Page 37 of High

Felix turned toward Thio’s shout and raised his gun again. I stared at Thio running full out, arms and legs pumping to get to me. I spun on Felix, who had been my only friend some days while I was stuck in Pedregal, and my chest tightened. He had another gun sticking out of his pocket. I stepped closer, and he didn’t stop me when I pulled the gun free and thumbed off the safety.

“Yes, now run.” Felix raised the gun in his hand and took aim at Thio.

Adrenaline had my limbs trembling. “Put it down.” I pointed my gun at Felix even though I hated doing it and had never held a gun at all before this, except the few times Felix himself had let me take potshots at bottles on the fence. Thio stepped closer.

“What?” Felix glanced at me and his gun wavered toward the ground.

“You’re fucking dead!” Thio yelled.

My stomach flipped. “I know him, Thio. I don’t want… why did you have to follow me?”

Deep furrows formed between Felix’s brows. “I thought you were going to be killed, Manny. It’s been my job to keep you safe for years. Do you even know how many attempts I stopped on you?”

My jaw clamped closed so hard it ached all the way up into my eyes. “No. People tried to kill me?” I asked through gritted teeth.

Thio stopped about four feet from us, too far away to rush Felix, and Felix raised his gun to focus on Thio’s chest. My stomach roiled.

Felix cleared his throat. “He’s not hurting you?”

“I want to be with him.” I still had my gun on Felix, though I wasn’t aiming at any part of him in particular. I didn’t really want to hurt him. I just wanted this all to go away. “He’s my everything.”

Thio let out an infuriated snarl and quivered, like he was just waiting for a chance to pounce.

Felix huffed out a breath. “I’m really sorry, Manny, but I have to take you back.”

“You motherfucker. You’re not taking him anywhere,” Thio hissed.

Felix’s jaw tensed, and I knew in the bottom of my heart he was going to shoot Thio. I closed my eyes, squeezed the trigger on the cold gun in my hand, and a bullet blasted out. I was shocked at the kick that rocked my body back and flung my hand skyward. I opened my eyes, and there was a large dark wet hole in Felix’s chest that had the back of my throat burning with stomach acid as I gagged.

“Oh fuck, what did I do?” I whispered.

“Mierda! Give me that gun, Manny.” I handed it over, barely registering that it was gone, and tears welled up in my eyes. I’d talked to Felix and known him as a person, but I couldn’t let him hurt Thio, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have survived going back there. I wasn’t sure what Papá would do if he ever had me at home again, and that wasn’t counting anyone else who wanted to hurt me.

“Look away,” Thio snapped.

I turned toward the wall of the building, already knowing what was coming, but still jumped when another loud blast echoed behind me.

The sound of many feet running filled the alley, and Thio and I swung around that way, but thankfully it was his men, including Rafael. I had no idea where he’d come from.

“Fuck. Fuck, we’re going to have to talk to Odin tonight. Manny, are you okay?” Thio handed the gun to Rafael and stepped over to grasp my shoulders. He shook me when I didn’t answer him.

“Thio, there were people walking nearby,” I whispered. “Someone will have heard.”

“Fuck, take care of him.” Thio jerked a thumb at Felix and his men closed in around the body. What would they do? If he wasn’t dead, would they kill him? I wanted to tell Thio that Felix wasn’t a bad guy, he might have even been my friend, but the words got stuck in my throat.

Rafael stomped closer to us. “I’m not sure what we should—”

“Take care of the hijo de puta,” Thio said quietly and slowly, as if he was talking to a stupid person.

“Yes, Jefe.” Rafael spun around, and I couldn’t hear what he said to the group of men with him, but they nodded.

“What happened?” Thio asked over his shoulder, but now he was glancing uneasily at the end of the alley that emptied onto the street.

“Van rammed our car. There was no driver. Seemed like it was a remote. Decent tech to waste in a diversion,” Rafael said as he stood and glared at Felix. There was no movement from the ground. My stomach lurched.

Thio turned to scowl at Felix too, but I couldn’t look at the place where the body laid. I felt awful, but he’d pointed a gun at Thio first. If he hadn’t threatened Thio, I wouldn’t have shot him. I might have even been able to talk Thio into letting him go—maybe. Now he was dead. Anger pelted through me. Felix was dead because my father couldn’t just let me go.

“We’re out of here. Stand up straight. Don’t hide. Walk like you did nothing wrong, because you did the right thing.” Thio took my hand and gave it a light squeeze as we went together toward the sidewalk. How had I thought the guards weren’t around? Would I ever actually get alone time with Thio again?