“This feels like a trap.”

We’re standing at the Sixty-Fifth Street beach entrance at eleven-thirty at night, and I can’t stop fidgeting. I’m nervous, really, I’m terrified, but Julian seems totally calm.

He’s been completely serene all day, like nothing can go wrong. He’s been acting like this plan is solid and he knows that no matter what, we’ll be fine. I know it’s far from set in stone and we’re risking everything to go try and pull this off.

Now, standing here at the beach with barely a half hour until the future of our lives is decided, I could use some of that serenity.

He smiles at me and takes my hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Guess so.”

“As good as you can be, considering.” He laughs softly. “Listen, Kaylee, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Everything. What happened with Leo, taking you prisoner, chaining you to the toilet.”

I make a face. “Hey, I am still annoyed about that toilet thing. You could’ve just put me on the bed again.”

He laughs a little. “Yeah, well, you escaped from the toilet.”

“Good point. Really should’ve left me on the bed then.”

His smile is genuine but sad. “I am sorry though. I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

“Yeah,” I say softly, “me too. I wonder what I would’ve been like.”

“Who knows?” He takes a breath and lets it out. “Do me a favor though, yeah? Don’t waste your life on heroin anymore.”

I frown at him. “You’re talking like you’re not going to make it through this.”

He avoids my gaze. “I’ll be fine. We both will. I just… I just don’t want you going back to it, no matter what happens. You’re better than that.”

“Okay,” I say softly, but I know something’s a little off. “I promise.”

He nods again and we drift back into silence. I don’t understand what just happened. I thought we were both coming out of this but he just talked like he knows something I don’t.

It makes me more jittery, but he squeezes my hand, still totally calm. The minutes tick past and we stand there, the suitcase in his right hand, my palm in his left. We hold hands, a simple and almost childish gesture, but we keep holding hands and it actually makes me feel better. A little bit at least.

Finally, he glances at his watch, and nods. “It’s time.”

I take a breath and let it out. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be.” He smiles at me. “You’re going to be fine. Come on.”

He leads the way and I fall in behind him. Our hands break apart and I wish he’d take mine back again, but he doesn’t. We walk down the beach path, toward the entrance, walking through the loose sand.

We come up through the dunes and immediately I spot the figures. Two ATVs are parked with their lights off but their engines rumbling. There are five figures, two of them wearing the ATV helmets, and three others.

We walk toward them. It takes me a second before I realize that one of those figures is Alex. Her face is smashed in and broken, her nose at an odd angle, bruises blooming all over her skin. Her hands are bound behind her back and her shirt is slashed down the arms. Cuts cover her skin and she looks like she’s been tortured for hours.

“Alex,” Julian says. “Are you okay?”

She doesn’t meet his gaze. The man standing behind her, an overweight gentleman wearing a business suit, shoves her slightly to make sure she stays silent.

The final figure steps toward us. He’s tall with sandy blond hair, square features, and big, bright eyes. He’s smiling huge, like he’s loving this. He’s wearing a pair of white shorts, flip-flops, and a gaudy Hawaiian shirt.

Hunter doesn’t look like a psychopath. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would murder you for fun or hunt you down like a dog. He looks like a tan surfer on vacation, just like everyone else in this town. His smile is enormous, almost insane, and he cocks his head in our direction.

“You showed up,” he says, sounding delighted. “I never would’ve guessed.”

“We made a deal,” I say to him, “and I’m here to follow through.”

Hunter laughs, absolutely delighted, but there’s something off about it. He looks like there was a joke somewhere that wasn’t exactly funny, but he’s laughing anyway because he’s supposed to. It’s disconcerting when he smiles and acts completely calm.

“Did you bring my drugs?” he asks.

Julian tosses over the suitcase. It lands with a thud in the sand, right near Alex and the fat guy.

“Go grab that, Mario, my dear,” Hunter says, gesturing at the case. The fat man walks over and picks it up. He flips open the top and looks inside before nodding at Julian.

“Well, looks like everything’s in order,” Hunter says. “I thought I’d bring one more surprise before we conclude our business, though.”

I glance up and Julian is staring at Alex, anger in his eyes. Hunter snaps his fingers and the fat man shoves Alex forward. Hunter grabs her and drags her up by the arm. She looks disgusted but she doesn’t make a sound.

“This is what happens when you fuck with me,” Hunter says, still smiling, calm as can be. It’s like he’s having a conversation out to dinner with friends. “Poor little Alex. She was never a great liar, you know? Managed to clear the beach for you though before we caught her.”

I gasp as Hunter punches her in the gut. She grunts and doubles over, gasping for air. Hunter cracks up like it’s the funniest thing in the world. Julian is tense and steps forward, but the two guys near the ATVs suddenly brandish guns, pointed right at us.

“What the fuck is this?” Julian asks Hunter.

“Just a little show,” Hunter says. “You’re getting what you want, I’ll follow through with the deal. Your pretty little girl there can live.”

I frown a little. “What does he mean?” I ask Julian.

He ignores me. “You don’t have to do this, you bastard. Alex is your own flesh and blood.”

“Barely. She’s fighter trash. Likes getting punched more than getting fucked, right, sweetie?” He kicks her before she can answer, knocking her down to the sand.

Julian growls but stays back. “Leave her alone, you fucking bastard,” he says.

Hunter just laughs again. “Come now, Julian, did you relay think this would be easy? I can’t just let you get what you want and not at least have some fun.” He bends down and pulls Alex back up to her feet by her hair. I put my hands to my face and I want to scream, but I know I can’t.

Julian is raging. He’s raging so hard I barely understand how he’s containing it. I can feel it rolling off him in waves, barely under control. He’s like a wild animal pacing around in his cage.

“She’s pretty though, right?” Hunter holds Alex’s face up toward his, pulling her hair back. Her face scrunches up in pain but her eyes meet Julian’s. “Very pretty, right?”

Her eyes tell him something. Her eyes are clear.

She’s about to do something.

“Alex—” he says, but she turns her face toward Hunter and opens her mouth.

It happens faster than I could’ve guessed. She was so close to him already, all she had to do was turn her face and bite down onto his throat. Hunter screams in pain as Alex falls on top of him, her mouth latched onto his neck. Blood seeps around her mouth and teeth but she bites down harder, fury and anger growling from her throat.

Julian shoves me to the sand before he starts moving. I hit with a grunt and I watch as he sprints at the fat guy named Mario. The two ATV thugs are standing there dumbfounded as Alex tears herself back, ripping something from Hunter’s neck and throat and spitting it onto the sand. He makes gargling noises as the blood fills his windpipe.

Julian reaches the fat man just as the thugs get themselves under control. They start shooting at him, but it’s too late. Julian grabs fat Mario and turns him toward them, letting him absorb the bullets. The one ATV guy stumbles back and trips over the back wheel of his vehicle as he’s firing. He falls onto his back, gun bucking from his hand.

The other one empties his clip into the fat guy. There’s blood everywhere and my ears are ringing but I watch as Julian comes out from behind the big man’s body and runs at the ATV thug as he’s trying to reload. He’s too slow though, and Julian covers the distance in a few steps.

He half spins and drops as he slams an elbow into the guy’s gut. The thug doubles over and Julian rips his helmet off. As he comes up to try and defend himself, Julian uses the helmet to break his face into a useless smudge. The thug falls back onto the sand, blood leaking from his mouth.

I get up to my feet slowly as Julian sprints to the last thug. He slams the helmet into this guy’s wrist, knocking the gun from his hand before bringing the helmet down on his head. The two helmets crack in a sickening noise and the thug falls back onto the sand. Julian kicks him twice in the ribs, rips off the guy’s helmet, and kicks him in the face for good measure.

I stand there staring at the scene in front of me. Alex is lying in the sand, breathing heavily, blood dripping down her face and covering her body. She looks like a demon, straight from hell. The fat man is dead, riddled with bullets, and the two thugs are probably both dead, too.

Julian stumbles over to Alex. “Are you okay?” he asks her.

“Told you I’d kill him,” she says, her voice hoarse. “Told you I’d kill the bastard.”

I stand and slowly walk over. We all stare at Hunter’s body, still in the sand, his Hawaiian shirt covered in blood.

We don’t move for a second before Julian finally stands and rifles through Hunter’s pockets. He finds a key and uses it to take off the cuffs binding Alex’s hands behind her back.

She sighs and rubs her wrists. “What now?” she asks.

“Go clean yourself off,” he says. “You look like a monster.”

She grins and slowly gets to her feet unsteadily. “I am a monster. Don’t you ever forget it.” She stumbles off toward the surf and the ocean as Julian turns toward me.

“What… what happened back there?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “We got lucky.”

“No, I mean… with Hunter, and your deal…?” I stare at him. I know I’m missing something.

He sighs. “Listen, Kaylee.” He walks over and takes my hands in his. “I’m sorry about this.”

“About what?”

He kisses me, full and slow. I don’t know why he’s apologizing. I push myself into the kiss. I’ve seen so much death and suffering lately that I need it just to keep going, like he’s breathing life into my body with every new touch. I revel in that kiss, luxuriate in it, before he finally breaks off.

“I love you,” he says softly. “I don’t know how it happened, but I do. You’re free to do whatever you want… but you needed to know that.”

Life blooms all through my body. Heroin, death, sadness, it all passes through me and drifts out toward the ocean. I press myself against him, crushing my face to his chest. “I love you, too,” I say.

He hugs me tight. He holds me close. I breathe his smell and for a second, all the death is gone. There’s only life and Julian, making things right.

At some point, Alex clears her throat. “You two done?” she asks. “We gotta get out of here. Those gunshots were loud. Someone’s bound to call the cops.”

“Yeah,” Julian grunts, and I pull away. He looks me in the eyes. “Are you sure?” he asks.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay then. Let’s go.” He takes my hand and we walk back toward the street.

“I’m sure too,” Alex says, following. “What are we talking about?”

Julian grins at me and I grin back. I press myself against him.

“Nothing,” he says to Alex. We stop under a street lamp. She’s drenched and still covered in blood but at least it’s not dripping down her chin now. “What are you gonna do?” he asks her.

She shrugs. “Head home, get changed, take a shower, and then tell my family what I did. I think they’ll either kill me or reward me. Can’t tell which yet.”

“Good luck.” Julian shakes her hand and she grins.

“Don’t need luck. You saw back there.”

“I saw.” He laughs, shaking his head. “I wish I could forget it.”

“Good luck, guys.” She walks off away from us, waving, red hair flowing behind her. “But I doubt you need it, eh?”

“Thank you!” I call after her, and she just waves.

Julian grins at me. “See, told you.”

“Ugh, shut up.”

“She’s a good one.”

“Think she’ll be okay?”

He shrugs, and pulls me against him. “Yeah, I think so.”

He holds me for a minute before the sound of sirens breaks us apart.

“Come on,” he says.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

He grins, meeting my gaze. “Anywhere. We’re free.”

“Yeah, free.” I whisper the words, holding his hand. “We’re free.”

We walk away from the beach, away from that life, toward something new. Toward something better.