The Beating of Your Heart

Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I USED TO LOVE RAIN.

That is, until the water was changed into bullets and a simple walk was changed into a run for your life.

"Get them!" I hear one of them yell as the soldiers start running down the stairs.

"Go left," I say.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Eponine snaps. "Although..."

"What?"

"I vote left too."

I roll my eyes as she jerks me to the left. I trip over my own feet and end up falling on her, slamming her into the wall.

"Watch it, dumbass!"

"This is your fault," I protest.

"Okay. Fair point." She pushes me off her. "But I'm still holding it against you."

And with that she starts sprinting down the hall again. I shake my head before following her.

"Hey, where are you going?" I ask, trying to keep up.

"Where do you think?"

I follow her, but I have no clue where she is heading. I have never really been in this part of Café Musain before.

"Tell me you found another exit," I say.

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

I can hear the venom in her words. She's still mad at me. Of course, she is. However, lucky for me, she's more mad at them right now.

"I think I found some weird passage that could lead us back upstairs," she says, turning left this time.

Wow. Café Musain really is bigger than I had thought.

"And then what, Eponine? We jump out the window?"

"The back exit is on the second floor, idiot! I thought you'd remember. You know, the way by which the soldiers came in here, probably dooming me to a certain death."

"Well," I try. "At least you'll have the chance to die in my arms. Maybe. If they don't kill me first."

"My hero," she lets out flatly.

She turns right at the end of the hall. Crap. I recognize this place now. Gavroche hid here once when we were playing hide-and-seek. Let's say there was a good reason why I found him. We should have gone left. There's no time. I double speed after her.

"Hey, Ep-"

My sentence is cut short as I run right into her. I was expecting an insult, even a threat or something, but no, nothing. She just seems to be frozen in place.

"Eponine?"

"Is that what you were about to tell me?"

"Umm, yeah... About that..."

I hear the sound of a gun being loaded behind us and my blood instantly freezes in my veins.

"Dead end," the soldier chuckles. "Well, this is an interesting turn of events."