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She was floating, pain lancing through her chest, up into her collarbone. Glancing across the way, she saw Dr. Lippenstein lying on the floor. His blank stare told her he was…
No, couldn’t be. What had happened? Where was Ian?HerIan?
Stars danced at the edges of her perceptive field. Her chest felt so heavy, clogged, as if she were trying to breathe under water. Strangled sounds came from her mouth.
The fighting men drew close; one tripped over her leg. She barely felt it, her limbs numb.
“Stay with me,” she heard Ian shout and she knew he was speaking to her, but she was so tired.Just need to close my eyes for a minute.
A thick-soled boot stepped on her hand, jerking her back to consciousness. It wasn’t Ian…
It was the other man. The one who looked like her husband but wasn’t.
Memories flooded back to her. Of this place, of her mentor.
Of her dad.
My little bird, he’d always called her. Her eyes teared. It was the reason she’d had such a fondness for them.
He would have liked Ian, she thought dreamily. Her breathing was shallow, there was only the tiniest tunnel of light in her eyes, showing her the tin ceiling high above.
“Ian?” Her voice came out bubbly. She coughed.
“Fight, Vivi!”
Inside her mind palace, she saw the two of them married, living in a cute house with two kids. They were laughing.
There was a grunt, a kick to her side. Pain flared icy hot slapping away the fantasy. A heavy weight fell on her stomach.
The imposter had dropped his gun. The shiny metal caught her focus, made the shadows recede. Or maybe it was the searing heat in her chest that now seemed unbearable.
She couldn’t lose him.
Save Ian.
Blinking, she raised the gun with wobbling hands and tried to focus. Fired.
One of the men collapsed next to her, his face frozen in shock. His eyes…
Vivi sucked in a breath. What had she done?
“Vivi.” The body was jerked away, the other man dropping to his knees beside her, holding his shoulder.
His face was a mess, blood running from his nose, an eye swelling. He tugged the weapon from her grip and tossed it across the room, his upper body bowing over her.
The shadows began closing in again, the floating feeling returning. She tried to hang on, to look into his gaze one last time. She had to be sure.
He pressed his hands against her wound. “Don’t you even think about dying on me, you hear? Don’t you fucking leave me, Vivi.”
She couldn’t see his eyes. “Ian?” she choked out. “Is that you?”
His gaze flew to hers. “It’s me,” he said. “You’re going to be all right.”
Pine green. His eyes were the right color.
The sound of others entering the house echoed around her. Vivi tried to reach up and touch his face, but her strength was gone. “I saved you,” she whispered.
That was all that mattered.
