Ellie POV


    My makeup managed to hide the dark circles under my eyes, so there was no outward sign of how stressed I was, or of the fact that I''d stayed up all night talking with Lance and Ray about what we were going to do to get me out of here.


    For now, it was important that I act like everything was normal. It was time for the celebration. We were in the car, making our way to the event center.


    I was wearing a beautiful gown that Ray had helped me pick out. It was ruched around the middle to hide the bump of my belly, and the long, flowing skirt helped with that.


    Nn seemed distracted, so I wasn''t too worried about him noticing anything out of the ordinary. Right now, he was nning his big announcement, and I was thest thing on his mind.


    He hadn''t even mentioned to me that he nned to back out of our deal, but I knew that he had given Felicity his word, and he''d never back out of that. There was no doubt in my mind that the n we''de up withst night was the only chance I had.


    He didn''t even look at me through the whole car ride, and as the driver opened the door, for a moment he forgot to offer me his arm and help me out. But then he paused, held his arm out to me, and I hooked my arm with his as we made our way past the reporters shouting questions and toward the entrance to the event center where the celebration was being held.


    There was a crowd around us-more enthusiastic than they would normally be for this type of event. But that was because rumors were spreading that Nn was going to make an announcement, and people were eager to know what it was.


    Or maybe that wasn''t quite true-people already suspected what it was, and that was why they were so excited.


    I could tell by the questions the reporters were shouting. And then the shouting changed.


    I only caught it out of the corner of my eye-a scuffle, amotion-as a tall, dark- haired man shoved his way to the front of the group. Security moved toward him, but he was agile and dodged away.


    And then suddenly there was an impact. It didn''t hit me directly, but it struck Nn, tearing him away from me. The shouting was so loud, and I was so disoriented, that I didn''t even realize at first-the man was shouting my


    name.


    He didn''t look familiar to me. I was pretty sure that I didn''t know him. But it was hard to tell with the way I was being shoved and jostled around by Nn, the stranger, and security all fighting around me.


    Still, he was saying my name-“ine”-at the top of his lungs.


    "Look at me," he demanded. "Don''t pretend you don''t know me!"


    "The hell are you?" I asked, putting my hands over my belly protectively and trying


    to back away from the confrontation.


    The man''s wide eyes red at my words. "Don''t say that," he growled. "Don''t fucking say that you don''t know me!"


    A low, menacing growl rose from Nn as he ced himself between me and the


    man.


    "Get the hell away from my wife."


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    "Your wife?" The man scoffed, a crazed smile spreading across his face. “She was mine. She was supposed to be mine!"


    He lunged forward again. Nn met him halfway, catching him around the neck, but not before his hand mmed into my side. I cried out in pain as something sharp plunged in.


    At first, I thought I had been stabbed. I stumbled away from the man, holding the side of my stomach, panic spreading through me. And it only intensified when I looked down and found a syringe sticking out of me, the plunger pressed all the way in.


    A cold sensation filled my veins, and I looked at Nn, wide-eyed and terrified.


    Nn''s expression matched my own. His normally stormy eyes were wide with something that could only be fear. I had never seen him look like that before, and it intensified my own terror.


    Everything seemed to freeze for a moment. The roar of the crowd faded out and all that existed was Nn, his eyes wide in fear and fixed on me. Then the world began to move again as I stumbled.


    "What was that?" Nn demanded, grabbing the man by the throat. "What the hell did you just give her?"


    The man onlyughed. My knees started to give out, and I stumbled back. Nn released the man, catching me around the waist and holding me upright.


    "Ellie," he said, his normally cold voice tinged with panic. "Don''t pass out. Hang on. I''m here, I''ve got you." But everything was already going hazy, dark around the edges.


    "I''m sorry," I muttered as I felt my legs start to give out from under me. Nn held on tight, catching me as I started to pass out. I clung to consciousness desperately. Security finally wrangled the man, throwing him to the sidewalk. He looked up from the ground, watching me with a manic grin.


    We were surrounded by shing cameras and screams. The chaos made it difficult to hear Nn, but he was holding me in his arms, my head resting on his shoulder as my body started to go limp.


    "Ellie, I''ve got you-" he repeated the phrase over and over, like a prayer, like somehow just holding me up was going to make all of this okay.


    Then there was another voice and another set of arms. I couldn''t make out what was being said, but I recognized Lance, the feeling of his hands on my face for a moment as he tried to make me look at him, but my eyes wouldn''t focus.


    Then I was lowered to the sidewalk, my head lying on Lance''s leg as he stroked my hair, I saw Nn walk away- heard the growl of rage as he grabbed the man by the hair, shouting questions at him.


    I looked up, and my vision was hazy, but I could make out Lance above me, his voiceforting. Standing nearby I saw Cassian with the phone to his ear, calling for help.


    "Everything''s foggy," I managed to slur. “Lance..... my belly."


    "I know,” he said, his voice breaking. "I know, Ellie. We''re going to get you to the hospital. I''ll make sure the doctors know. We''ll do everything we can."


    "My babies..."


    “I know, Ellie,” Lance said, and I could feel his hand trembling as he stroked my hair. "Your babies are going to be okay. I swear."


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    I could hear Cassian''s voice, calm despite the chaos, as he spoke to the emergency dispatcher:


    "She''s losing consciousness. She''s been injected with an unknown substance. She''s three months pregnant- maybe four."


    I frowned in confusion. Cassian shouldn''t know that. But I found myself grateful that


    he did-grateful that the emergency responders would know so they could do everything possible for my babies.


    Nn was still shouting. I doubted he could hear anything. But even if he did find


    out now, it wouldn''t matter. All that mattered was getting help.


    The thought seemed to echo in my mind as my consciousness faded and everything went ck.


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