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The smile of a monster back from the dead.
Cressida lifted her pistol, this time pointing it directly athim.
“One more thing,” she said. “You’re coming with us, Gideon.”
He almost laughed. “No, thank you. I’d rather be dead.”
That smile slid away.
“Would you ratherherbe dead?” She pointed the gun at Laila, who was still on her knees.
Gideon stepped in front of Laila, shielding her from the bullet. “You’ll find there are a lot of us who’d choose death over cowering before you again, Cress.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Fair enough,” she said, aiming her pistol at his chest.
Gideon waited for the bullet. Welcoming it. He hoped death would come swiftly.
Except the bullet never came.
When the gun went off, his brother stepped in front of it.
SIXTYGIDEON
“NO!”
Alex staggered back at the impact. Gideon heard Rune scream. Alex swayed and turned to look at his brother.
Their eyes met.
The blood was already blooming across his chest.
“No no no …”
The entire square disappeared as Alex came into sharp focus. His chin tipped downward to look at the red stain soaking quickly through his white shirt. He touched it with his fingers, realization dawning.
Gideon started toward his little brother. Needing to catch him before he fell. Before his eyes went as blank as Nicolas’s.
Please, no. You’re all I have left …
SIXTY-ONERUNE
A SCREAM TORE OUTof Rune’s throat as she watched Cressida raise the gun and pull the trigger. She’d been so consumed by Gideon in the line of fire that she hadn’t seen Alex step forward until it was too late.
“ALEX!” Gideon bellowed.
Rune felt her heart fall out of her chest.
This was a living nightmare.
Gideon was already moving toward his brother. But Rune was much closer. When Alex’s legs buckled beneath him, it was Rune who was there to catch him.
Her arms clasped around his waist, sinking beneath his weight. His eyes fixed on her face as the blood seeped through his shirt, the stain growing wider by the second.
“Rune,” he whispered as she lowered him to the ground. “Do me a favor? Tell my brother I love him.”
Her eyes burned. She shook her head, cradling him against her. “You can tell him yourself.”
