I remembered the blinding flashlight beam and the shot. Had he seen death coming? Had he felt the bullet? Had he suffered at all? I hoped not, but somewhere from within me came an altogether different wish, not that the man suffered horribly, but that maybe, just a little spark of something, a flare of chaos that I could—

I swallowed hard and rubbed my hands over my face.

“It must be—” I whispered. “One of the guards. Paige said—”

The man’s eyes opened. I fell back with a yelp.

Karl hauled me toward the door.

“What are you—?” I began. “He’s alive. We have to—”

My words came out shrill and jumbled. I fumbled for my phone, but my fingers were shaking so badly I dropped it. As I wrenched against Karl’s grasp, the man gave a low moan. My gaze flew to his.

His eyes were so blank and empty, I was certain that groan had been his last, that I hadn’t reacted fast enough, that I should have—

His lips parted, a bloody froth bubbled and I stared, transfixed.

“He’s gone, Hope.”

“Gone? Are you crazy?” I tried to pull away. “He’s alive. Can’t you see?”

I wrenched around, saw those blank eyes and knew Karl was right. Not a lick of chaos emanated from the man—no fear, no pain, just emptiness. But I kept struggling to get to him, because there was the off-chance I was wrong and I would not walk away. The impulse to help was still there, not yet buried under that lust for chaos, and I clung to it with everything I had.

Karl pulled me to the door. I could see him talking, but his words floated past unheard. Then came two that didn’t: Paige and Lucas.

I reached for my phone. “We have to call—”

He took the phone, stuffed it into my pocket and caught my hands when I went for it again.

“You won’t stop me from warning them, Karl. I won’t let—”

His grip went tight enough to hurt now, face coming down to mine.

“That guard is still bleeding, Hope. That means he was just shot, and whoever shot him was taking him out before going after Benicio—before heading into the house.”

“Which is why we have to warn—”

“And set off Paige’s cell phone? Yes, we have to warn them. But not that way.”

He scooped up my gun, which I hadn’t even realized I no longer held. When I reached for it, he held it just out of reach. His gaze searched mine then, without a word, he handed it back and we hurried from the building.

LUCAS 8

LUCAS

8

I TOLD MYSELF I was overreacting. Laughed as I imagined what I looked like, slinking through the shadows under cover of a blur spell.