As we started down the steps, I lurched to the side and shoved Tyler with as much force as I could muster. Then I ran from him as fast as my numb feet could carry me. I heard a shout. Figures rose from the tussock, weapons drawn.

There was a shot. A sharp burning pain tore through my shoulder. My feet stopped working.

Another shot.

I hit the ground.

Noise surrounded me. Murmured voices. A vicelike grip clamped on my good shoulder and rolled me over. Above me, the sky was an endless gray. A bank of cloud that seemed to go on forever. I stared up at it, unable to blink. My vision swam. Then a face appeared. A beloved pair of blue eyes awash with concern. Somebody was saying my name.

My vision flickered.

Liam’s lips were moving, but all I could hear was the pulse banging in my ears and the sound of my own thoughts.

Black tinged the edge of my vision, slowly easing inward, swallowing Liam’s golden face into the darkness.

Nothing.

Jostling. More shoulder pain. A blur of movement.

Blackness.

A stiff bed beneath me. White roof overhead. The wail of a siren.

Nothing.

Chapter Fifty

LIAM

Please, God, if you exist, save this woman. She means everything to me. I’ll do anything. Quit swearing. Donate every penny of my savings to charity. Go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life. Just please don’t let her die. - A silent prayer from Liam to the universe

Shot.

The word rattled around my brain.

The love of my life had been shot.

I’d seen it happen as if in slow motion through the video camera attached to Nate’s vest. She’d broken away from Tyler and made a run for it. For an elated second, I’d thought she was free and that everyone would go home in one piece, but then she’d dropped like a puppet with the strings cut. I had to watch through the live video feed as the armed rescue team took Tyler down and rushed to Kennedy’s side. At that point, I hadn’t been able to wait any longer. I’d left the car and sprinted to them.

Now, I stared at her pale face as Asher tried to stem the bleeding. We were in the back of an ambulance, hurtling toward the Destiny Falls Medical Center at high speed.

“I can’t lose her,” I said. “Not again.”

“You won’t.” Asher spoke as he worked, not stopping for a second. “It’s a shoulder wound. She’s bleeding a lot but should be all right as long as we get her to hospital soon.”

The nearest full-service hospital was hours away. I may not know much about bullet wounds, but I doubted she had hours.

“Hold tight,” the driver called.