Without thinking, I grab him and spin, my back to her just as she pulls the trigger.
BANG.
BANG.
The gun clatters from her fingers. A firefighter crashed into her from the side, taking her down, hard.
The shots echo.
I can’t breathe.
Trey looks at me wide eyed, stunned. “You saved me, bro…”
I manage a weak breath. “Makes us… even…” I croak.
And then I collapse.
His face twists in shock—then something breaks.
The world tilts sideways.
Darkness edges in at the corners of my vision. I try to focus on Trey, but his face blurs—panic and pain flashing in his eyes.
“Logan!” he shouts, grabbing me, voice shaking.
My body feels heavy, numb—like I’m sinking into a void I can’t fight.
The last thing I hear is Trey’s desperate curse, fading into the roar of sirens and shouting.
My body is gone. I’m a ghost sinking into the black, but my mind won’t shut up. It’s her. Mac.
I see her—alone. Broken. Tears streaming down her face, hands clawing at the silence like she’s trying to pull me back.
Her voice, cracked and raw, begging me not to leave. But I’m already falling. Already fading.
I’m supposed to keep her safe. Keep her alive. But I’m not there. I’m not fucking there.
And she’s out there—probably scared, probably shattered, and I can’t do a goddamn thing to stop it.
I’m drowning in the images—her face, streaked with tears, beautiful even in her breaking. Those haunted eyes that have seen too much, held too much, and still found a way to look at me like I was worth saving. The way she fights—God, the way she fights—even when the world is burning down around her.
And now I’m the one slipping. Fading. But she’s still there—in my mind, in my blood, in every breath I can barely take.
She’s the only thread tethering me to life. The only thing that’s ever felt like home. I’m dying, Mac… but even now, I’m holding onto you.
Epilogue
Trey
It’s ironic… cremation.
It’s what he would’ve wanted. I know it in my bones.
Mac’s inconsolable. I get it. Grief does that.
Twists up inside you until the whole world tilts sideways. But in time… with space… she’ll be okay. She’s the strongest person I know.
Still, burying what’s left feels like overkill.
