Logan’s clapping his hands. His crew falls in, doing the same. The bull aims for them, bucking erratically like he’s only now figured out he has a freeloader and wants none of it.
Hadley comes to, shaking his head.
He tugs at his hand and is free-falling toward the dirt a second later.
“NO!”
I release Nia’s hand and skip over the legs in front of me. My vision narrows to my footing and the man lying bent over in the arena.
The man who is barely moving.
“Hadley!” I scream at him.
I don’t care the entire audience has turned to gawk at the hysterical woman scrambling down the stairs between the aisles. I trip over the second to last step and catch myself on the shoulder of a stranger before rushing at the rails.
“Get UP!” I grip the rail with white knuckles. “GET UP!”
Hadley,please get up. . .
I slump against the rails as Hells Bells spins back, ignoring Logan and his bullfighters.
“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the rail,” a security guy in all black says, looking down at me.
I flick my focus back to Hadley.
To the bull closing in on him.
I slip through the rails.
The guards grabs the fence. “Come back. You can’t be in there!”
Not paying him any heed, I sprint for the bull.
“Hey!” I’m waving my hands in the air. Logan spins back and curses before pulling his hat off his head and tossing it at the bull. Who is still making a beeline for Hadley, trying and failing to push to his feet.
He wobbles on one foot and falls back down.
Cowboys rush for him.
I sprint for the bull.
I glance to the skies overhead. Well, the lit-up ceiling of the enormous event center. “Doing something meaningful, Cap.”
Something meaningful that I want—no,need—to do.
For Hadley.
For his family.
For myself.
I come close to the bull and slap it square on the hind. It stumbles to a stop and turns back.
“Chase me! Go on!”
I’m much more nimble than my broken cowboy. I’ve outrun militia and bears in the forest. How hard can one bull be?
Hells Bells lowers his head and snorts.
