ColorBlind (Book #2 of S.H.A.D.E.) ✔

Anchor

25.

I am frozen in place.

I can't believe it, what I'm looking at.

Copper lays at my feet, eyes wide with shock, Bellona sunk into his skin, his blood flowing out all around.

I can't believe it. I can't breathe.

I drop to my knees beside him, a stammer passing through my lips, my shaking hands hovering over him and the axe, unable to do anything.

His eyes slide my way, and then they start to roll into the back of his head, exposing the whites.

I lose it.

"No!" I shriek at him, grabbing his shoulder to shake him back awake. "No! Don't you dare! Do you hear me? Don't you dare, Copper!"

I am wild, and my screaming words become mashed together, tearing out of my throat. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

Hands begin to pull me away from him, and I fight them until I hear Indigo through the chaos of my mind. "Let go, dammit! You aren't helping!"

He shoves me aside, kneeling down by Copper. "We can't pull this out, he'll bleed to death. Come on, Onyx! We need to get him out of here and somewhere safe! I need to operate!"

Onyx jumps into action, leaping to Copper's other side and helping Indigo gingerly lift him up.

Copper lets out a howeling cry, an inhuman and terrifying sound that sends a tremor through my whole body.

I burst into tears-- horrified-- relieved that he is still alive. I'm utterly useless, sobbing on the ground.

"Get up!" Indigo scolds me. "You aren't helping him that way!"

I'm hyperventilating and quivering so bad I can't see straight, can't make sense of anything through the blur of my tears, but I get up, because Indigo is right.

As I stand, I catch sight of him. Gray, standing in the doorway of the exit, a victorious grin stretched across his face.

My sobs become growls, my tears become a fire in my head that burns through my panic.

I have never felt so much rage.

Gray catches sight of me, and ever so slowly, the grin diminishes, sliding off his face, his eyes becoming rounder, skin whiter.

He knows. He knows he just ascertained his own death by my hands.

I have no more strength to blow him apart the way that my anger demands I should, and Bellona has been used against me, used to hurt the only person I truly have left in this entire, God forsaken world.

But Gray will die. And I will be the one to toll the bell.

He backs up back into the warehouse and slams the door behind him.

Run, you cockroach. Your time is running out.

Copper is carried and placed on his stomach in the back seat of the car.

I almost forget about Micheal Benson's presence, but catch him trying to escape in the mayhem. I grab him by the arm. "Don't even," I snarl. I direct him to the trunk of the car, shoving him in and slamming the hood shut.

My heart is palpitating so bad I feel a light headedness coming over me, the exhaustion from my previous fights not helping any.

Indigo gives me a sharp look, glasses flashing. "Ebony, get it together. He needs you. Keep talking to him, keep him awake. And keep the axe still so that his wound isn't worsened."

I crawl into the back with Copper, carefully avoiding hurting him as I rest his head on my lap. I try to stop shaking, not wanting to harm him anymore, and play with his hair that is dampened by sweat while holding the axe still as we speed through the trees with my other hand.

I don't know what to say at first, so I just begin to speak at random.

"Remember when I woke up in that plant? And you were right there, barking orders at me? ... Do you know that I hated you? I blamed everything on you. You said you were my scapegoat. But little did I know--" My voice shudders here, and I have to get a hold on my emotions again before continuing "-- but little did I know, you were my greatest ally. You were always there for me. You never stopped working to protect me, even though I am stubborn, even though I never listen." I start hiccupping through my words, trying to hold in my sobs. "That's why you can't leave. Don't you see? I need you. I can't be left alone to do this, I'll mess it up. You are my anchor, you are what is real to me. I was so stupid for wanting to push you away-- I-I was so childish about you and Jade, because I wanted it to be just me and you, like always..."

Copper makes a small noise of acknowledgement, and my heart leaps. He's still alive, he's still with me.

I rush to continue, to keep him listening, to keep him here with me. "I-I was so stupid, because... because I love you." As I say it, it hits me, and I know that it is the truth. "I love you-- even though we haven't known each other for long, you are the only one who knows everything about me. Me-- Ebony. Not Jane, not 21448, but me. You got inside my head, not as a Sync, but as my best friend, as someone I care so much about. I-I know that I am a handful, and I know that maybe you don't feel the same way, but-- but I need you... so... god, Copper, please just stay. Please. I can't do this without you."

His hand twitches, and I quickly take ahold of it.

I think of Scarlet, what she said about Iris. How she was too destructive without her.

I look down at Copper, feeling his cold fingers in my hand. He is my anchor. He is what keeps me grounded. I would be lost without him, left to drift off alone without any aim.

"You and your metaphors"

A smile breaks across my face. "Stick around to tell me how cheesy they are, okay?"

"Of course I will. Have faith in me"

"Of course I do."

"And Ebony?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too"