Bo and the Beast (Book #1) (Completed)

49. Don't Leave Me

Bo looked down at her stomach, dully surprised that her shirt was soaked through just under her ribs. Some back corner of her mind thought 'exit wound', but she was more preoccupied with how much it looked like a rose blossoming on the fabric of her shirt. Her mind focused on that, ignoring the struggle her lungs put up to just get a gasp of air. She didn't even really register that something shifted on her legs until she happened to catch a glimpse of the wall lifting up. Confusion made her eyebrows tilt down, and it took her a moment to realize that it was Adam moving the wall. She wasn't sure how he had the strength after being crushed by the tons of bricks, but from somewhere deep inside he must have found a hidden pool. He pushed the wall up and away from his chest, his face strained with the effort.

Her legs came free, and then a moment later he gave one massive heave to send the wall tumbling down on the other side. Bo gasped as feeling suddenly returned to both her legs with all the viciousness of starving wolves. Gripping handfuls of gritty grass, she blinked back patches of darkness that threatened to overwhelm her.

More gun shots rang through the air, but Bo only saw Adam leaning down to pick up a section of the wall and hurl it somewhere above Bo. She heard Aston shout and then the sound of flesh being pummeled. Dad barked something, but Bo didn't hear what. She forced herself to turn on her side, coughing as her bullet wound pinched her lungs and ribs and the taste of metal rose to her tongue.

In front of her, Aston half-lay and half-sat on the ground, the piece of the wall a few inches to his side. His eyes were unfocused and dazed, a huge gash down one side of his face spilling blood in waterfalls off his cheek. He still clenched the gun, however, and as Adam stepped over Bo, Aston lifted the rifle and pulled the trigger again and again. Not all the bullets found their target, but she saw some land in Adam's flesh. Wounds bloomed red and vicious on his arm, leg, and one on his side. He was an indefatigable force, though, and nothing slowed him. He took each shot as if they were fallen leaves brushing his skin, always walking toward Aston.

Fear showed in Aston's eyes as he struggled to get to his feet. The head injury was severe, as he stumbled and weaved, trying to put more space between him and Adam. All the while, he let off shot after shot, until the clip ran empty. He carried on squeezing the trigger, earning only hollow clicks that signaled that he had nothing left to separate him from Adam.

Adam wasted no time. He leaped the rest of the distance, landing on Aston like a wild animal. Aston got out one wild cry for help before Adam yanked the gun from his hand and sent it sailing into the yard. He then wrenched Aston's arm around so sharply that it broke with an audible snap at the elbow. Aston's face instantly drained of color, and Adam shoved him to the ground with enough force to finally knock Aston unconscious.

Bo looked away then, the battle finished. She closed her eyes, her hands too weak to even check on the wound that she curiously could no longer feel on her abdomen.

Her mind was drifting into a buzzing haze when she felt urgent shaking at her shoulder. She blinked her eyes open, slightly annoyed that they wouldn't just let her sleep, but then she saw Adam's face above hers. She tried to smile, but all that came of it was a flutter of her lips that ended with a grimace as Dad's hands shifted her into a better position.

She focused on Adam's face, trying not to worry about the blood that trickled from a wound on his head to splatter on her cheeks. She wasn't even sure if it was his blood or her tears that ran down to her neck.

"Bo, come on," Adam said, voice husky. His hands brushed the hair back from her temples.

"I'm sorry, Adam," she muttered. Her eyes already began to slide from his face to stare blurrily at the orange sky above her. She hated that it wasn't blue.

"For what? You're not at fault."

"No, for..." She lost her train of thought for a moment before finding it again. "I'm sorry the world couldn't love you. Neither of our worlds. It wasn't fair, to be hated from birth."

Adam shook his head, a blur in her periphery. "I never loved the world, either, Bo. But now—now I think I finally understand what love can be. I love something more than any beautiful thing I could collect. Please don't leave me behind."

Bo forced her sight to focus, to see Adam's tears as he bent over her and rested his forehead on hers. She breathed against his lips, her hand stirring to rest on his arm.

"We'll go together," she whispered.

He nodded, slowly sinking down by her side. She saw the bullet holes riddling his body, but somehow it didn't matter at all. His fingers curled around hers, their palms pressed together. The electrical charge of his alien skin warmed her own cooling skin, but even that was fading as his body began to shake.

Bo shut her eyes, her head lolling back to face upward. The sun felt warm against her skin, and even though she could taste that familiar grit that was already coming in to claim the green space, she tried to imagine that she was laying in the grass underneath a blue sky with white clouds.

"Dad," she murmured, her hand searching in the emptiness until she felt his. "I love you."

"I love you too, darling," he said, but his voice seemed far away.

"I'll say 'hi' to Mom."

And then the darkness claimed her.