Free Beyond Promise by Karice Bolton Page B

and I turned to face Ayden.
    He flashed me a devilish grin and brought
his lips close to mine.
    “I love you, Lily,” he whispered.
    He took a step back and from out of nowhere
I watched in horror as Viktor landed a punch to the side of Ayden’s
head. I saw the pain flash through Ayden’s gaze before he fell
unconscious, his body crashing to the pavement. My heart stopped as
I tumbled to the ground with him, screaming for help, and begging
for Viktor to stop, but he didn’t.

 
     
     
     
    Viktor’s expression was primal and
animalistic as his fist continued to pummel Ayden’s cheek. He
attempted to drag him away, and I instinctively threw my body
across Ayden’s as my sobs and screams grew piercing. Mason and
Jason pulled me off Ayden, while Derek and Aaron attacked Viktor,
but I refused to release my grip from Ayden’s hand. I would not let
go no matter how far my arm was stretched.
    Brandy’s cries surrounded us, and I slowly
crawled closer to Ayden the moment Mason went to help Derek and
Aaron take care of Viktor. The world went into slow motion as Gabby
called 9-1-1. Jason tried to hold me back, but I squirmed away and
made it next to Ayden. The tears stung my lids, but I refused to
shed any. Ayden was going to be okay. He’d been knocked around
before.
    I slid my shaking finger along his neck,
feeling for a pulse.
    I couldn’t find one.
    There wasn’t one.
    There had to be one.
    I cradled Ayden’s head in my lap, refusing
to look at what the others were doing to Viktor. It wasn’t
enough.
    “Why isn’t he moving?” Brandy sobbed,
running to us.
    I shook my head, unable to speak. I just
kept stroking his cheek over and over again.
    “Ambulance is on the way,” Gabby said, her
voice hoarse.
    “We need two of them,” Jason said, his voice
calm.
    I shook my head. “Let Viktor die.” I felt
the burn of hate building inside of me, my eyes falling to Ayden’s
battered and bloodied face.
    Brandy’s whimpers echoed into the air, and I
listened for the nonexistent sirens.
    “Come on, baby,” I whispered, bending down
to his ear. “”You’ve got this.”
    “There’s a pulse,” Jason said, his fingers
pressed to Ayden’s wrist. “It’s faint, but it’s there.”
    I nodded, stroking my hands along his
cheeks.
    “Let him go,” Jason hollered over to Mason
and the others. “He’s not going to come back for more.”
    “Kill him,” I whispered. “Kill him.”
    Brandy rested her hands on her brother’s
abdomen, praying quietly as I stayed focused on the man in front of
me.
    The fury running through me kept me going
and was as vital as the blood that fed my body. I didn’t understand
what happened. Why this would happen? I heard the footsteps behind
me surround Ayden and me. Mason knelt down next to us. His eyes
filled with tears and a look I’d never seen before. It was what
happened when hate was no longer enough. I knew I wore the same
expression.
    “I never should’ve let him fight,” Mason
murmured.
    The sirens blared in the distance and I
shook my head.
    “None of us could’ve predicted this,” I
said, but the words never left my lips.
    I felt Viktor’s poison reach every single
one of us as we watched a man we all loved fading away from us. We
weren’t helpless. We were useless.
    A car engine started somewhere in the
parking lot.
    “Looks like we didn’t do a good enough job,”
Aaron muttered to Jason. “Viktor’s buddies got him in the car.”
    I closed my eyes and prayed hard—so hard it
hurt—until the sound of sirens arriving in the parking lot
interrupted me. Ayden’s skin had turned cold and clammy. Did that
mean something?
    A commotion erupted behind us as Jason and
Aaron led the medics to where I was holding Ayden. They explained a
man attacked him. That was enough explanation. The crunch of the
gurney wheels along the pavement came closer, but I was afraid to
let go. Afraid I’d never get to hold him again.
    Three medics surrounded us while a fourth
secured