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It all plays out like a slow-motion movie, one I never want to rewind and watch again. The sound of the safety going off is deafening, and one I’ll never forget. I close my eyes, knowing exactly what’s coming, when I hear Neo shout, “Like hell you are!” Then I’m being tackled to the ground, while shrilling screams fill the air.
The gun goes off and I’m not sure where the bullet hits me, but I keep my eyes closed, hoping I leave this earth peacefully. I’m just sorry the people I love had to watch me go.
Seconds pass, and when there’s no pain, I open my eyes, wondering if I’m already gone.
The weight on top of me is immense, and when the voices of others hit my ears, I open my eyes and realize Neo is lying on top of me.
“No.” I roll him off, tears welling in my eyes. My breath hitches. “No.”
There’s blood. Lots of blood. Too much.
I look up and see Sebastian standing over me. Everyone freezes as he presses the gun to my forehead. “You made me hurt another one of my kids.”
Then another gun goes off. Only, it’s not his. And it’s not me that gets hit. Sebastian’s eyes go wide, staring blankly at me, then he falls to the ground. Standing directly behind where he stood, is Riley. Her entire body is shaking as she holds the gun out. Her head quivers as tears fall from her shocked eyes.
Jagger hurries over to her and lowers the gun, letting it drop to the ground.
Everyone is hysterically shouting andmoving around, but I have no idea what they’re saying or where they’re going. All I can focus on is Neo.
“Someone call an ambulance,” I shout, hugging Neo tightly. “He’s bleeding!” I sit up slightly and grab his face. “Look at me, Neo. Keep your eyes open. Don’t you dare close them. Don’t you dare leave me.”
I can’t lose him. I just got him. I can’t. God, please. Don’t take him away from us.
“I’m here,” Neo chokes out, cracking a smile, “I’m not leaving you.”
Jagger lets Jude go, and he tries to comfort Riley, who’s far too shaken up. I should be there for her, and Maddie too, but I can’t right now. I can’t leave Neo’s side until I know for sure he’s going to be okay.
The guys concoct a plan to tell the officers, and everyone else outside of this circle, that Sebastian committed suicide after shooting his son, and leave it at that. They don’t need to know any other details. The Elders will do everything in their power to seal this, much like they do for any case that involves a Society member. But if worse comes to worst, Jagger got the whole thing on video. Let’s hope it never comes to that.
Minutes pass. Way too many minutes. Flashing lights come into view, but I still don’t leave Neo’s side. I stay with him until they take him and Maddie away.
A medical examiner comes to the scene, along with a couple officers, and when we don’t give enough details about the situation, they demand we go to the station and wait for our parents and our attorneys.
“He’s going to be okay,” Jagger assures me in the back seat of one of the cruisers. “Neo’s the toughest guy I’ve ever known.”
The officers are still talking outside of the vehicle. Riley’s beside me, still sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. I’m not sure how she’s going to cope with what she had to do, but she saved my life today—Neo, too. I’m forever grateful, and forever in their debt.
Crew reaches his hand back from the front seat and takes mine. “We’re all going to be okay. This nightmare is finally over.”
ChapterThirty
NEO
“You’re here,”I say to Scar, when her face is the first I see.
“Of course, I’m here. We all are.” I lift my head and look at Crew and Jagger, who are at the foot of my bed, and Maddie, who’s asleep in the other bed in the room.
“Maddie’s here, too,” Scar says. “We were able to get you an adjoined room. And Riley. She’s in the chair, sleeping beside the window.”
I turn my head slightly to the left and see Maddie on her back in the bed, sleeping, and Riley curled in a ball in a chair with a white blanket wrapped around her.
“Well,” I say, lifting my feet and my arms, “glad to see I didn’t lose any limbs. So where’d it hit me?”
“Shoulder,” Crew says. “Just missed the brachial artery. You got lucky. They were able to remove the bullet pretty easily. But you’ve gotta stay in this hellhole for a couple nights.”
I’d hardly call myself lucky, but when that gun was pointed at Scar, I reacted. There’s no way I was going to let him hurt her again. My memory is still sketchy, but I remember another gunshot and I remember hoping it was directed at him.
“My father?”
