He kept running.

“Get in the car!”

I looked around. Some of the guards were positioned around me, but half of them were gone. I saw Mike in the distance. He was fighting someone. Where was Carter? Panic started to rise when I couldn’t see him. Then I yelled out, “Carter!”

“Move it—” someone cursed. A strangled sound came from him next and I whirled to see that one of the guards had grabbed his throat. The guy was lifted off the ground and tossed aside. “Hey!”

“Get going.” The guard pointed down the opposite direction. “Now.”

The guy stood, ready to argue, but saw the other two guards. He ran where he was told to go.

“Emma!”

I craned my neck. Theresa stood inside a doorway, not far from where the car had stopped. Noah was in front of her with a restraining hand across her stomach. He was scowling as he watched the herd of people in the streets.

Bang! Bang!

“Emma! Get over here.” Theresa waved me over frantically.

“No.” The guard closest to me grabbed my arm and started to push me back into the car. “Get inside, Miss Emma. Mr. Reed is coming back.”

“But,” I looked to my friends.

“It’s safer.” His hand tightened.

“Emma!”

I recognized the voice. Everything in me tightened with tension. Carter. He was there, running back to me and waving me to the side. When he saw I wasn’t doing what he wanted, he yelled next, “Matthew, get her inside now!”

A woman screamed behind me.

“Carter!” Noah stepped out from their doorway. “Our car took off.”

He waved them over. “Get in the car. Matthew, get her inside NOW!”

The grip on my arm doubled and I was lifted in the air. As I watched, Noah and Theresa started to cross towards us, but then I saw something else. Horror rose in my throat and my eyes bulged out. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t do anything.

Carter was covering the distance at a breakneck speed, but someone stepped out of another doorway. He was too far away for the guards to grab him, and not close enough for Carter to tackle him.

Scott Graham lifted the gun in his hand. It was small, but he lifted it with ease. He had done it many times before. Instead of the flashy Casanova impression he had given me before, a cold mask gripped his features. He was like Carter, a killer. Then he turned the gun towards me.

Everything stopped.

My heart stopped beating. I stopped breathing.

“EMMA!” Theresa yelled. A bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat next.

He saw me, aimed, and his eyes narrowed. It was coming. It was a matter of seconds.

I readied myself. I stared at him, dead in the eyes, and waited. I was going to die. I knew it in that moment, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

The guard whirled around in that moment, but Scott could still see me. He moved his gun to the side and steadied his hand once more.

All the sudden, Carter was there. He snaked a hand around his neck. Scott stiffened, but it was too late. Carter grabbed a hold of the back of his neck and twisted. It was a clean movement, lethal. His neck snapped and he let go of the body. It dropped at his feet. Carter didn’t pause. He sprinted over it and was next to me seconds later. He took me from the guard. Before I was shoved inside, I looked over again. Two guards had followed Carter. They swooped down and each grabbed one end of the body. Scott was thrown in a car before us, and it raced off.

Theresa and Noah were already inside the car, waiting for us.

“Where’s your sister?” My heart was pounding in my eardrums.

“Employee exit. She’s safe.”

As we had talked, Carter slammed his door shut and our car took off again. The sister wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Carter wasn’t waiting. From the sudden speed of the car, I was thrown backwards. He still held me around my waist and pulled me to his lap. I sat there, huddled over him, as I couldn’t close my eyes anymore. I almost died. I should’ve felt something, fear, shock, something, but I felt nothing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I assumed we would take Theresa home, but was surprised when we stopped outside a remote cabin-like home. It was huge. When I climbed out of the car, I glanced over and saw two large wrought iron gates closing behind us. It locked and a bolt of electricity sounded. No one was getting in.

“Where are we?”

Noah answered Theresa’s question, “We’re somewhere safe. Don’t worry. We’re only here for the night.” He frowned at Carter. “Right?”

There was no answer. Carter took my hand and led the way. When we stepped inside a spacious foyer, he pulled me into a back room and closed the door. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Why are we here? Why aren’t we home?”