Take Me Tomorrow

Chapter 33: Shoot Them

Rinley was fast. Really fast. Despite her short height and young age, she remained at my heels, her breath on my neck. I wasn't sure if I was listening to my heart pound or hers as our feet flew across the grass, sprinting toward the river. The trees flanking us added to the shadows of night, and the drop into the water would create extra cover as the police swarmed the building.

A girl screamed in the distance. My mind caught up to me. The police were entering a building full of troubled girls. They would fight back. Probably keep the police occupied for a while. Hopefully, no one would get killed.

The ground sloped as the grass became slippery with water and mud. My breath caught in my throat when my eyes adjusted and focused on the river—the same river I had almost drowned in, the one I was supposed to drown in.

I dug my heels in and stopped running.

Rinley crashed into me. We tumbled into the river, flailing our arms as we splashed into the creek bed. Cool water rushed over me. My head slammed into something hard. Noah's vision of drowning. It was happening. I hadn't defied fate. I was only warned of it.

Fingernails dug into my scalp before a hand yanked my head up and out of the water.

"What the hell was that?" Rinley shouted at me. Her pixie cut pasted to the sides of her face, mud smeared across her forehead. "We could've broken something."

I spit up river as I stood on shaking feet. The water wasn't even two feet deep. It was barely trickling, and I had nearly given up because of something Noah had apparently seen.

"No time for arguing," Lily yelled at both of us from the bank.

She didn't have to say why. We had to keep running.

Rinley and I splashed through the river until we reached the bank, and we climbed out on hands and knees. Rinley slipped, falling into the mud, and Lily pulled her up, kicking mud into my face. I wiped it away. Dogs barked in the distance, but I was the only one who turned around, listening. Dogs ran faster than we did. If they were close, I wanted to see them coming.

"How did they know?" Lily managed as our feet slammed onto the concrete pathway. She spun around a corner, and it was over. A man shoved her to the ground.

Rinley dodged him by ducking under his arm. He hit me instead, tackling me. We tumbled down the hill, twigs scraping, rocks stabbing, and then water. His hands wrapped around my throat.

"You little bitch," he breathed.

Anthony.

I shoved his chest, and he toppled over into the shallow water. I pulled my knife from my sweater, but his fingers latched onto my ankle. He used the same pressure point I had used on Rinley, and I collapsed. I reached out for my blade, but my fingernails found mud.

Anthony loomed over me, his eyes wild, his face bleeding. He dug his knees into my ribs. "I should drown you."

I gasped, unable to breathe, and his hands found my throat again.

"You really thought I wouldn't have Lily's name traced if she did anything?" he continued as I choked on muddy water. "I knew she was involved. I knew!" His grip tightened. I clawed at him. My windpipe was collapsing. "I should've killed Miles the second I had the chance."

I smacked his chest, his chin, his leg—any part of his body I could reach—but he never even flinched. "And Broden"—his wrists pressed against my collarbone—"wait until I get my hands on him."