Shattered (LOST #3)(94)

She shoved him away. Held tighter to Jax. “I love him!”

Jax kissed her. “You were . . . the best thing . . . to ever happen to me . . .”

He felt so cold against her. In a room that was burning hot, Jax shouldn’t be cold, but he was.

“Don’t do this,” Sarah begged. For him, she’d beg. For him, she’d kill. For him, she’d do anything.

I just can’t leave him.

“Go . . .” He pushed her. Her father was pulling her and . . .

Mitch was reaching for the trigger he’d dropped. Her father hadn’t cut him deeply enough!

“No!” Sarah lunged for the trigger. She knocked it out of Mitch’s reach.

Her father grabbed Mitch, jerking him up. “Stay away from her!”

Then the gun went off.

Even in the midst of the fire, Sarah froze. She looked over. Mitch was in front of her father . . . and he had a gun in his hand. She didn’t know where he’d gotten the weapon. But he’d just shot her dad. And that shot—it had been fired point-blank into her father.

Murphy looked down at the wound. Then he . . . laughed. And he drove his knife into Mitch. Mitch staggered back and fell.

So did Murphy.

Her father . . . her father fell.

Sarah dropped to her knees beside him. “Daddy?” And for that one instant, he was just . . . her daddy again.

He turned toward her. “Sweetheart . . .”

Sarah felt a scream building in her throat. He was dying, she knew it. Jax—Jax had slumped against the wall. The fire was spreading and she was trapped there.

“Go . . . out the window . . .” her dad said.

Sarah shook her head. “You . . . you’re here and Jax . . .”

“Go . . .” And his eyes closed. His breath sighed out.

No. Not like that. He couldn’t just die that fast. He couldn’t . . .

Jax needs me.

“Sleep tight,” Sarah heard herself whisper. You’re safe tonight. She pressed a kiss to her father’s forehead.

She pushed to her feet. Mitch was still not moving. Her father had finished him. She put her arm under Jax’s shoulder once more. They couldn’t go through the door. The fire was too strong. Her father had been right. She steered Jax toward the window. They were on the second floor, but they would have to take that jump. Broken bones—fine. They’d be alive.

She kicked out the old window. Fresh air blew inside and she gulped it in greedily.

“Sarah!”

Dean was down below, waving to her.

“Jump, Sarah,” Jax said, his voice low and rough. “Go . . .”

Her father had been trying to push her, too. Trying to make her leave, but she hadn’t. Didn’t Jax get it?

“Not without you.” She wasn’t going anyplace without Jax.

He shook his head. “I’m . . . already . . . d—”

“No!” She locked her fingers with his. “This is how—” She choked on the stupid smoke. “It works. Either we both go . . .” Another cough. “ . . . or we both stay.”

Because she wasn’t leaving him to the fire.

Jax stared into her eyes. “You . . . love me?”

“Yes.” She kissed him. Fast and hard. “Now let’s go, let’s—”

Something was moving in the fire. Mitch? Still not dead. No, no that wasn’t possible! Why wouldn’t he just stay down! And he had the gun . . . he was lifting it. Aiming it— Jax wrapped his arms around Sarah, shielding her with his body.

And they jumped.

HE FUCKING HURT.

There wasn’t a single part of Jax that didn’t ache or burn, but that was okay with him. If he hurt, then it meant he was still alive.

“S-Sarah . . .” Talking was one hell of a lot harder than it should have been. Jax felt like he’d swallowed glass.

Or been trapped in a fire.

“I’m here.” Soft fingers brushed over his cheek. He felt his body being lifted. He should open his eyes, but that seemed to require a whole lot of effort.

“H-Hurt?” Jax managed to ask. Had Sarah been hurt when they jumped? Mitch had been firing and Jax had tried to protect Sarah with his body. He thought he might have been shot again, but as long as Sarah was safe . . .

“You saved me,” she told him.

Jax shook his head. No, he hadn’t. Sarah had saved him, from the very beginning. “Love . . .”

“I love you, too,” Sarah whispered. Her lips pressed to his.

“Ma’am, we have to take him to the hospital,” Jax heard a voice say. “He’s losing blood too fast.”

“I’m coming with you, Jax,” Sarah told him. “From now on, I’ll always be with you.”

And he smiled.

The pain didn’t matter.

Sarah was safe. Sarah mattered.

GABE SPENCER STARED at the burning house. He’d just been pulling up to the scene when Jax and Sarah had burst out of the window. Jax had broken his leg when he hit the ground. Broken his arm. But Sarah . . . Jax had held tight to her. She’d been safe.

“They were the only ones to come out,” Victoria said from beside him. Her gaze was on the house. On the wreckage. Firefighters were battling the flames. The house was so old, the wood so rotten, that the fire had spread too quickly for them to easily control it.