Storm

Chapter Forty-Seven

Minutes, hours, or maybe even days later, my eyes opened.

I saw light.

A bright white bulb illuminating the tiny ivory-walled closet. Beyond the walls, the world seemed to shudder in rage.

The bombing had started. That much I was certain of.

Pain stabbed through me all at once. I remembered the gunshot wound.

Asten was at my side, fiddling with a first aid kit he'd probably found in the closet. I groggily sat up and leaned against the wall. He met my gaze, face covered in dirt with a small gash above his nose. I'd never seen him so terrified.

Maybe it was because my blood was quickly spreading across the closet floor.

Definitely less than before. He'd wrapped up my leg and was getting more bandages to staunch the flow.

As he worked, I tried not to look. I tried not to think about all the blood that had left my body already. I wondered how I wasn't already dead. I still felt light-headed and partially like I was about to faint. I kept my eyes opened, too scared that if I closed them they wouldn't open again.

"Asten...," I muttered.

He glared at me with such ferocity, knowing exactly what I was going to suggest.

"You have to."

He shook his head and kept wrapping  bandages around my wound with steady fingers. I winced, but tried to stay upright.

"You can't just stay here. They're going to come." He had to understand. The only way he'd survive was if he left.

There was a large square trash chute in the corner. He stood and threw out a bunch of useless bloodied towels. Then, he began searching the room for anything else to staunch the blood. My leg was tied so tight, I couldn't feel anything beyond my thigh.

Even if I did survive, I wondered whether I'd be able to walk still.

"In a couple minutes, they'll run out of ammo and that will be it. Please. Please just go. I can't watch you die."

"And yet you expect me to," he finally countered, not daring to meet my gaze. He continued searching shelves fruitlessly. It was more to keep his hands busy and his eyes focused elsewhere than anything.

"Even if you try taking me, I'll slow you down. You won't make it in time. Please!" I argued. I felt a spark of anger. Why couldn't he just listen? Why was he so freaking desperate to sacrifice himself over me?

He swiftly turned to face me. Shock stopped me from speaking. Frustrated tears were trailing down his cheeks. He viciously wiped them away. "No. No, I won't leave you. No, I won't let you die. And no, I won't let them take you. Ever. Never again. You know what they can do. You know what they will do. They'll kill you and use your body as some fucked up outfit. They'll take away everything you are. You won't exist anymore."

"I would've ended up here anyway," I breathed out. "I wasn't planning on leaving without January, Kyan, and Elijah from the start." Admitting it hurt. I knew it hurt him, too. In a way, it was a betrayal.

"I won't let you die." His icy gaze pinned me to the spot.

I was about to blow up. To spontaneously explode into thousands of burning cinders. My heart felt like a burning poker. "I need you to live! Don't you get it?" I felt myself choking up, smoke filling my lungs. "Why can't you just leave me?!"

"Because I love you!" he shouted, his eyes blazing in hurt and hopelessness. "God, Calestia, I've loved you since you stabbed that gang woman in the back! I can't let you die because you're the last person in this world I'd want to lose. I can't do this without you." His gaze turned pleading as he fell to his knees beside me. "Please, just let me take you with me. I'm not going to force you. I can't do that."

Even though he looked about ready to scoop me up and run off into the distance, I knew he wouldn't. I trusted him in that.

Maybe I was a coward. Everyone feared death. Or maybe I was just too shocked for words. But as the bombs continued blowing up the walls of the Equator, I subtly nodded.

Asten picked me up without another word and opened the closet door.

Only to be faced with another gun.