Cold air.
Noises of the city.
But my mind doesn’t let itself be distracted.
Everything is so messed up.
I blew my cover.
Hanning will know.
She’ll know if she survives.
I need to be gone by then.
Far away were Zeus can’t find me.
“Are you okay?” someone asks me, and I focus back on where I am. I look at a nurse.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “It was just messy.”
“Why don’t you come inside and we check you out and look at that wound?”
Wait, what wound?
“No,” I say, “I’m fine. It’s her blood, not mine,” I add as I glance down at my arms and shirt, covered in blood. Which is not entirely true. The bullet did brush me, but I don’t care. I needto get away.
“Let's get you cleaned up then,” says the nurse, and tries to steer me inside.
“I’m okay, really,” I say and turn. I have to get away. Far, far away.
So I walk away. Three black Escalades pull up in front of the hospital. I tense for one second before I recognize two of Lilian’s people. They will be securing the area.
Get away,I tell myself.Walk!
I’m not one to be in shock over having shots fired at me. What shocks me most is that I couldn’t let her die.
I don’t want her to die.
I have feelings.
Desires.
And now she might die anyway.
The world around me feels strange.
I glance around.
I can’t shake the feeling of being watched. Maybe some of her people are already following me again because Hannigan knows something is off about me.
Gods, what a messed-up shit show my life is.
I walk down the sidewalk without knowing where I am going. I need a plan. I need to burn Ella, get to my safety apartment, and then vanish for a very long time.
Suddenly, a motorcycle crosses my path on the sidewalk. It's the same bike from before, and a gun is pointing at me.
A hand grasps my shoulder from behind.
