Max knew instantly that he’d said the wrong thing. “I’m saying we can figure this out. Together. But not like this?—”
“You think there’s something wrong with me?” she snapped.
The gun came up again, this time faster and more certain.
Max stilled, his pulse kicking hard against his ribs as the barrel aligned with his chest. “Kendra?—”
“You’re just like them. Just likeher.” Her voice shook as anger and hurt twisted together. “All of you. You think you know better. You think I’m broken, and I need to be fixed.”
“That’s not what I?—”
“You lied to me.” The accusation cracked through the air.
Max’s mind raced as he searched for something—anything—to pull her back from the edge.
But he could see it now.
She was already standing on the verge of doing something she could never walk away from.
Hadley edged closer through the trees, keeping low, her breath shallow as she watched the scene unfold.
Max stood just a few yards away from Kendra, his hands raised, his voice calm.
But she heard the strain beneath it now.
Something had changed. She could feel it even from here.
Kendra’s posture tightened.
Her arm lifted.
The gun came up.
Hadley’s heart slammed against her ribs.
No!
Everything seemed to narrow in that instant—the trees, the cold, the pain in her ankle—all of it falling away until there was nothing left but the sight of that weapon aimed at Max.
There was no time to waste. No time to second-guess herself. Hadley burst from the shadows, throwing herself forward with everything she had left. Her shoulder slammed into Kendra’s side just as the gun went off.
The crack split the air.
They hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the breath from Hadley’s lungs. Pain flared through her ankle andshoulder, but she barely felt it as she scrambled, her mind racing.
Max.
Her gaze snapped up.
He was still standing.
Alive.
Relief flooded her so fast it made her dizzy.
But it didn’t last.
Kendra twisted beneath her, stronger than Hadley had assumed.
