Delivered (The Monster Trilogy Book 3) (19 page)

Nineteen

Lily forced herself
to nod in agreement. She couldn’t give up now. Monster got to his feet, pulling her up with him.

She glanced around, her eyes screwed up against the smoke, the back of her hand across her mouth, trying to block out the worst of it. Only the fresh air from the broken glass panels had prevented them all from choking to death.

“Where’s Jess?”

“I’m here,” the other girl said, emerging from behind a couch, coughing. “I’m all right.”

“What about Chapman?” Lily asked, her own throat tickling like crazy.

“I need to get him,” said Monster. “He won’t make it by himself. I’ll help you get outside first, though, if you need me to.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I can walk.”

A hand slipped into hers and she looked to see Jess standing at her side.

“Come on,” the other woman said, pulling Lily, still shell-shocked and reeling, toward the hole in the glass which Rodriguez had intended on escaping from. “Let’s go.”

She glanced around wildly, making sure Monster was right behind them. He’d lifted the injured man into his arms and followed close behind as the two women climbed from the conservatory and hurried out into the fresh air.

A volley of coughing caught Lily’s lungs and she bent over, gasping for air. When she’d managed to get a hold on herself again, she looked back toward the house.

Black smoke poured from all the windows now. They were surrounded by the sound of glass breaking, and things falling.

Monster carried Chapman a safe distance away, and then they all staggered around the side of the property, toward the front where the fire was currently less fierce. He deposited the injured man in the farthest corner inside the stone wall which surrounded the grounds, and then tore off the sleeve of the jacket he wore to ball up the material and press it against Chapman’s gunshot wound.

Lily remembered the other woman, still waiting patiently at her side. She turned to pull Jess into a hug, and they cried on each other’s shoulders.

“Thank you so much, Jess,” she said when she was finally able to get a hold on herself. “I can’t believe you came back.”

Jess gave a weak smile. “After everything you did for me, I couldn’t just leave you. I would never have been able to live with myself.”

“Hey, Jess,” Monster called out. “Do you think you can take over here for a moment?”

She nodded and ran over. “Of course.”

Monster showed her how to hold the compress against Chapman’s wound, and then stood and wrapped his arms around Lily and held her tight. She let go of her emotions, more tears flooding down her face as she let him hold her.

But Lily realized they weren’t safe yet.

“Now what?” she asked Monster. “We’re miles away from anywhere, in the middle of the desert, with a burning house full of bodies. It might take a while for anyone to report the fire, but at some point someone is going to notice the smoke.”

Two vehicles sat outside the house, and Monster left her to quickly check them both to see if any keys had been left inside. He shook his head. No luck.

“We can’t go back inside to try and find them,” Lily said. “But didn’t Chapman hotwire the car back at the town where the Marine base was?”

“Yes, but he’s not going to be much use to us now.”

She glanced over at where he lay slumped, bleeding, and unconscious.

“Dammit!”

“Just go,” said Jess. “I’ll stay here with Chapman. Send us help when you can.”

“Go where?” Monster glanced around. “There’s nothing for miles. We’re in the middle of the fucking desert in the middle of the night.”

“There was a place,” said Lily. “I saw it on the way here. It’s a few miles away—maybe even as much as ten—but it’s a store or a restaurant, I’m not sure. Either way, it would have a telephone. We could call for help.”

“Who are we calling?” asked Monster. “The cops? The minute they find us with those bodies, we’re going away for a very long time.”

Jess shook her head. “You don’t need to have been here. Just say you saw smoke and then take off again. I’ll tell them I was abducted and bought—the whole story. I’ll just leave you and Lily out of the tale.”

“What about the dead bodies? How are you going to explain them?”

“I’ll just say there was an explosion and people started shooting. I don’t know anything else. The police can figure things out for themselves.”

“What about Chapman?”

She glanced down at him, her eyes filling with tears. “I’ll tell them he was trying to help me, but I don’t think he’ll need to worry about prison.”

Lily understood what Jess was saying. She didn’t think Chapman was going to make it.

They didn’t have many other choices.

“You should come with us,” she said to Jess.

“I can’t.” She glanced down to Chapman in her arms and then looked back up at Lily. Jess didn’t want to leave Chapman to die here alone.

“What if one of Rodriguez’s men comes back?” Lily said, feeling desperate.

“They’re not going to. They would be here by now. If I hear anyone coming and they don’t have flashing blue lights, I’ll hide. They won’t expect to find anyone alive.”

Lily’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “I promised you I wouldn’t leave here without you, and I meant it.”

“Sometimes it’s okay to look after yourself, Lily. You’ve done so much for me. Please, just go. Send us help, but get somewhere safe yourself.” Her eyes flicked to Monster. “Get somewhere safe together. You were right, he came for you. I guess not everyone is bad.”

Lily smiled up at Monster. “No, not even when that’s all they make out they are.”

She left Monster’s side to crouch beside Jess and give her a final hug. “Stay safe, okay? I believe in you.”

Jess returned the smile. “I believe in me, too.”

Hating that she was abandoning Jess, Lily took Monster’s hand. “I don’t even have any shoes.”

“You can have mine. Hell, I’ll carry you if I have to.”

“We don’t have any water. It’s the middle of the desert.”

He squeezed her hand. “It’s night time. We can make it.”

“You’re recovering from a gunshot wound, and we’re both suffering from smoke inhalation!” She was feeling desperate at this point.

“Fine. You stay here. I’ll go alone.”

“No! We’re not separating. Not now. Not ever again.”

He nodded. “You’re right. So we have no choice. We wait here until either the cops show up and we spend the rest of our lives in prison, or until more of Rodriguez’s men show up to kill us. Personally, I’ll take my chance with the desert.”

Lily wiped tears from her eyes. “Yes, you’re right.”

Since Sean and Chapman had blown the generator, the electric gates pulled open by hand. Hand in hand, they walked through them and out into the expanse of the surrounding desert. Darkness surrounded them, the stars stretching endlessly in the night’s sky. The road ahead was no more than a dusty dirt track, and they couldn’t even risk staying on that in case the cops decided to turn up. Stubby succulent plants grew in patches across the sand. They’d do well not to walk into them, or step on the lethal local spines which protruded from most.

“Wait a moment,” said Monster, crouching down. He quickly undid the laces of his boots and pulled them off. “Here, you wear them. My feet are tougher than yours.”

“No, you need them.” Her protest was only half-hearted. Just walking from the house to the gates had made her bite her lip every time she stood on something sharp. The soles were already tender from the burning floor of the house, and she was sure she already had blisters, though she didn’t want to check in case it looked awful.

“Okay,” she agreed, slipping her feet into the boots, which were massive, and looked ridiculous with her tiny black dress. It wasn’t a fashion show; she needed to be practical. Now they were away from the heat of the fire, she discovered the desert night had a chill to it, and she started to shiver. Monster put his arm around her, pulling her close to share some body heat. The smoke had affected her lungs, and as her breathing grew more labored from the exercise of walking through the desert, her coughing grew worse. Monster coughed, too, and she worried about the wound in his shoulder, and if he’d started bleeding again.

Everything was against them. Did they even stand a chance of making it to safety?

Monster (Present Day)

They needed to
focus on taking one step at a time.

Monster didn’t know how much time had passed since they’d been walking, but his whole body hurt. His lungs felt like they’d constricted into tight fists, and every breath he took sent him into a coughing fit. His head pounded—a combination of the after-effects of the drugs Sophia had given him, the smoke, and dehydration—and his legs felt weak. Every step sent fresh pain shooting up through the soles of his feet as he stood on yet another sharp stone or cactus needle, and he knew they’d be torn to shreds by the time they reached their destination.

He had his arm around Lily. She leaned into his side, and, as more time passed, he felt himself holding her up more and more, until he felt like she was barely upright.

“This is it,” he told her, trying to keep her spirits up. “We’ve just got to get through this last part, and then we’ll be safe.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Yes, you can,” he said, forcing his voice to sound stronger than he felt. “When we get somewhere safe, I’m going to run you a hot bubble bath, pour you champagne, and feed you strawberries.”

“No,” she said, quickly. “Not champagne. Anything but champagne.”

He thought he felt her shudder beside him, but he figured this wasn’t the time to start to question her. She would tell him what she’d been through when she was ready, or perhaps she’d decide not to tell him at all. Either way was fine with him. He’d support her whatever.

“Anything you want,” he replied.

They kept walking, Rodriguez’s burning house now far in the distance, only a faint hint of light in the darkness giving any clue that something was aflame. He hoped Chapman and the other woman would be all right, but he didn’t hold out much hope for Chapman. He had a feeling the girl—Jess—had more balls going for her than any of them had given her credit for, and he hoped that gutsiness would see her through.

Lily suddenly slumped at his side, and he caught her before she fell. She was dead weight in his arms, and his heart-rate skyrocketed in alarm.

“Lily? Flower?”

She crumpled, and he lowered himself to the ground with her in his arms. She shook in his grip, and he realized she was crying.

“Just go,” she cried. “Leave me. I can’t walk any farther. I’m done.”

He shook his head. “No. I won’t let that happen. You’re not giving up.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Merrick. You go on. Come back for me, if you can. You’re stronger than I am. You can make it.”

“That’s bullshit. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

She sobbed. “I love you so much.”

He pulled her tighter into his arms, and hers wound around his neck so she buried her face against him. “I love you too, Lily Drayton. I’d rather die out here with you than carry on alone.”

He wasn’t going to leave her. He meant what he said—life wasn’t worth living if she wasn’t in it. Weakness made his limbs tremble. His lungs burned from the smoke inhalation and he was exhausted to the point of collapse. He wouldn’t leave her, though. He’d die before that happened.

Monster gently untangled himself from her, and then bent and tugged his boots from Lily’s feet. He put the boots back on his own feet. He hissed in air over his teeth as multiple blisters and thorns met with the solid bottom of the boot, causing him fresh pain. He was lucky he hadn’t been stung by a scorpion.

He got to his feet and then scooped Lily into his arms, cradling her like a child. Though she weighed nothing, his own physical weakness caused her weight to double, and his shoulder screamed in protest at the extra strain.

She moaned, barely conscious. “I can walk.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Shut up and do as you’re told for once.”

And for once, she did, her fingers bunched in the material of his jacket, literally clinging to him for her life.

Every step he took was a force of mind over body, telling himself he could do this. He
had
to do this. He could allow himself to die, but no way was he going to let Lily die. She was the bravest person he’d ever known, and she deserved a long and happy future. He was going to give that to her, with every last little piece of his soul he was determined to make that happen for her. They’d been through too much to simply give up and die out here in the middle of nowhere.

Up ahead, the sky began to lighten. Morning was approaching. He had no idea how much farther he needed to go or how far he’d come. Walking through the desert sand was nothing like walking on concrete, or running on a treadmill. Every step required concerted effort, and his legs felt like lead. As the light increased, he could make out more of the desert’s profusion of cacti. But then, in the distance, he saw the unmistakable shape of a square building.

His heart lifted, his breath quickening. He didn’t dare hope in case this was some kind of mirage, but he found his pace increasing, his eyes locked on the shape in the distance.

“We’re almost there, Flower,” he told her, his voice hoarse, though he wasn’t sure if she could hear him. “Just hang on. We’re almost there.”

As he approached, he could make out the black asphalt of a proper road. The lights inside the building were already on, someone opening up for the day. A man in a truck sat outside, the engine running. He saw them coming and jumped out of the car, spitting out a toothpick which he’d been chewing.

“Holy shit. Where the hell did you two come from?”

“Please,” Monster managed to choke out. “Call the cops and an ambulance. There’s a massive fire about ten miles west. People are badly hurt.”

“Holy shit,” he repeated before turning and running into the building, a bell on the door ringing as he hurried inside.

Monster waited for a moment to make sure the man was preoccupied, and then climbed into the truck, which the man had left with the door open and the engine running. He placed Lily on the passenger seat, and she stirred, her eyes opening.

“It’s okay, Flower. I’m getting you out of here.”

He put the truck into gear and jammed his foot on the pedal, pulling out of the café’s parking lot in a cloud of dust. In the rear view, he saw the man running back out again, both hands in the air in a sign of dismay and disbelief.

Monster hoped he would still call the cops, that they’d check out the report of the fire, and send help for Chapman and Jess. Taking the truck meant the man would definitely place a call to the emergency services. They were bound to go looking for the property—after all, he and Lily had clearly come from somewhere, and been involved in a fire—so they’d find the others soon enough. He felt bad not going back for them, and he knew Lily would berate him later for not going to their rescue. She would have gone back, he knew she would have, but he needed to think about their safety first. Lily was all about helping others, but sometimes you needed to be selfish in order to survive, and this was one of those times.

As he drove, leaving the cafe, and Rodriguez’s house far behind, he considered his next move. He’d leave the truck as soon as he could find a phone, and could call one of his contacts for help. He’d get some money and new identities transferred for both him and Lily, and they could vanish while they recuperated.

A bottle of water was in the side of the driver’s door. The bottle had been opened, but considering the situation, he didn’t think they could be fussy. One handed, he clamped the bottle between his knees, and removed the lid.

“Lily? Flower? Can you drink some water? You’re dehydrated.”

She managed to nod, and supported the bottle with her fingertips as he tipped it to her mouth. She took a couple of big gulps, and pushed it toward him. “You, too.”

His throat was parched, making it hard to swallow, and his eyes were sore and gritty. He needed to stay conscious to drive, so he finished the rest of the water. They’d stop for more as soon as they reached another service station.

Lily sat up straighter.

He glanced over at her, her dark hair wild around her face, her skin pale and streaked with ash. The short black dress rode high on her thighs, exposing the long, slender legs he adored so much. His heart hitched with emotion for her. He had her back and he intended on never letting her go again.

“Where are we going?” she managed to ask, her voice quiet.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t even matter. I’m going to make sure we get a long way from here, and that no one is going to find us.”

“We? So we’re going together?”

“I swear to you, I will never let anyone or anything pull us apart again.”