Page 41 of Scars of Fate

The rifle cracked across the canyon.

A bullet struck the rock beside me.

Stone fragments sliced across my cheek as I grabbed the little girl and threw both of us behind the nearest boulder.

She screamed and buried her face against my chest.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

Then someone shouted.

“SNIPER!”

I tightened my arms around the child.

“Stay down.”

She looked up at me with terrified eyes.

“Are the bad men coming?”

I forced a smile.

“No. The Brave won’t let them.”

Another shot slammed into the rock above us.

Dust and fragments rained over my hair.

Then I heard him.

“WYNN!”

Lucas.

His voice carried across the battlefield.

Raw.

Desperate.

I looked toward the ridge.

He was coming down the mountain.

No.

Flying.

Sliding across loose shale so fast I couldn’t understand how he remained on his feet.

Bullets snapped around him.

He never slowed.

The sniper fired again.