Oh no.
“You’re hurt!”
“It’s nothing.”
Which meant it definitely wasn’t nothing.
I grabbed his jacket desperately.
“I heard the gunshot?—”
“You should’ve stayed in the barn.”
“You disappeared!”
Lightning flashed again.
And finally I saw his face clearly.
Fury still burned there.
But underneath it?
Fear.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
He cupped the back of my neck roughly.
“You cannot run into crossfire looking for me.”
Emotion crashed into me so hard my chest hurt.
“Then stop running toward death!”
The words broke out louder than I intended.
Pain flashed across his face instantly.
The storm raged around us.
Rain soaked through my clothes.
Blood stained his shoulder.
Bodies lay scattered in the trees.
And somehow this still felt like the most honest moment we’d ever had.
“I thought you were dead,” I whispered.
His jaw tightened hard.
“I’ve been dead before.”
