Page 58 of Wyatt

She wasn’t exactly sure how, but he ended up on the ground, wrestling for the gun with Natalya. It went off, and Coco screamed and raced with Mikka for cover behind a nearby car.

York took off in a dead sprint, but not before Natalya scooped up a nearby brick and slammed it into Wyatt’s head.

He rolled off her onto his back, writhing.

“Wyatt!”

“Stay there!” York barked at her as he jumped on Natalya.

She couldn’t watch. Because she’d seen him with the woman yesterday, and…oh, was this her life now? She couldn’t trust anyone she met or knew? Coco turned and brought Mikka close, putting her hands over his ears. “Close your eyes, Mikka.”

She, too, closed her eyes. Until a shot went off again, and she couldn’t stop herself from looking up.

York bled from his shoulder on the ground, and Natalya was on her feet, searching, probably for them. “Katya, this doesn’t have to end badly.”

Really? Felt like it.

York wasn’t done. He lunged at Natalya, hooked her around her knees, and she went down, slamming hard into the dirt.

Just like that, she stopped moving.

Silence. The sulphuric smell of gun powder stirred the air, mixed with the metallic scent of blood in dirt.

York scrambled up next to Natalya. She lay face down, blood pooling beneath her head. He pressed his fingers to her neck, then rolled her over.

“She’s still alive, but her head hit the brick when she fell. It’s bad.”

The brick she’d used to clobber Wyatt, who also lay like the dead in the street.

As if reading her mind, York scrambled over to Wyatt.

She followed, picking up Mikka. “Is he—”

“No. He’s just got a doozy of a goose egg and probably a concussion.” He rubbed his knuckles into Wyatt’s sternum. “Wyatt. Come back to us.”

She could have wept when he stirred. Setting Mikka down, she knelt beside Wyatt. His eyes fluttered.

“We need ice or a cold pack,” she said.

“We need to get out of here,” York replied. He glanced at Natalya. “Why did she want the jump drive?”

Coco had nothing. Wyatt stirred to life, and she ached for him as he woke wincing.

“Shh, you’re okay,” she said.

His eyes found hers.

And he most definitely wasn’t okay. “Coco—oh—I thought—”

Then he rolled over and retched, mostly bile, but she had to look away.

He sat back, wiped his mouth.

She reached out for him, but he pushed her hands off him. “I’m fine.” He looked at her again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

She glanced at Natalya. Her eyes were rolled back into her head. “York…uh—I think she’s dead.”

---