Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Emerson was in the elevator, frantically pushing buttons even as she met Tyler’s gaze. His chest tightened and a buzz filled his ears. He wouldn’t make it to the elevator in time, but he’d found her. So instead of rushing forward, he waited for the doors to close, then he watched the numbers, legs twitching to go. The second they stopped, he took off running.

Third floor.

Liam followed him. Blake would stay behind and guard the exit. The other guys from the team wouldn’t be far behind to surround the hotel. He couldn’t let her slip away.

He moved up the stairs so quickly, air cooled his face. Liam pounded up behind him, and they burst through the door nearly side by side.

The hallway was empty.

Fuck. Had she stayed in the elevator? Stopped on the third floor to throw him off?

They’d already hacked the booking system and knew her room was on the fifth floor. Had she gone back there?

Finding the elevator bank, he watched impatiently again as the numbers climbed to the tenth floor.

“Go,” Tyler said quickly to Liam.

Heartbeats and voices sounded from behind closed doors. Dozens of them in the rooms lining the hall. A part of him wanted to knock down each damn door, but it would take too long.

He grabbed his phone. Blake answered before a single ring had finished.

“She’s not in the hallway on three,” Tyler said before Blake could get a word in. “I need you to access hotel surveillance.”

“I’m on it.”

Voices sounded. He was talking to hotel staff. If they didn’t allow him to see the footage, Callum would be here soon to hack into the system.

Panic flooded Emerson. The dark engulfed her. Like a blanket over her face, suffocating.

“Give me your phone, Emerson. I’ll turn the flashlight on.”

Levi’s words were like white noise seeping through the cracks of her panicked fog.

Breathe. She needed to breathe.

She closed her eyes and tried to get air in. A curse sounded, then a hand touched the pocket of her jeans. A second later, there was light.

Some of the panic eased, but not all of it. The room was still too small.

“I’m sorry. I know you don’t like cramped or dark spaces.”

She tried to focus on the room around her. There were mops. A broom. Paper towels.

It was a supply closet. And by the sound of the booming music, the function she’d seen earlier was in the room beside them. She was back on the ground floor.

She blinked, forcing her eyes to focus on the man in front of her.

Another layer of terror receded and, in its place…an ache in her chest. For her stepbrother, with wide, almost wild eyes. So different from the clear gaze she used to see when she was younger.

“Levi. What are you doing?” Her voice trembled, but she was glad to get the words out.

“I saw you escape out that window. I knew you must have realized the same thing I have. That they’re all with him. Against us.” He took a step closer.

Her muscles twitched to step back, but there was nowhere to go in this tiny room. She tried to remind herself that this was her brother, but that brought little comfort when a near stranger stared back at her.

“I ran because I didn’t want you hurting them, or them hurting you.” Despite this new apprehension, she touched his arm, trying to bring back the Levi she remembered. “They’re good men, Levi. I don’t want you to destroy each other. You need to leave here. Run.”

His brows slashed together. “You really still believe that?” He shook his head, almost in disbelief. “I’m not leaving without you. I’ll protect you, just like I always have. But we need to get out. This place will be crawling with them soon.”

Her mind scrambled to figure out what to do while coping with the lack of light and space around her. “Okay. Fine. If it’ll get you to leave them alone, I’ll go with you.”

“First, I need you to cut the chip out of my shoulder.”

Her breath caught, unease coiling in her belly. “Chip?”

“Hylar tagged all of his test subjects and guards. He said it was a way to control us, but I’m sure it tracks us too. It must be how they found me here. I need you to cut mine out.”

Her knees wobbled. Cut it out?

He produced a knife. The blood drained from her head, leaving her dizzy. Oh God. It was huge, more like a hunting knife than anything else.

She lifted her hands in a defensive gesture, the size of the room suddenly the last thing on her mind. “Levi, I’m not cutting into your shoulder!”

“I’ve tried cutting it out myself but I can’t.” He stepped closer. “You have to do this, Em. Otherwise, we’ll never be free.”

He pressed the knife into her hand.

A frantic, insane idea came to her. One she hated with every fiber of her being, but dammit, she had no good ones.

“Okay.” Her voice was so quiet it was barely a whisper. “I need to swap places with you.”

Her heart ticked with relief when he didn’t question her, just swapped so her back was to the door. He turned and pulled his shirt over his head. She gasped at the sight of the jagged scars that riddled his shoulder.

Jesus. He really had to tried to cut it out.

“We need to be quick, Emerson.”

She smothered her shock and took a deep breath, feeling sick at what she was about to do. Oh God.

“Ready?” she whispered.

“Do it.”

She steeled her spine—and stabbed him.

But not in the shoulder. She stabbed Levi’s outer thigh.

He cried out, immediately grabbing at the wound.

She spun and tore the door open, running into the hall, then darting right, toward the loud event.

People were everywhere. Talking. Eating. Dancing. She moved straight into the dense crowd, trying to hide amongst the people. She didn’t dare look behind her, just kept walking forward. When several loud gasps sounded from behind her, she knew Levi had entered the room. But she didn’t stop.

A couple was just stepping inside a set of sliding glass doors, and Emerson slid through the opening before the door could fully close. She turned her head in time to see Levi running toward her.

Her heart leapt into her throat. Without looking where she was going, she bolted across the patio.

A voice boomed from her right.

Liam…?

A car slammed into her.

Pain exploded through her side. Her feet didn’t touch the pavement. Then she hit the ground, her head slamming against concrete.

Everything buzzed. She felt someone’s presence. Then a tentative touch on her shoulder. “Emerson…?”

Definitely Liam.

Another voice. Something on her cheek. A warm, gentle hand. Familiar fingers.

“Emerson!”

Tyler.

The buzz started to fade, and the world returned around her. The sound of fast footsteps moving away. Dozens of distressed voices. Maybe from the party full of people. Maybe the car driver.

“Ty…” Her head pounded and her body ached like nothing she’d ever felt.

Hands slipped behind her back and under her knees. She groaned at the careful movement.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

More footsteps. Then Blake’s voice. “Where’s Logan?”

“He went after Levi when he ran,” Liam said, also from close by.

She leaned her head into Tyler’s chest. Her eyelids were heavy, her mind foggy, darkness threatening to close in on her.

“Go after them,” Tyler said to someone, his voice a rumble against her cheek.

“I’ll drive you both to the hospital,” Liam said quickly.

With the steady thump of Tyler’s heart against her ear, she allowed herself to relax.

Then, Tyler’s whispered words. “You’re safe.”

Finally, she let the darkness close in on her.