He opened his mouth to spit a retort, but then something flickered in the corner of my vision, and he fell back a step, clutching his chest. His mouth gaped as he stared in shock. Blood began to soak through his shirt. He dropped to his knees. I spun, searching for the shooter, while Zeke maintained cover. I couldn’t see anyone. Whoever had fired the shot was either gone, or it had been long distance, in which case we had no hope of catching them. We were better off trying to question Orlov.

“Call emergency services,” I said to Zeke—needlessly, since he was already dialing.

I knelt at Orlov’s side. He’d slumped to the ground and stared sightlessly, struggling to drag in a breath as blood gurgled up his throat.

Fuck.

If I didn’t do something, he might not make it, and then we’d be back to square one. I ripped off my jacket, folded it, and pressed it to his wound. “Don’t you dare die.”

He garbled something unintelligible.

“Tell me who hired you,” I demanded as his blood soaked through my jacket and drenched my hands. “Tell me!”

His chest rose and fell with shuddering heaves. “N-not…”

“Not what?” I pressed harder, hoping like hell he’d survive until an ambulance could arrive.

His lips moved, but no sound came out. I leaned closer, hoping to catch a hint of his words.

“Not about the mmm…” His jaw went slack.

He was dead.

Willow

“It’s been hours,” I said to Kade, who glanced up from the book he was reading. After our self-defense session earlier, I’d showered, changed, and retreated to my room to work and try to contact Tom again. “Something must be wrong.”

He closed the book, and his expression spoke volumes.

“What is it?” I asked. “What happened?”

“They had a problem, but they’re talking to the police, and they’ll be here as soon as they can.”

“The police?” A boulder lodged in my throat. “Something went badly enough that the police had to get involved?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

He winced. “There’s nothing you can do, and I saw no reason to stress you out. You’ve had enough of that over the last few days.”

“No reason to stress me out?” I huffed, scarcely able to believe what I was hearing. “I don’t like to be kept in the dark. I’m not made of glass, and I have a right to know what’s going on.”

He nodded. “Yes, you do. King will tell you everything as soon as he’s back.”

I straightened my spine. “Did he ask you not to say anything to me? Is this because neither of you trust me?”

I couldn’t blame them if that were the case. I had been trying to find information to use against Ronan prior to all of this going down.

He watched me warily, as though worried I might lash out. “Just wait until he gets here and he’ll explain.”