The crack split the air, deafening, and I felt the impact before I understood what had happened. A punch to my shoulder, a bloom of heat, and then I was falling, the world tilting sideways as my legs gave out.
I hit the ground hard. Dirt and leaves and the copper taste of blood in my mouth from biting my tongue. Pain radiating from my shoulder, sharp and bright, but distant somehow. Secondary to the chaos erupting around me.
Liam and Todd were on the ground, grappling. The gun had skittered away into the leaves. I could hear Liam's fists connecting, could hear Todd's grunts and curses, could hear Mia screaming through the duct tape.
I tried to get up. Couldn't. My left arm wasn't working right, and when I looked down, I saw the blood. Dark and wet, spreading across my shirt, seeping between the fingers I'd pressed to the wound without realizing.
It took a second too long to make sense of it.
I’d been shot.
The thought was strangely calm. Clinical. Like I was assessing a patient instead of myself.
Through-and-through, probably. The pain was wrong for a bone hit, and I could feel the exit wound burning against my shoulder blade. No arterial spray. No immediate signs of shock. I’d live.
If I didn’t bleed out first.
Sirens, closer now. Voices shouting. Sheriff Daniels’ command cut through the chaos.
“Murphy! Stand down!”
I turned my head, fighting to focus through the pain.
Liam was frozen over Todd’s bloodied body, fist raised, something terrible written across his face. Deputies fanned out, weapons trained on Todd. Someone cut Mia free from the tree. Someone else wrapped a blanket around her shaking shoulders.
Then Liam was there. On his knees beside me. His face pale beneath blood and dirt.
“Riley. Riley, look at me.”
“I’m okay.” The words scraped out, tight. “It went through. Just the shoulder.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s not bad.” I tried to sit up. The world tilted. His hands caught me, eased me back down.
“Mia. Is Mia?—”
“She’s safe. She’s right there.”
I turned my head. Saw my sister standing with a deputy, blanket clutched tight, eyes wide and terrified.
“I’m okay, bug.” I tried to steady my voice. Wasn’t sure it worked. “I’m okay.”
Paramedics crowded in then, pushing Liam back, shouting about pressure and IV access and transport. Hands on myshoulder. The sharp sting of a needle. The edges of the world softened.
Liam’s face hovered above me. Blood on his knuckles. A gash over his eye. Something broken there that I couldn’t quite focus on.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
My hand found his. Blood on my fingers. Blood on his. Both of us marked by this day.
“Don’t leave.” My throat tightened. “Mia. Stay with Mia.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The last thing I saw before they lifted me into the ambulance was my sister, clutching Liam’s hand, both of them watching me go.
