by Amity Cross
Picking up the letter I’d written out for the real estate agent about breaking my lease, I slipped it into my bag and pulled out the set of keys for the rental car I’d parked downstairs. It was an eighteen-hour drive to Brisbane, which meant I would have a lot of time to regret my decision on the way.
Tears welled in my eyes, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I’d trusted him. All those other times I’d tried to find someone to love hadn’t been real, but this time… I suppose it hurt because this time I believed it was real. For the first time, I’d been able to talk to someone, to just be. The things I felt for Lawson were soul deep, but now I was truly hollow.
This time, running was the best choice out of a bad bunch of options.
I’d trusted him, and he’d lied to me. What he’d done to Sadie was unforgivable.
Turning, I gasped as my gaze collided with Sera’s.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded. “Come to gloat?”
“Not at all,” she replied, stepping into my apartment. Looking around at the empty space, she smirked.
“This was your game all along, wasn’t it? To get revenge on Lawson.”
“Don’t be mad, Amber,” she purred. “Sometimes there’s collateral damage. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I snorted and yanked up the handle on my suitcase. I didn’t want to stick around and listen to her smug highness bask in the glory of her success. Her diabolical plan had worked. Good for her. Lawson deserved it after what he did to Sadie, but I was sick and tired of being—what did she call it—collateral damage. I didn’t know about the collateral part because I just felt damaged, full stop. Damaged beyond repair.
“Let’s go for a little drive,” Sera said.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I exclaimed. “You got what you wanted. I’m leaving.”
“Oh, yes, you are,” she said with a sneer. “But not in the way you’re thinking.”
“Get the fuck away from me before I call the cops,” I declared, edging toward the door. “This is my apartment. You’ve really crossed the line this time.”
Sera ran her finger over the top of my suitcase and looked around the empty apartment. There was no surprise in her expression at the sight of how little I owned, not like the look Lawson had. At the thought of him, my heart tore a little more.
“Wow,” Sera drawled, wiping her hand on her jeans. “Did you think you could just break up with him, move house, and I’d be happy?” Sera shook her head and laughed. “You poor, stupid little girl.”
“Your obsession has gone too far, Sera. You need help.”
“I disagree,” she said, reaching behind her back. “It hasn’t gone far enough. I won’t be satisfied until Lawson gets what he deserves. Until he understands the pain I went through, he doesn’t deserve to be happy.”
“Hasn’t it already gone far enough?”
“Not nearly.” Her smile widened. “The best is yet to come.”
I froze as Sera pulled a gun from behind her back and pointed it at me. My gaze fixed on her hand as numbness spread through my body.
Do something, I thought. Do something or… I couldn’t do anything. I was stuck with no way out.
“Now, we’re going to get in that rental car downstairs, and you’re going to drive,” she commanded. “Got it?”
I nodded, my heartbeat quickening.
“Where’s your phone?”
“On the kitchen counter,” I replied, my voice shaking.
Sera snatched it up and slid it onto her jacket pocket before gesturing toward the door. “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you. Leave the suitcase, walk slowly, and get into the driver’s seat. Go.”
My movements were robotic as we left my apartment and made our way downstairs to the rental car. She even locked the door behind us, cleaning up her loose ends.
I opened the driver’s side door as she rounded the back and got in the passenger side. Sliding behind the wheel, I started the engine.
“Drive,” she commanded, aiming the gun at me. Her hand was below the window so anyone who was looking in wouldn’t be able to see there was a hostage situation going on.
“Which way?” I asked, my voice breaking slightly.
“Out the driveway and to the left.” She glared at me. “Don’t try anything stupid, Amber. Remember who’s got your life in the palm of their hand here.”
I swallowed hard and backed out of the parking space. Fumbling with the gear stick, I rammed it into first and pulled out onto the road. What else was I supposed to do? I was screwed.
I was in a daze as I followed Sera’s directions through the city. I didn’t know how long we were on the road, I wasn’t sure what suburb we were in, and I didn’t know where we would end up. All I knew was there was a gun jammed against my ribcage. If I tried to run, there was no way in hell that bullet was missing its mark.
“Right here,” Sera barked.
Turning into a driveway, we passed a set of large black gates. When I realised where we were, my already cold blood turned to solid ice.
We were in a cemetery. A really big fucking cemetery.
The car glided along the road, passing by rows upon rows of the long dead people of Melbourne. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sister, brothers, aunts, uncles…the list went on. There had to be thousands of gravesites, some old and in disrepair, others new and shiny. The long dead and the newly passed on.
Why were we here? Had Sera pre-prepared a hole for me?
“Here,” she said, pointing to a place where we could leave the car. “Stop there.”
I brought us to a halt where she commanded, still well aware of the gun pressing into my side.
“Turn off the engine, and get out of the car.”
I did as she asked and slid out of the driver’s seat, my boots crunching on the gravel underfoot. Headstones stretched into the distance, and the cemetery was strangely quiet considering it was in the middle of the city.
“Why are we here?” I asked as she appeared beside me, the gun a permanent fixture in her hand.
“You’ll see.” She pushed me forward. “Walk.”
We moved across the lawn, weaving through a variety of different graves. Plots with simple plaques and grander burials decked out with marble, giant headstones, gold lettering, and flowers for days. Sera stopped me in front of an expensive-looking gravesite.
I read the name on the headstone and felt sick. Everything made sense now. The gold lettering was a sick taunt, hinting at Sera’s end game. This was the final resting place of Sadie Young.
“A pretty grave for a pretty girl,” Sera said, jamming the barrel of the gun into my back. “Sit down, Amber.”
I glanced at the grave and didn’t move.
“Now.”
Sera shoved me forward, and I sat on the end of the raised gravesite, the black-flecked granite cold on my arse. Taking my phone from her pocket, she pointed it at me, snapped a picture, and typed something on the screen all while holding me at gunpoint.
She didn’t waver. Her hand was steady, and her resolve was cool. She knew exactly what she was doing.
“What’s that for?” I demanded.
“Proof of life.”
I shivered and glanced at the gun. “You’re sick.”
She pouted and put my phone back into her pocket.
“What do you want from me?” I asked, starting to panic. The sun was going down, and a chill was shivering through the air.
“You’re in no position to make demands. You’re just going to shut the fuck up, and do as you’re told.” She raised her eyebrows and reached back into her jacket pocket. She held up a syringe and flicked the cap off the needle with her fingertip. My gaze followed her movements, and I began to shake.
“You’re going to take this syringe and shove it into your arm,” she declared.
“What?” She was crazy. Absolutely, certifiably, batshit crazy.
“It’s perfect, really,” Sera said, holding
up the syringe and peering at the contents. “Lawson breaks your heart, you leave him, you’re distraught because this time was your last chance at making your life work.” She smiled sweetly at me. “Catch my drift?”
“You’re…” What the hell did she type on my phone?
“See? I knew you were a smart girl, Amber.”
“You’re setting me up,” I said, my blood running cold. “You’re setting him up.”
“Don’t worry,” Sera said, grinning. “Lawson will be here soon enough. I want him to watch, after all.”
23
Amber
Romantic comedies don’t teach you anything useful about hostage situations.
It’s a long, cold, tense wait for the end. There’s no cut scene and no crossing to the other characters on their way. There’s just the victim sitting on the end of another victim’s grave, waiting to die.
I wasn’t a hero. I didn’t know anything about disarming a psychopath with a gun. I was powerless.
I shivered and sank lower into my denim jacket. The Melbourne skyline shone in the distance, and the dull roar of traffic floated across the still air. Overhead, the stars sparkled against a muted backdrop. Up there, the light pollution had washed out all but the brightest points of light. The Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri, and the Carina constellation were the only ones that broke through.
That was a metaphor for strength if I ever saw one. Too bad all of mine had left my body.
Two things were certain. There would be a frost tonight, and I’d probably be dead before the sun rose. Of all the possible scenarios I’d played out in my mind on that first day at the Phoenix, I never thought I would end up here. Not in a million years.
Sera glanced at the time on her phone, the light bight in the darkness of the cemetery.
“Time for your injection,” she said almost cheerily. “I’ve timed this all to perfection.”
“You know this is murder, right?” I said, eyeing the syringe.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she purred, standing over me. “It won’t hurt. You’ll die in complete euphoria, Amber. When you choke on your own vomit, you won’t even care.” She held the gun to my head. “Take off your jacket.”
My throat tightened as my fear rose higher. The metal of the barrel was cold against my skin, and I knew it would only take one little squeeze of the trigger, and I’d be dead. I wasn’t sure what was worse, having half my head blown off or overdosing on whatever drug Sera had chosen for the occasion.
Trembling, I shucked off my jacket, the icy air chilling me to the bone. I couldn’t cry. I wanted to, but the terror had frozen the tears before they could form.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
Sera spun, aiming the gun toward the male voice echoing out of the shadows.
“You’re early,” she said through gritted teeth.
Lawson prowled out of the darkness, his gaze flickering to me before returning to Sera. My heart twisted at the sight of him, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Inside me, humiliation and terror mixed together to make another kind of lethal cocktail.
“You didn’t think I knew where Sadie was buried?” he asked, his voice low and threatening. “I was locked out of the funeral, but it didn’t mean shit. You were counting on me being the heartless arsehole, right? I know you too well, or have you forgotten?”
“I’ve forgotten nothing,” Sera declared with a sneer.
“Stop lying to yourself,” he said, not missing a beat. “Sadie took her own life. I tried to save her.”
“You killed her! She took those pills, but you may as well have forced them down her throat.”
“You put those drugs in my bag,” Lawson stated. “I was clean for months. You set me up. You killed your own sister to teach me a lesson. You killed Sadie because you were jealous.”
My head flew up, and my gaze found Lawson. He’d tried to save her? Sera… Sera had killed her own sister? My trembling hands began to shudder, and I swallowed a sob.
“Shut up!” Sera screeched.
“You drove her to take her own life,” Lawson went on. “You’re a bully, a fraud, and a psychopath, Sera. You want to teach me a lesson? What for? For loving your sister instead of you?” He took a step forward. “Sadie’s gone, but life goes on. It’s not too late.”
“It was too late the moment you chose Sadie over me. Now you’re choosing her!” She jabbed a finger in my direction.
“You’re wrong,” he murmured. “It’s not too late now. The past doesn’t have to repeat itself. This time can be different. Let Amber go, and we can work this out. I can help you.”
She sneered. “That’s rich, coming from you.”
Was it possible Sera believed everything she’d told me that night at Indigo? How Lawson had broken her heart and driven her to the brink? It was a new level of obsession that made my problems look like a fairy tale. Her fixation with Lawson had driven her to believe her lies, and as a result, she believed there was no other option but to exact the ultimate revenge. Against her sister, against him, and now against me.
I stared up at Lawson, and his gaze met mine. That look said everything I needed to hear. His sorrow, his regret, his penance…his love.
“I promised you a lifetime of misery,” Sera exclaimed, holding the syringe up to my arm. “I’ll make you watch your precious bitch OD in front of your eyes.”
A devastating pulse of rage flared inside me, and my hand shot up. There was no way in hell I was letting this bitch destroy any more people with her lies.
I grasped her wrist and twisted. She cried out in pain and dropped the syringe. It hit the side of the grave and bounced to the ground as I stood, but Sera was stronger than I was. She twisted out of my grasp and let out a strangled cry. Then she pulled out the gun…
And fired.
The boom tore through my eardrums, deafening and stunning me into total numbness. I saw Lawson grasp his side, and I spun, the ringing in my head throwing my equilibrium off-balance. I slammed into Sera and shoved her with all my strength, my boot crunching on the syringe. She fell, and the gun flew from her fingers as she landed heavily, her body splaying across Sadie’s grave.
I tensed as I stood over her, my gaze flicking from the gun back to Sera, but she didn’t move. Blood trickled from her forehead, and I knew Sadie had taken her out on the way down. Talk about poetic justice.
Behind me, Lawson moaned, and I turned just as he fell to his knees. Blood was seeping through his fingers as he clutched his side, and his face had taken on a sickly sheen.
My anger faded, and I rushed toward him, sliding on my knees as I grasped his face in my hands.
“Sera…” he rasped as he began to tremble. He was going into shock.
“She’s out cold,” I said, forcing him to lie down on the grass.
I covered the bullet wound with my palm and applied pressure. There was so much blood. With my free hand, I pulled out the mobile phone from his pocket.
“The gun…” he rasped.
I shook my head. “I’m not touching it.”
I called triple zero, asking for the police, ambulance, everyone, then tossed the phone aside, adding my other hand to his stomach.
“I’m sorry,” he said, wincing. “I should’ve told you the truth from the start. But…” He’d been afraid.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, his blood sticky between my fingers. “I know now.”
“It’s not okay. I’m cursed, Amber. I’m cursed.”
“No, you’re not,” I said firmly. “You fought for us. For you. For Sadie’s memory. For everything that’s right. That’s not a curse, Lawson. You fought.”
He grasped my hand. “So did you.”
I shook my head, tears streaming from my eyes. “I let her get to me. I believed her. Lawson, I was running away. I gave up. Will you forgive me?”
“No,” he whispered, the word driving a knife into my heart.
“No?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
; I gasped, my palms shaking with exhaustion. Where the hell was that ambulance?
“Amber?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, you know that?” His eyes rolled, then he went slack, his head falling to the side.
My heart twisted, and adrenaline flared through my veins.
“No, no, no! Stay with me,” I pleaded, the wail of sirens echoing in the distance. “Hold on, Lawson. They’re almost here. Hold on.”
24
Amber
I stared at the receding form of the police officer as the comings and goings of the hospital around me faded into a dull roar.
The whole confrontation with Sera had lasted less than a minute, but it had felt like an hour. I closed my eyes, and I saw blood. The gunshot still rang in my ears, drowning out the sounds of the waiting room.
“Amber!”
Blinking, I looked up to find Simon rushing across the waiting room.
“Simon,” I said with a sigh.
“I came as fast as I could,” he said, sitting beside me. He wrapped his arms around me and held me for a moment. “How are you?”
“Tired, worried, shaken up.” I shrugged. Where did I begin describing all the things I’d felt in the past day? I’d been all the colours of the rainbow and then some.
“Lawson?”
“The doctor came out before and gave me an update. He said the bullet was a through and through, but it nicked his liver. They needed to operate to fix it, but the damage was superficial, it was just the blood loss that…” I choked back a sob. “I don’t understand all that doctor speak.”
“He’s going to be okay?”
I nodded.
“That’s good,” Simon said, grasping my hand. “Dare I ask?”
“Sera’s going to be okay—physically,” I replied. “I pushed her over, and she hit her head on the way down.”
“You’re pressing charges, I hope?”