More explosions rocked the building.

I was stuck on my side. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t get out of my restraints. I heard another explosion and then the sound of what I assumed were gunshots. There was indistinct yelling, more gunshots, and another explosion.

I tried to roll onto my other side to see if that would help, but I couldn’t even manage it. The floor was smooth and cool against my face as gunfire continued.

Hope flooded my body. Trip was coming for me. Nobody else would attack the rebels like this. Trip was making his move already.

Still, this attack was intense. It felt like the whole building was going to fall down around me in pieces. I was both terrified and elated that I wasn’t going to get shredded by Corvin’s daggers.

Though that hope slowly drained from me as the door flew open behind me.

“You fucking bitch.”

Corvin grabbed me and pulled me up. He was bleeding from a wound on his head and his eyes were wild.

“You fucking did this,” he said. “You led him here.”

“How?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he raged, out of his mind. “You fucking whore. You tricked me.”

“Trip is coming, Corvin. Give yourself up. Maybe he can be merciful.”

“Merciful?” His laugh ripped from his body like a bandage torn from a wound. “I’ve never known mercy from the lords and the ladies. Do you know what they do to us?” He pulled out his daggers. “They bleed us dry every day. They sit in their expensive houses with their money and their servants and they play their little political games while the rest of the country bleeds and toils for them.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “I’ve seen the good things the king does for you.”

“Lies,” he said. “All lies. We have no voice in this country, no say in what happens to us. We’re a pathetic, backward people, and your fucking king is holding us back.” He stepped toward me.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said, shaking. “You really don’t. I can make Trip show you mercy. I know I can.”

“There’s no mercy, not for me, not for you.” He moved his horrible blades toward me. “At least I can destroy something he loves before he kills me. This way he can feel what I’ve felt.”

“What happened to you?”

“My family worked the Corvin lands for generations and never went anywhere. We were practically fucking slaves, and I got sick of it.”

I had to keep him talking. The gunshots were getting louder, and the explosions had stopped. They were inside the building; I could just feel it. Trip was getting so close. I just needed this madman to keep ranting for a few minutes longer.

“That’s horrible,” I said. “What happened to your parents?”

“Cancer took them,” he said. “They couldn’t be saved, not after their bodies had been ravaged by working so hard their whole lives. Corvin bled them dry like the king bleeds everyone else.”

“My mother died of cancer,” I said.

“You can’t understand me,” he shrieked. “How could you, you foreign whore? You know absolutely nothing.”

“I want to learn, Freddy. Tell me. Make me understand so that I can make the king understand.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No, no, no. It’s over. Only democracy can save us, and I’ll give my life for my dream.”

I could see the blades coming. I could see my end coming.

I had failed. I couldn’t survive. I had tried so hard to survive for him, but I just couldn’t pull it off. I did my best, but I just wasn’t equipped for any of this.

“Stop.”

Corvin’s head jerked. His face was shocked. “You?”

“Drop the knives.” I knew that voice.

It was Trip.

“Trip!” I called out.

“Drop the knives, Corvin. Don’t make me kill you.”

“You fucking bastard,” he screamed. “Die here and now!”

Corvin whipped his knives, flinging them behind me. I screamed as gunshots went off, peppering Corvin’s body with jets of red blood. He stumbled back and then fell to the ground, bleeding, clearly dead.

“No! Trip!” I screamed. “Please!”

He appeared in front of me, crouching down and grinning. He pulled a knife from his shoulder, but the wound didn’t look deep.

“Who the fuck throws knives?” he asked me.

“Oh god, Trip. You’re okay.”

He quickly untied me, and then I threw my arms around him, pulling him close. He was wearing some kind of strange body suit that was both soft and hard at once, but I didn’t care.

“You came for me,” I whispered.

“Of course I did,” he said. “I couldn’t leave you here. I could never leave you, Bryce.”

“I thought—I don’t know. I thought I was just getting in the way.”

“No,” he said softly. “You are everything to me.”

I leaned back, looking him in the eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I love you, Bryce. God, I’m fucking madly in love with you. I’d burn this country to the ground for you.”

“I love you too,” I said simply. “Please don’t burn anything for me.”

He laughed and then kissed me hard. Intense relief and joy flooded through me, a complex mix of emotions I couldn’t even begin to explain.

“How about I just burn this place and all these bastards?” he said.

“Okay. I can handle that.”

He pulled me close and held me. I could feel my heart beating fast in my chest, but it felt right. I felt like I was finally where I was meant to be, in Trip’s arms. We understood each other now, and I knew what he wanted.

He loved me. The king loved me. I didn’t know what it meant for our future, but I didn’t care about that. He had come for me, and that was more than enough.

“Sir.” We both looked up, and Al was standing in the doorway. “We’ve taken the main building. We’re going to finish with the others, but it’s over. They’re either dead or running.”

“Catch them,” Trip said. “Every one of them. Kill them all.”

“Very well.” He bowed and then left.

“Come on,” Trip said, standing.

He helped me to my feet. The wound on my leg still hurt, but not as badly. He wrapped my arm around his shoulders and helped me walk back out.

We left the warehouse together. His men saluted and he nodded back, giving out orders as we went. I could see the respect in their eyes, and I realized the huge risk he had taken for me. Trip hadn’t just sent his own men; he had come himself for me. The men must have seen that and must have really respected him for it.

As we got back to the trucks, I finally knew it was all over. Trip was going to win. I could see it on everyone’s face. No matter what happened, Trip was going to win.

He couldn’t lose. I knew he couldn’t. My heart was full and deep, and I was happy.