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We drove the rest of the way home in silence. I knew there wasn’t anything I could say to her to make her feel better.
I parked underneath the giant tree in my yard and turned to look at her. Those blue eyes were coated with tears. “I love you, Josephine.”
“I love you, Anti-hero.”
I leaned in to kiss her when something hit the back of my truck. We lurched forward, and I hit the steering wheel. Josephine hit my forearm as I used it to shield her from hitting her head.
When I looked back, Jacob was getting out of his car and walking toward us. “Oh no.” Josie said. “Don’t get out—”
I opened the door to my truck at the same time he pulled a pistol from his pocket. I stalled, even though I knew being immortal, I would come back from it.
He lifted the gun at the same time Josephine came out of nowhere and tackled him. The bullet rang in my ears, deafening me as a sharp pain sliced through my leg.
I went down to one knee and cupped my palm over my ear. Startled at the ringing in my skull, I stood up and found Josephine fumbling with Jacob for the gun.
My heart sank as I stepped, and the pain grew up my leg. That was weird. Fighting through it, I grabbed Josephine around the waist and pulled her off Jacob. He fumbled with the gun and pointed it right at my face. The darkness in his eyes swirled like a vortex as he pulled the trigger.
The slow motion that followed was more startling than the growing pain in my leg. The bullet stopped inches from my face. Jacob’s features were more shocked than mine.
He pulled it again.
And again.
Numerous bullets hung in the air between us. I reached up slowly and flicked one, two and then three away from me. I expected to see Ernest step out from the forest, but I didn’t.
Josephine watched as the slow motion disappeared and the bullets fell to the ground.
Jacob scurried away from us with fear on his face. Neither of us stopped him when he climbed into his car and sped out of my yard. I looked at Josephine as she stared at me.
“You?" I asked.
“I think so,” she said in a small voice.
Her gaze traveled toward my leg as I stumbled against the truck. Dizziness swirled around inside of me. I felt my mind begin to shut down, and I slid down the truck.
She knelt beside me. Her voice began to grow distant as blood soaked my jeans and the ground beneath me. Josephine’s soft voice vanished, and so did her shaking my shoulders.
I’d defeated a wicked witch. Traveled across realms to save my soulmate, only to be taken out by a coward with a broken heart and a gun.
I slid from the moment and into the void of my mind.
***
I woke to the smell of a sterile environment and a freezing room. I blinked away the sleep that hung heavily on me and looked around the white room.
Josephine sat on a chair in the corner of the room, her legs tucked underneath her chin, and her cheek rested against her knees. The sunlight brightened her ebony hair and the drool trailing out of her mouth.
I chuckled and attempted to move but my leg cried out in pain. Why was I hurting so bad?
I looked down at the hospital gown, my bare feet and the IV stuck into my arm. “What the ...”
“Kellan, you’re up.”
I looked over to the unfamiliar voice. A blonde nurse stood in the doorway with a friendly smile and a clipboard. Josephine stirred at the noise and slowly opened her eyes.
When her gaze met mine, she wiped off her mouth and shot up. “Kellan,” she said in a sleepy voice. “You’re up. Thank God. How do you feel?”
“Like death, which is surprising,” I said to her.
