The Change (The Alliance #2)

Chapter 32

Mia

The look on Archer's face rips me to pieces.

I've never seen him so heartbroken, so internally shattered. His eyes water, a tear rolling off his cheek and falling on the ground. I'm no longer focused on the gun pointed at me. All my attention has fallen at the broken boy before me.

"Evelyn, please. Please don't-"

"Funny that you think you have a say in this," Evelyn says to Archer while keeping her stare on me.

Archer pulls on his tied hands, his breathing getting heavier. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think. Evelyn is going to shoot me, and there's nothing we can do about it.

"Please, don't shoot. Don't, please!"

A slap to the face has Archer in a quick daze, the blotchy red looking bright against his pale skin. But no pain will stop him from protecting me.

And sometimes I hate him for it.

How easy would it be for Evelyn to just shoot. If it wasn't for Archer, I would have been dead a long time ago. I can't count how many times he's saved me.

And he just might do it again.

"I'll do anything."

Evelyn stops at Archer's words. Those simple words let out so much vulnerability in him, and so much power to Evelyn. Archer knows. He knows what he said has costed him everything.

"Archer, don't-"

"I'll do anything Evelyn," Archer ignores me, "just don't kill her, or the deals off."

"Maybe I should keep her around more often? You behave when she's around," Evelyn smiles while putting the gun down. Tears well up in Archer's eyes, and I can see the sorrow in his eyes. Either save me, or save the Alliance.

And I know he so desperately wants to save the Alliance.

It's what he left his dome for. It's what he risked his life for. But he ran into me, and I messed everything up. I made him weak.

I made him love me.

"Archer, let her do it. She's going to kill so many more-"

Evelyn comes up to me with her fist, and I topple to the floor as her fist connects with my cheek.

"No!" Archer cries, and I can hear him pulling against his restraints, can hear the crack in his voice that signifies his shattered life. I cup my cheek and sit up, but Evelyn has turned her attention to Archer. Archer looks down at me, his wide eyes focused on mine. I nod, trying to tell him that it's okay, but he looks as if he's about to crack.

Doctors draw a needle in his forearm, and I watch dizzily as his blood goes up the narrow tube and into a bag. He's seem to calm down a bit, letting the doctors prick the needle and get things situated. I can't help but feel panicked. Adam and them are out there, and Evelyn knows. I imagine guards finding them, hurting them, killing them...

"Your little Alliance won't live to see another day," Evelyn says, "I hope you two already said your goodbyes."

I can see Archer tense up, but he doesn't say a word. Instead, he shuts his mouth shut, a muscle in his jaw working furiously. I'm still slumped against the floor, also not speaking. But Evelyn won't leave it alone.

"It's too bad, really. You two are about to kill many lives-"

"It won't work."

Evelyn tears her eyes to me, and I push myself up, dizzy along the way.