Page 61 of Deathless & Divided

Lily had the distinct feeling her friend wouldn’t leave her alone if she didn’t invite Evelina over for the night.

“I cleaned his cut.”

Evelina winked. “Sure. So, tonight?”

“Yeah, all right,” Lily said. “Damian’s going to take me home and then we can do whatever.”

“Sounds like a pl—”

Evelina’s words cut off as echoing pops followed the sound of shattering glass and screams. So many screams. Ice slipped through Lily’s veins, freezing her on the spot. Suddenly, her heart felt like it was hammering out of her chest and her lungs wouldn’t expand to bring in the air she needed to breathe.

Something was so wrong.

Lily’s mind screamed it.

She knew that sound. That pop, pop, pop.

Gunshots. Repeated and fast.

More screams followed.

Evelina reached for the bathroom door to open it and the moment she did, the sound of squealing tires screeched in the background of volcanic noise and panic out on the restaurant floor. Lily tried to step forward but Damian’s hand fisting into the back of her dress rooted her in place. Fear saturated her from the inside out.

“Don’t move,” she heard Damian order.

But …

Lily wanted to argue. Her friend was already running out of the bathroom back in the direction of her family and friends. Lily understood why Damian wouldn’t release his hold. Inside the bathroom, they were safe for now.

“Eve!” Lily yelled.

She finally snapped out of her shocked reverie. Jerking hard enough for Damian’s grip on her dress to slip, Lily fled the bathroom on Evelina’s heels. Damian’s shout behind her was a distant warning she barely heard.

“Lily!”

People moved in all directions outside of the bathroom. Patrons, in their panicked state, rushed for the exits of the restaurant as fast as they could move. Servers shouted for calm while others demanded someone get on the phone for emergency services. A distinct Chicago breeze, one that was felt even in the summer throughout the city, blew through the building. It was too much for it to be coming from the doors opening for the fleeing patrons.

So wrong.

She could feel it in her heart.

Lily moved as if she’d been placed in a bubble—a daze. Evelina was maybe a few steps ahead of her, but she could practically feel the fear radiating off her friend in thick waves.

“Lily, wait,” Damian said from somewhere behind her.

She didn’t stop.

Lily rounded the partition that separated the main floor from the private one where they had dined earlier. The breeze from the outside was stronger the closer she came. Lily’s gaze swept the carnage and confusion. People moved, people she recognized and knew, but she couldn’t discern what was truly happening in front of her. The large wall-to-wall windows were broken, the shards of glass scattered all over the floor and long table. Gaudy, terrible, morbid red stained the white table cloths and splattered up the wall.

Someone was screaming again.

Someone else was gasping a gurgling, terrible sound. Like they couldn’t breathe or speak. Like they were choking on something as words fought their way out.

Evelina was so close Lily could reach out and touch her.

“Jesus,” Lily whispered.

“Call nine-one-one!” Tommas shouted.