“We take him out of his cell with that bracelet on, all the alarms go off and the place goes into lockdown,” said Kian quietly. “There must be a hundred guards in that place, all with automatic weapons. There’s no way we’re getting out alive.”

“No!” I snapped, and stormed out of the room.

I marched down the hallway and up the stairs to the roof. You can see right across Mount Mercy from there and it’s the place we all go when we need to calm down. I stood there shaking with anger and fear, letting the snowflakes cool my cheeks.

Kian found me there a few moments later.

“She can’t go,” I said immediately. “Jesus, have you looked at her? She’s just a little—she has no training—she’s—” I turned to him. “I promised him, Kian! I promised JD I’d take care of her! That was the last thing I said to him!”

Kian nodded. “It’s you who has to lead the mission. This should be your decision.” He paused, letting me cool off. “But…honestly, if we don’t get that bracelet off him…do you think we can get him out?”

I looked away and stared out at the lights of Mount Mercy. “No,” I said at last. “No, I don’t.”

Kian patted me on the arm and went back downstairs, leaving me with my thoughts.

What the hell am I meant to do?! I’d promised JD I’d protect her. But now the only way to save him was to put her in danger.

Just the thought of something happening to her was enough to make that protective instinct surge in me, fierce and overwhelming. It wasn’t just what I’d told JD. It was that need I’d felt ever since I first saw her outside the café. I had to keep her safe.

I couldn’t let her come with us.

But if she didn’t, JD was dead. My best friend, my only close friend. And that meant Erin would lose her brother. She’d never forgive me for stopping her from going. She’d blame herself for not persuading me, when really this was all my fault, for not spotting that security guard. And even if we could get JD out with the bracelet still on him, it would mean getting into a firefight. What if Colton died, or Gabriel, or Cal? How did I weigh their lives against hers?

Jesus, how does JD do this?! How was I meant to make a decision like this? I had no idea what to do. I’m not meant to be a leader!

I filled my lungs with freezing air and yelled into the night. And then, as I stood there panting, a kind of clarity came over me. There was only one option that had even a chance of letting everything work out okay.