Falling with Grace - Page 187

Is it Elias?

Did he come for me?

I rocked my head to the side, my good eye focusing on the door as footsteps rushed by my prison door, chaos ensuing…then silence.

My ears rang as though I’d sat in a soundproof box, the tinnitus screeching like nails on a chalkboard.

Death loomed overhead, to the side, and all around me, its black leaking tendrils swirlinginside of me.

What’s happening out there?

The room tilted as I moved to my knees, my legs wobbling beneath me, the bruised muscles spasming with my body weight.

I took one step forward, my hand sliding against the abrasive wall, then another, my fingertips dropping away.

The cold knob turned in my soiled palm, the mechanism groaning as the door creaked open…

It opened.

Darkness oozed out into the expansive walkway like spilled ink, my breaths a burden on my lungs.

I peered over the railing. An open-air courtyard stretched out below, reminiscent of the square design found in the heart of New Orleans. Two separate staircases descended into the courtyard—the lush vegetation swaying in the ethereal glow of the full moon overhead and the dead bodies strewn about bled into the sand, their black liquid glinting.

My hand shook against the metal banister, causing it to shake down the walkway. My trembling steps shuffled against the debris-covered ground. I stumbled, and every muscle in my sore body strained, causing an involuntary outcry.

I covered my mouth, my hand hovering above my cut and swollen lip, sweeping my good eye around the area. Bending over, I caught my breath, the short distance causing a marathon of exhaustion.

Nobody’s around?

Are they all dead?

Who killed them?

Is Andrés…

I covered my breasts with my arm as I stood upright, my foot hitting the first steps down. I braced against the railing, taking each step one at a time until my toes dug into the dirt floor.

The world spun around me in a time-stopping tilt.

In front of me, a large archway led out of the courtyard.

Andrés stumbled backward through it, Elias on his trail with a pistol raised and pointed. The heels of André’s cowboy boots kicked up dust around him, his nose dripping with blood.

I gasped, the sound cutting the tension like a hot blade in butter.

André’s head snapped towards me, his lips curving into a wry, crimson smile dripping with malice. A chill swept through me, sending my entire body into a fit of trembles as I stared into the sinister gaze.

“Grace.” Andrés’s slimy voice slithered across my skin, leaving an unholy film in its wake. My naked flesh crawled with revulsion.

“Grace?”

I tore my gaze away from the devil incarnate and locked eyes with Elias. His expression shifted through a lifetime of emotions as he took me in.

“She’s not yours.” A rushed heat crawled up his throat, turning his face red, the cords in his throat bulging, and my feet stuck as though someone poured cement over them.

“She’s not yours. She never was.” Elias leveled his gun at Andrés, then turned his attention to me, my muscles trembling as if I’d fallen through the freezing waters in the arctic. “Come here, Grace.” Elias stuck out his other hand.

My arms tightened around my chest. “You found me?” Tears spilled over, my nose running, and I sniffled.