“Adam?” Her head turns at the sound of his voice.

No! What is he doing here? He shouldn’t be here!

Adam smashes into Lynne, forcing the gun away from my head. And suddenly I can breathe again, my mind clearing. I scramble to my knees, fighting to move through the pain. I have to get up. I have to help Adam. I have to save him.

Lynne brings the gun up to point at Adam and icy dread freezes my heart. I launch myself at her in a red haze of pain and anger. I steal the gun from her hands and slam it against her face, like she did to me only minutes earlier. She falls and I move in close, gun gripped tightly in my hand.

I want to hit her again, over and over and over. I want to unleash my rage on her, to make her pay for all the deaths she’s caused—but I stop myself. I’m not that person anymore. Adam convinced me I don’t have to be like my father. I can control my anger and keep it from taking over.

I am not a killer.

I take a long breath, aiming the gun at Lynne. “Call the police,” I tell Adam.

“Already did.”

“No!” Lynne yells and knocks my arm away. She brings me down in the sand, a tangle of legs and arms and bodies as her hands reach for the trigger. I feel her grasp it, and I pull back just as an incredibly loud bang goes off.

The air smells of gunpowder, and I don’t think I’ll hear anything ever again. The gun went off—am I shot?

Lynne goes limp against me. I roll off her and quickly check myself, but I’m not hurt. She doesn’t move, her glassy eyes staring up at the sky. A dark stain creeps out of her shirt and spreads to the sand, black on white, like the rest of the beach.

I scramble back and kick the gun away. Lynne is dead, but this time, I don’t feel the same shock and grief as when I saw her die before. Only relief. It’s over.

“Elena, are you okay? Elena!” Adam’s hands travel over my body, inspecting me for injury.

“I’m okay.” I grab on to his shoulders to steady myself and he wraps me in his arms. I bury my face in his neck, breathing him in to reassure myself that he’s really here, that we’re both still alive. “You came for me.”

“I knew you’d be here. And I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.” I tilt my head up and he kisses me, his mouth gentle, sharing his warmth and strength until I can stand on my own again.