“Nora!” he roars, shaking me. “Do you understand me?”

Some of the ringing in my skull abates, and the meaning of his words finally reaches me.

Run. He wants me to run.

“What about—” you, I want to say, but he cuts me off.

“You’ll take your parents, and you will all fucking run.” His voice is sharp enough to cut through steel, his gaze burning into me. “You’ll have the gun with you, but I don’t want you playing hero. Do you understand, Nora?”

I manage a small nod. “Yes.” Through the pounding in my temples, I realize the car is still going, still driving despite whatever it was that hit us. I can hear the helicopter hovering over us, but we’re alive for now. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good.” He holds my gaze for a couple of moments longer, and then, as if unable to resist, he lowers his head and takes my mouth in a hard, searing kiss. I taste the salt and metal of his blood, and the unique flavor that is Julian, and I want him to keep kissing me, to make me forget the nightmare we’re in. All too soon, though, his lips move over to my neck, and I feel the warmth of his breath as he whispers in my ear, “Please get yourself and your parents to the plane, baby. Thomas is already there, and he can pilot the plane if need be. Lucas will take care of Rosa. This is our only chance to get out of this alive, so when I tell you to run, you run. I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

And before I can say anything, he jumps up and pulls me to my knees, handing me the AK-47 that I’d dropped. My head spins from the sudden movement, but I shake off the dizziness, gripping the weapon with all my strength. Everything feels off, my body strangely uncooperative, but I’m able to focus enough to see that the rear window is gone and there’s smoke rising from the back of the car. To my relief, my parents are still strapped into their seats, bleeding and dazed-looking but alive.

The back window must’ve shattered, sending fragments of glass flying into the car—which explains the blood on them and Julian.

The limo begins slowing down, and Julian grips my jaw again, bringing my attention back to him. “In ten seconds,” he says harshly, “I’m going to open this door and come out. In that moment, you escape through the other door. Understand, Nora? You jump out and run like hell.”

I nod, and when he releases me, I turn to my parents. “Take off your seatbelts,” I say hoarsely. “We’re going to make a run for the plane as soon as the car stops.”

My mom doesn’t react, her face blank with shock, but my dad begins fumbling with the seatbelt buckles. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the hangar coming up, and I frantically begin helping my parents, determined to free them before the car stops.