At least Beau was letting her walk under her own steam this time, and she was determined not to hinder their progress in any way, so she powered past the agonizing pain and extreme exhaustion and stayed right on Zack’s heels the entire way.

They veered left into the very last room before the one where the goon was playing Spider-Man and Zack immediately went to the far wall and began adhering plastic explosives at various spots.

“Won’t this just blow a hole into the corridor of prison cells?” Beau asked with a frown.

Zack shook his head, never looking up from his task. “The last three rooms in this hallway extend farther than the outbuilding that houses the cells. When we bust a hole in this wall, we’ll be on the outside.”

“Works for me. Hurry,” Beau urged.

“Get down and take cover,” Zack directed.

Beau ducked behind an island cabinet that looked like solid steel construction, dragging Ari with him. Beau got down on his haunches, but Ari was much shorter, so she simply half squatted, just to the left side of Beau so her hand held his shoulder to steady herself.

An eerie prickling sensation caused every hair on her body to bristle and stand on end. A chill chased down her spine and around to her gut, tightening her stomach until it was a clenched ball.

Just as earlier, when she’d sensed an immediate threat to her and had dropped and lashed out, instinctively defending herself from an unseen attacker, she knew that danger was imminent.

She turned her head over her shoulder, because it was the only place there could be danger. The only place not readily in her sight line. She froze, the entire world moving in slow motion. Like she was in some bizarre dream where she watched but was helpless to do anything else.

The goon she’d left trapped on the ceiling to die when the building fell was standing in the doorway, gun in hand, pointing it directly at . . . Beau.

There was no spontaneous, instinctual self-preservation barrier that immediately formed without her having to build it in her mind because she wasn’t the target. And she knew she didn’t have time to erect one around Beau because she was simply too weak, too unfocused to form it in time.

A shot sounded, and she did the only thing she could do. The only thing she had time to do. She stepped in front of Beau, her back turned to the gunman. She grabbed Beau’s head, yanking it protectively to the top of her thighs, covering him as best she could, and she closed her eyes.

THIRTY-SEVEN

BEAU’S head was suddenly yanked back and he let out a startled exclamation just as a gunshot sounded. It was all simultaneous and happened so quickly that he couldn’t make sense of what had just occurred.

Ari had his head and neck in a death grip and held him rigidly against her legs. But then he felt her stiffen, and a harsh cry of pain pierced his heart, freezing him in abject fear.

Oh God. Gunfire. Ari stepping behind him. Ari cradling his head protectively in her arms. Ari crying out in pain. No. Oh God, no! It all added up to one thing and one thing only. She’d put herself between him and whoever fired the shot.

Zack reared as soon as the shot sounded, gun whipping up and aiming behind Beau. Before Beau could even turn to see the source of the gunshot, Zack fired two rounds in rapid succession and then immediately sprang to his feet.

“Ari’s taken a hit,” Zack said unnecessarily.

Beau knew Ari had taken the bullet meant for him, and he was utterly sick to his soul. It seemed like it took an eternity to turn, catching her in his arms before she collapsed to the floor when in actuality it was a fraction of a second. The entire episode had taken two seconds at the most, but his reflexes were sluggish. Paralyzed with utter terror for what he’d discover when he managed to see the extent of the damage wrought by the bullet.

“Ari!”

His agonized cry shattered the eerie quiet that had descended after Zack took out the assailant.

Her face was stark white, bloodless, her eyes dull and lifeless as she listed to the side, going utterly limp in his arms.

“Oh God,” he said brokenly. “Ari, honey, why? Why would you do this? Why?”

Not waiting for an answer. It wasn’t important. He knew damn well why. Because it was her nature to put herself before others. To protect when she was the one in need of protection. If she died saving his life it would be for nothing because his life wasn’t worth a damn thing without her in it.

He gently laid her down on the floor so he could find the source of all the blood spilling onto the floor. His heart was about to explode out of his chest. Never had he felt such a black wave of despair. Never had he felt so utterly alone as he did right now. He couldn’t lose her. Couldn’t live without her. He couldn’t remember his life before her. Didn’t want to imagine a future without her in it, by his side. Always in his heart, mind, soul, bed. Raising a family—their family—together, surrounded by love as bright as the sun. Love that outshone any star that ever shined. There was no brighter light than Ari. Not to him.

She had to live. For him, she had to survive, or he would be forever lost. He’d forever be bereft of her light. He’d live in total darkness, never to love—truly live—again.

“Jesus,” Zack muttered as he knelt next to Beau. “I hope to hell it didn’t nick her femoral artery. She’ll bleed out long before we get her to a hospital.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Beau said fiercely. “She’s not going to die. I won’t let her!”

He turned his attention back to Ari, who sluggishly blinked, her eyelids fluttering weakly.