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He must be out there by now, trying to get a clean shot at this madman, and she could make that happen, if she played her cards just right.
“Sometimes in life, you only get one shot,” she said clearly and crisply as Jenx lifted his blaster and aimed it at her chest. “You have to wait for that window to open, for everything to clear.”
She moved closer to the window, and Jenx took another step, looking desperate and readying his weapon. The angle should be right. All she needed to do was get out of the way. But her feet wouldn’t move.
“Why won’t you shut up?” Jenx whined.
She thought about that boy’s eyes, how they still haunted her. Could she live with herself if she had another death on her shoulders?
“There’s no reason for you to do this,” she said, keeping herself between Jenx and the window.
She would not allow another young man to be killed needlessly, whether it was by her own weapon or not. If there was still a chance to end this without bloodshed, then she had to try.
“He’s evil,” Jenx hissed. “Don’t you see it? He uses those psychic powers to devour people’s minds. It’s the only way he can survive - by eating the souls of helpless children and elderly people. If no one stops him, he won’t be satisfied until there’s no one left. I’m doing what no one else has the nerve to do. I’m saving our world.”
“But you can see how silly that is, right?” she asked. “You work here too, have you ever seen him eat a soul?”
“He does it in secret, you idiot,” the man spat. “He has the bodies rolled out at night when no one can see. That’s what he’s using to fertilize the rose garden.”
“But you unload the fertilizer bags from the hover truck yourself,” she protested. “I’ve seen you. Surely, you don’t think he needs more fertilizer than that?”
“Get out of the way of the Ruler or I’ll shoot you,” Jenx screamed, waving his blaster around.
Yasmine realized there was only one way out of this. It pained her. And she knew it would haunt her dreams. But Jenx wasn’t going to listen to reason. And he wasn’t going to stop on his own.
It was time to get out of the way and see if Thomm really was such a good shot.
“Go ahead then, take the shot,” she said, stepping back toward Kreed.
She hoped Jenx believed that she was speaking to him and didn’t realize that she was speaking to the drone, that was surely projecting her words to Agent Thomm.
As if in answer, Jenx lifted his arm to shoot her, exposing his ribcage to the window, and giving Thomm the best shot he was going to get.
But before anyone could shoot, Kreed burst forward, throwing himself between her and Jenx.
And between Jenx and the window.
The sound of a gunshot split the air and time seemed to slow.
Kreed fell on top of Yasmine, covering her body with his, and knocking the wind out of her.
As she lay on her back, struggling to regain her breath, she prayed for Kreed to move, to give her some sign of life.
Panic descended on her, sending stars bursting in front of her eyes.
Breathe. Find your center. Bring order to your thoughts.
Then Kreed was moving, rolling himself off her and leaning down to look into her eyes.
Her breath finally returned, and she sat up, gasping and gulping in ragged breaths. Jenx lay in a heap, a look of shock frozen on his face.
“Yasmine,” Kreed whispered.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she gasped. “Were you hit?”
“No, I was just trying to save you,” he said.
They both looked over at the collapsed figure of the young man, illuminated by the starlight floating in through the window.
“Thomm,” Yasmine whispered, deeply relieved to have been wrong about the extent of his skills.
