I walked around, easing my hands open. Stopping in front of her, I knelt and felt my heart crack. Splinter. The collar around her neck was torn, the skin along her chin red and blotchy. Her lower lip was split and an angry red. Fury slammed into me with sickening force. I wanted to go back downstairs and beat Zach into a nice little head injury.

“Syd, baby, look at me.” I reached out to her, wanting to pull her into my arms, needing to do so.

“Don’t.” She jerked away and stood, clutching the gun and backing up rapidly. “Don’t touch me.”

Chapter 20

Sydney

Standing next to the Christmas tree, I watched the state vehicle ease down the road, its plow scraping up snow and pushing it aside. Sirens blared off in the distance. Kyler must’ve called the police. That was smart, really smart. I honestly hadn’t even considered that. It was like my brain wasn’t working right.

My jaw and lip ached, but I felt detached from it. Residual terror and adrenaline sent a shudder through me. I wasn’t really hurt. Other than the one blow Zach had landed, I was okay for the most part. By the looks of Kyler’s knuckles, I bet Zach was worse off than me. And the wall of the living room had taken the bullet.

Zach had wanted to scare me, and he’d succeeded. I honestly don’t know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t been able to pull away and grab the gun from where Kyler had propped it against the wall. And what if Zach had gone for it? Right now, I couldn’t really consider all that could’ve happened. If I had learned anything in my psychology courses, it was that humans were capable of doing anything and Zach…yeah, something was definitely wrong with him. The gun had shaken so badly in my hands when I’d turned and pointed it at Zach. I’d seen the hesitation in his eyes—does she have the guts to pull the trigger? Is it even loaded?

I’d wondered that at the time, too.

My knees shook so badly I was surprised I was still standing and hadn’t fallen into the Christmas tree yet. I knew it was shock. Not the deadly kind, but shock nonetheless.

“Syd?”

At the sound of Kyler’s voice, my eyes stung. I didn’t turn around.

“The police are almost here. They’re going to want to know what happened.” Another stretch of silence and when he spoke again, he sounded closer. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I croaked, wishing he’d just go away. I wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready. My chest ached worse than any other part of my body.

There was a pause. “Did he…did he hurt you? I mean, more than what I can see?”