Elodie’s screaming.
Bunny, no. It’ll be okay.I’m bleeding out, but I want to reassure her.
She’s on her knees beside me. Her freckles are stark on her tear-streaked face.
I love her freckles so much.
She grabs my hand.
“You came back for me.” I squeeze her fingers. My own fingers are stiff and cold.
“Jaeger, oh gods?—”
“Are you hurt?”
“You’re shot!” She’s shaking.
I pull her down so her face is close to mine. I want to kiss her.
She won’t let me. “You’re bleeding,”
“It’s nothing.”
She opens my leather jacket and turns ghostly pale. “I have to stop the bleeding.” She pulls her scarf off, wads it up, and presses it to my midriff.
“We should leave.” Even my lips feel cold. “Before the pigs come.” The alley’s littered with bodies, and there’s a red river running in the valley between the dumpsters. The police won’t like that. St. James and Lucy have the cops in their pocket, but they’ll bitch about the paperwork.
“Shut up.”
A shadow falls over us both, and she flinches. I start struggling to sit up until I see it’s Kaiser.
Finally.
Elodie
Blood.There’s so much blood, and Jaeger’s cheeks have lost their color.
Then someone’s growling, “What the hell?” above my head. I bite back a scream and look up to see Kaiser. I didn’t even hear him approach.
“He’s shot,” I snap. “You’ve got to help him.”
“I’m here.” Atticus appears and pushes me aside. I scramble out of the way so he can open his medical case and go to work.
“What happened?” Kaiser glowers at me, but I’ve had it.
“What happened is you kicked me out, and then my friend sold me out to a bunch of idiots.” I can’t believe I’m yelling at the scary twin. “Jaeger tried to save me, and he got shot.”
Kaiser reaches for me, and I lose it. I push at his solid chest, shrieking, “This is all your fault!”
Kaiser growls, and I brace for retaliation. I’m so mad I don’t care.
“Will you two stop? We need to get out of here.”
We both whirl to see Atticus helping Jaeger to his feet.
“But,” I start. Jaeger looks half unconscious. There’s a bandage wrapped tightly around his middle, but a red stain is rapidly blooming.
“I got him stable. Let’s go.”
