There was a moment of complete silence, of stillness within her as she turned to face him and she felt a pang of sadness, not for herself, but because Honey wouldn't know what had happened to her. She hated to think of him wondering, searching.
"This is all your fault." Viper growled the words, a feral animal backed into a corner. Elle nodded sadly.
"I know." The words had barely left her lips before he lunged for her again, enraged beyond thought, pushed forward by fear as he grabbed her and slammed her to the ground so hard that all the air, or what little of it was left anyway, left her lungs.
***
"Elle!" Honey's voice echoed out over the field and he could hear the other's shouting her name as well. "Elle, where the fuck are you?" He muttered the question out loud, but on the inside he was pleading for her to be safe. For her to be unhurt. He couldn't even begin to contemplate the alternative.
He had run after Elle as soon as she'd taken off, but then his instincts had him stopping, dialing 911 and making sure the cops were on the way before following the path she'd taken through the fields.
A part of him had rebelled at calling in the authorities but then the realization struck. They were legit now. That was one of the perks, he supposed. Before the law and him had always been on opposite sides and things were different now. Honey thought it would still take him a while to get used to that.
After making the call he'd run after her, trying as best he could to make his way in her direction. Once he'd gotten close enough he'd been able to hear voice and he made it to the clearing in time to see Hot Wheels helping Sparkplug, and the rest of the Nomads get back to the parking lot as smoke, thick and choking, had filled the air. A moment later Carla and Joel had emerged, and he'd run to them.
"Joel, what happened?" Honey had asked. At first Joel had tried to answer but it was hard to understand through the cloth he held to his mouth to stop the bleeding. It was Carla who finally spoke up.
"Damaris went after Elle. Then all the sudden Sparkplug was there. He challenged Damaris and … won."
"Wow." Honey said, letting the information sink in. He didn't ask what had happened to Damaris. He didn't care. There was only one person that he cared about and he kept looking at behind them hoping she'd come running out. And every moment that she didn't his fear ratcheted even higher, "Carla, where's Elle?"
"What? She is … she was right behind me!" Carla said, panic in her voice as she spun around, looking for her absent friend, "I swear, she was right here!"
"It's okay. Just … just try and remember what else happened. Who else was – ."
"Viper!" Carla said, turning back to him her eyes wide and Joel forced words through his swollen lips.
"She was standing on the other side of the clearing," It was hard to understand the words but after a moment Honey made them out, "Then the smoke started. I think … I think Viper started the fire as a distraction to get away?"
"Did he … does he have Elle?" Honey asked, and his voice was hard enough to break rocks as he spoke. Carla closed her eyes at the possibility but Joel just met his gaze head on.
"We'll find her." He'd said.
We'll find her. We'll find her. What good would that do anyone if all they found was her lifeless body. It felt like he'd been searching for hours instead of just the ten or fifteen minutes that it had been. Even still, it felt like an eternity. Honey thought of all the things he wanted to say to her. All the stories about himself, his past. All the thousands of things he had yet to learn about her. He needed her to still be alive. She had to be.
"Elle!" He shouted again, desperation edging his words no matter how hard he tried to keep his emotions separate. He just couldn't. Not while the woman he loved was out there somewhere. He looked through the smoke, wrinkling his nose against the acrid smell of burning weed and knew that he couldn't stay out there in it much longer. Well, not and be functioning enough to lead a rescue mission.
"Elle, baby, where the fuck are you?" Honey said the words, the last of his hope draining away with them as he stared helplessly into the roiling smoke, feeling the heat of the flames on his face.
Then, a cry split the air just to his right and he moved without thought, running on instincts, his heart leading the way.
***
"Elle!" It was Honey's voice and for a moment Elle was sure she was dreaming. It was a wonderful dream. A beautiful dream. "Elle, baby, where the fuck are you?" No. No, definitely not a dream. It was real! It was really him and he was there. But when she finally forced her eyes open it was Viper hovering in the air above her. He must have heard Honey's call for her too because he covered her mouth with his foul smelling hand so she couldn't call back.
They were both so low, hidden behind the plants Honey could walk right by them and never even know they were there. With a sudden rush of panic Elle threw her whole body against Viper and in his surprise, he was dislodged just enough for her to get her mouth free and cry out. It was a wordless sound, drawn with need as it flew from her lips and she prayed that it would reach her mark.
But then Viper was back, his hands not going to cover her mouth but grasping around her neck. Fear bit into her, real and sending ice cold fingers shivering through her at the look in his eyes as he stared down at her. It was pure murder. Elle fought against him, clawing at his hands as they squeezed even tighter around her throat, cutting off her air way. But she didn't stop. She didn't give up. She would fight this bastard until the end.
Elle reached up, reaching for his face, anything to get him to let her go, to stop choking the life from her lungs but suddenly … there was nothing there. No Viper. No hands squeezing painfully around her neck. Just a spot of blue sky where the dense smoke broke for a moment.
She took a deep, grateful breath and almost immediately regretted it as it filled her lungs with more smoke. Elle hacked and coughed. It was agony on her already pained throat but she never once took her eyes off him. Honey. He was there. Really there, and right in front of her. Not a dream at all.
As he wrestled with Viper she reached out, tried to stand, tried to do anything she could to help him but every movement sent a stab of agony streaking through her exhausted, abused body.
There was moment, when they stumbled, throwing fists at each other and landed so close to where the fire raged that she couldn't see him anymore. Fear, worse than anything she had felt running from Viper, flooded her system and she called out for him. His name came out more of a croak than a cry but it didn't matter. Neither did the tearing pain that accompanied her attempts. She didn't stop. She couldn't stop.
And then, all of a sudden, Honey was running towards her again. And this time she was positive it was a dream because she'd never seen anything that looked so good in her entire life. He crouched down by her side, holding her close as he rained kissed across her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. Any part of her he could reach.
"I've got you," His voice slid over her like his namesake, like the sweetest of honeys, soothing her, comforting her, "I've got you baby."
"D – don't let go." She had to force the words out through her bruised throat and her voice was hoarse and rough, barely even sounding like it belonged to her.
"Hush. It's okay, Elle. Don't talk. I've got you know." Honey repeated again as he slid one arm under the bend in her knees and the other under her shoulders before lifting her effortlessly in his arms.
"Please … Please, H – Honey. P – Promise me that you won't let me go." It was hard to speak, but for some reason it seemed like the most important thing in the world to her, to hear him say those words back to her. He stared down as he carried her through the burning fields, his eyes drinking in hers as they trace across her soot stained face.
"I promise, Elle. I will never, ever let you go." He told her, and she could read the sincerity in his eyes. He meant ever single word.
"I … I love you." She said, barely a whisper and he hushed her with the sweetest kiss.
"I love you too, Elle. I love you too."
As the last word hit her ear her eyelids were already sliding shut as unconsciousness claimed her but she knew she was safe, because she knew, in her heart, that Honey would never let her go.
Chapter 33
"Come on Elle. Stop stalling. You look great."
"Are you sure?" Elle said, staring at herself in the mirror as Hot Wheels' voice reached her through the bathroom door. She examined herself, no longer afraid of what she might see looking back at her. No longer afraid that the reflection would show a coward, someone alone and unloved.
Instead, as she stood there, examining her blond hair that Hot Wheels had done up in some artfully messy updo and the makeup that made her eyes look enormous and luminous, she realized that there was something there that none of Hot Wheels' makeovers could ever achieve. It was that spark that burned from somewhere deep down inside her and lit her dark gaze. A flame that she had been afraid had burned out long ago, but somehow, someway, it had been brought back from the brink of extinction.