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Beneath him, Thea growls, my fierce fighter not giving up. She bucks, but he still holds her easily, keeping her at a disadvantage.
“You think I won’t?” I advance two steps, hissing through clenched teeth. I’m done playing around. “I’ve been itching to kill you for weeks, since I first broke in. This,” I gesture with the gun, encompassing the room and the situation, luring him into believing I’m crazy and untrained in handling a firearm, “fucking escalates that mood. I won’t even flinch when I put a bullet in you.”
My gaze slides to Thea for a fraction of a second, meeting her glistening eyes. She shakes her head slightly, not drawing any more attention to herself. I try to communicate that it will be okay. I’ll get her out of this.
Swinging my focus back to Coleman, I take careful aim. “Sunshine, tell this degenerate sack of shit I’m a little unhinged. And the thing is, Harold, you’re all over my girl. She doesn’t
seem happy about it. I’m not happy about it, either. You have three seconds. Three…two…”
Before I get to one, I squeeze the trigger. I fire while aiming close enough to Coleman in the hope it will spook him so Thea can get away. The gunshot is sharp and piercing.
Coleman does startle, staggering back against the wall, howling and holding his ear. Thea yelps, rolling away as soon as he moves. She drops to the floor out of sight behind the table. Coleman’s hand comes away shining with blood from where the bullet grazed him.
“You little piece of shit.” He charges across the room.
I fire again, but miss. Coleman barrels into me. My hip hits the edge of the cheap tile counter, sending a shock of pain through my body as we struggle for control of the weapon. In our wrestling, I get a solid punch in, but Coleman drags me to the ground. The gun slides across the floor when he slams my hand down, weakening my grip.
We both dive, but he gets there first.
Shit, shit.
“Thea, run!” I shout. “Get out of here!”
Her shoes squeak against the floor as she moves.
Coleman jabs the gun under my chin, bruising my skin with the force of it. His expression is crazed, perfectly coiffed hair hanging in his face.
“You’re done. All I have to do is get rid of you, then she’s mine.”
Even if I die here tonight, at least she’ll be safe.
I struggle, pushing against his wrists, managing to move his aim. The gun fires and intense blistering agony bites into my upper arm.
“Fuck!” I slam my head forward, glancing off Coleman’s chin, then slump over when I put too much pressure on my injured arm.
Holy shit that hurts.
“Connor! No!” Thea wails from somewhere in the room. “Stop it!”
Damn it, why is she still here? I told her to escape!
Coleman gets up on his knees and points the gun at my face. Fuck, this is it.
Then a loud whack has Coleman’s eyes rolling back in his head as he collapses to the side, revealing Thea standing over him with a bright blue kettle, panting.
“Oh my god,” she breathes as she drops it and crashes to her knees beside me. Her hands flutter over my hoodie where it’s warm and sticky. “He shot you. Oh my god. We have to stop the bleeding.”
“It’s fine, come here.” Grunting, I clutch her close with my uninjured arm, stroking her hair. She flinches when I brush over a lump. I’m woozy and aching, but the only thing that matters to me is her. “I’m sorry, Thea. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you leave.”
“No, shh, I’m sorry,” Thea whispers, hugging me until I wince. “Shit. God, I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I should’ve listened. I came here alone, it was so stupid, but I had to help her. I couldn’t let him hurt her like he hurt me, I—”
“You’re safe now. It’ll be okay, baby.”
She fusses over the wound, finding a dish towel to help stem the bleeding, and helps me sit up. I can’t tell if it was my shoulder or lower, my whole arm throbs. I can move it, so I don’t think he hit bone. If I’m lucky, it was a graze or a clean through and through. We shuffle further away from Coleman’s knocked out body.
“Can you stand? We have to get you to the hospital.”
“Yeah.” I lean on her for support. The red staining her pristine coat catches my eye. “The blood on your coat, are you—?”
