Chapter 278
-Ava’s POV-
The fight drained out of me in an instant.
Crystal was barely breathing, her chest rising and falling too fast, too erratic. The blood trailing down her legs was stark against her pale skin, a horrifying contrast to the water pooling beneath us.
My instincts kicked in before I could even think. I moved toward her, reaching out. “Crystal-
“Don’t touch me!” She screamed.
Her voice was raw, filled with something I couldn’t name. She stumbled back, her feet slipping against the wet floor, and before she could catch herself, she lost her footing.
She fell.
Hard.
Her back hit the metal floor with a sickening thud, a choked gasp escaping her lips. She tried to push herself up, but another sharp breath wracked through her body, her arms trembling beneath her.
“Crystal, stop!” I said, stepping closer, my hands outstretched, “Let me help you-
She lashed out.
Claws slicing through the air, missing my face by inches, Don’t touch me!” she shrieked, her voice even louder this time, raw and unhinged.
I flinched but didn’t back away.
“You’re bleeding,” I said, desperation creeping into my voice. “Crystal, you need to stop moving–I can help you!”
Another wild slash. Another scream. “I said stay away!”
Her whole body was shaking now, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. The blood–there was so much of it. It mixed with the seawater sloshing against the metal floor, turning everything into a mess of red and black.
“Please,” I begged, my voice softer this time, “Just let me help you.”
Something in her face cracked.
Her lips parted slightly, her brows drawing together–but then the ship swayed again, harder this time, knocking me off
balance.
An explosion ripped through the air.
The sound of metal groaning, something bursting in the distance. The ship shuddered beneath us like a wounded beast.
Somewhere far away, I heard my name.
“Ava!”
The voice was familiar, urgent, but I couldn’t look away.
Crystal still had that wide, unfocused look in her eyes. Her hands clutched at her stomach, pressing hard against the stained fabric of her dress. Her lips trembled, her breath shallow.
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Chapter 278
And then, barely above a whisper, she kept repeating the same name over and over again.
“Dylan… Dylan… Dylan..”
Terror flickered through me.
Not for myself.
Not even for her.
But for the life she was losing.
And for the fact that she didn’t seem to care.
“Ava!”
The voice came again closer this time, cutting through the chaos like a blade. I knew who it was.
Grayson.
But I couldn’t answer.
I was still staring at the blood.
Still staring at Crystal–at the way her shaking hands clawed at the water pooling around her like she was searching for something just beyond her reach. Her fingers curled and uncurled, slipping through the liquid like she thought she could grasp something solid. Her breath was erratic, broken sobs mixing with the sharp gasps of pain that tore from her throat.
I moved again, but she screamed, jerking back so fast she nearly slipped again. Her back hit the metal floor, a choked cry escaping her lips.
And then hands wrapped around me.
Strong, steady hands.
I thrashed for a split second, pure instinct, but a low growl rumbled from behind me, vibrating through my spine, through my very bones.
But it wasn’t a threat.
Grayson.
His grip tightened, pressing me against his wet body, his warmth a stark contrast to the freezing air around us, “You’re okay,” He whispered into my ear, voice rough, “You’re okay.”
Another explosion.
Louder. Closer.
The ship groaned beneath us, metal screaming as fire ripped through the lower decks. The floor vibrated beneath my knees, shaking, shifting, the scent of smoke and seawater thick in the air.
Grayson’s arms didn’t waver, We need to get out of here–now.”
But I couldn’t move. “Crystal,” I rasped, my throat raw.
The second I said her name, Grayson hesitated. His hands loosened just slightly as his gaze flicked toward‘
And then a shot rang out andCrystal shrieked.
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Chapter 278
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“You killed him!” She screamed, her voice breaking as she dragged herself upright. Her hands were slick with blood–her blood—but she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she just didn’t care.
Tears streaked her face, her chest rising and falling too fast, her body shaking violently. But it was her eyes that made my breath catch in my throat.
Wild.
Empty.
Consuming.
Like a fire that had burned too hot, too fast, and now there was nothing left but embers and smoke. Her hands trembled as she raised the gun again, her sobs turning ragged, turning feral.
“You’re all going to pay!”
Bang.
behind
The bullet hit the wall behind us.
Bang.
This one went wide, ricocheting somewhere deeper into the burning wreckage.
Grayson swore under his breath. He grabbed my wrist, yanking me back as Crystal kept firing, each shot more erratic than the last. She wasn’t aiming. She wasn’t even seeing.
She was breaking.
And there was nothing I could do.
Tears burned my eyes as I stared at her one last time.
One last, agonizing time.
And then I let Grayson pull me away.
We ran.
Through the thick smoke. Through the shaking corridors.
The ship lurched again, the walls groaning under the strain. Another explosion ripped through the air, fire flashing somewhere beneath us.
I gasped, lungs burning. “Is Dylan really dead?”
Grayson didn’t stop moving. His grip on my wrist never loosened, his pace never slowed, “Yes.”
Another explosion.
I flinched, my feet nearly slipping out from under me as we turned a corner. The heat was unbearable now, the smoke thick enough to choke on.
“What is happening?” I managed to get out between gasps.
“The ship is going down,” Grayson said, voice tight.
And then it hit me.
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Chapter 278
Rickon.
I skidded to a stop so fast that Grayson nearly lost his grip on me, “Rickon!” I gasped. “He–he fell overboard!”
Grayson cursed under his breath. “Ava, we don’t have time-
I turned on him, gripping his arm with both hands, “We have to find him!”
Grayson clenched his jaw, muscles tensing. For a split second, I thought he was going to argue.
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But then another explosion tore through the air, shaking the entire ship so violently that I swore I felt the floor buckle beneath us. A deep, horrible groan echoed through the walls.
There wasn’t much time left.
And Grayson knew it.
He grabbed my hand again. “Come on!”
And we ran.
We ran through the smoke, through the crumbling metal, through the chaos. The ship was dying around us, fire and water consuming everything in its path. Every breath was agony, every second another reminder that we were running out of time.
And through it all, one thought pounded in my skull.
Rickon. Please, let him be alive.
We burst onto the deck, the cold night air slamming into me like a wall. I sucked in a breath–sharp, burning from the smoke still thick in my lungs. The rain pelted down in sheets, mixing with the blood pooling across the slick metal floor.
Bodies.
They were everywhere.
Some slumped against the railings, unmoving. Others sprawled where they had fallen, twisted in ways that didn’t look natural. The once–mighty ship was nothing but a battlefield, a graveyard of flames and metal.
It hit me then.
How much we had lost.
How many lives had been ripped away in an instant.
Grayson never let go of me, his grip like iron as he pulled me forward, his steps urgent, “We need to get you to the powerboat.”
His voice sounded far away, drowned out by the pounding rain, the howling wind, the distant screams of those still trapped in the sinking wreckage.
I barely registered his words at first, my mind still stuck on the sight before me–the blood, the destruction, the sheer horror of it all. But then something snapped back into focus.
Rickon.
I stopped so fast that Grayson nearly yanked me off my feet. “What about Rickon?” I gasped, turning to him, my fingers digging.into his wrist. “We need to find him–he fell overboard-”
Chapter 278
Grayson didn’t say anything.
He didn’t even look at me.
My breath hitched.
“Grayson,” I snapped, shaking his arm. “We are NOT leaving him! We need to look for him!”
The rain fell harder, drenching my dress, plastering my hair to my face. I could barely see past the downpour, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t leaving. I wasn’t abandoning Rickon. Isabella would never forgive me and he had saved my life.
But Grayson only tightened his grip, his jaw clenched, his face unreadable and he repeated, “I need to get you to the powerboat.”
Like he hadn’t heard a single word I said.
Like Rickon didn’t matter.
Rage exploded inside me.
I wrenched myself out of his grasp, staggering backward. “NO!” I shouted, “I’m not leaving him behind! I won’t-”
And then a massive explosion tore through the ship, bigger than anyone before.
The world turned white.
The force sent me flying, my scream swallowed by the roar of metal being ripped apart. Fire and debris shot into the sky, a blinding inferno of destruction.
And then I was falling.
Falling.
The ship tilted violently, the deck beneath me crumbling away, disappearing into the churning sea below.
Cold.
The ocean swallowed me whole agajn a, the impact knocking the air from my lungs. I tumbled through the darkness, the saltwater burning my throat, my limbs thrashing.
Above me, the ship groaned like a dying beast, the last of its structure giving way as it tipped, capsizing. Pieces of metal and shattered wood rained down into the depths, disappearing into the abyss.
I couldn’t tell which way was up.
I couldn’t breathe.
And then–hands.
Strong hands.
Grayson.
His grip latched onto me, pulling me against him as we were dragged deeper into the stormy water.
The last thing I saw before everything faded was the burning wreckage of the ship sinking above us.
And then–nothing.
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