Excepther.
She stops walking.
Right there. In the middle of an open strip between shelving units. Her back mostly to me. Her frame still.
The perfect unmoving target. And I see the dot is stabilizing.
Fuck, no.
Everything in my body moves before thought catches up. I sprint. Full throttle. My mind flooding—not with tactics. Not with logic.
Justher.
I won’t lose her again.
Not tothis. Not to someone else’s bullet. Not when I just got a piece of her back.
My steps slam against the metal floor. I see her head tilt, like she’s sensing something. She turns—eyes wide when she sees me running.
I shout something. Maybe her name. Maybe nothing at all.
Then—
CRACK.
The shot echoes through the warehouse, muffled, almost mute.
Everything slows.
I see her flinch, just slightly. I’m already there. My body in front of hers.
I see her eyes—terrified. Unblinking. Staring at me with panic I wish I could take away.
Then—pain hits.
It’s hot. It’s white. It steals everything.
My body locks.
And I drop.
NINETEEN
Aadya
I’m staring blankly at the door. Hands fisted. Muscles tight.
And I can’t seem to cross the fucking threshold.
He’s in there. In this post-op ICU room.
Alive. Injured.
The bullet had passed clean through—right under his clavicle, grazing soft tissue and missing anything fatal.
It shouldn’t have been close. But it was.
The slug had hit the ground a few feet from me.
