Page 89 of Protect Your Queen

He was going to shoot Chris. I couldn’t let that happen. My pulse beat in my ears, but not like the other times. I wasn’t paralyzed by sleep and so numb that it hurt. I was just… afraid.

The thigh holster under my skirt burned against my skin as I picked up my Ruger. In one quiet, and almost mindless gesture, I charged the pistol, aimed from beneath Stasia’s arm and fired at the center of Dryden’s massive chest. The upward angle went through his heart and came out the other side, splattering to the corner where the ceiling met the wall above. The red light that proclaimed “Recording in Session” was covered in a jam-like substance.

I didn’t know who else fired: Dryden or Chris. Not until Dryden’s head exploded as he was cut in half, his skull split to his side, his chest collapsing back under the pressure as two bullets crossed through his body. He fell to his knees like a rag doll, dead in multiple ways as my ears went silent. Like I had been submerged underwater. Then the ringing started.

I slowly placed the gun on the tabletop.

“Chris?” I could barely hear my own voice. The ringing, the pressure on my head…what had I done?“Chris!”

He was covered in blood.

Had I shot him? Had Dryden? He had so much blood on him!

His hands moved at a glacial pace as his weapon disappeared into the back ofhis trousers.

He stepped towards me, as if he was moving in slow motion. But he didn’t walk tome. He was going for my gun. I tried to reach for it. It wasmygun. He couldn’t have it. But he was faster.

The door behind him opened, letting light in from the hallway. Shadows appeared.

He did something to my gun, the slider going back. A bullet flew up and danced in the air. He swiped it mid-flight and put it in his pocket.

My gun, empty, the barrel locked back and clear was on the counter. Someone was holding me by the biceps. Tight hands squeezed me as my legs began to give. I was sinking.

There was red in front of my eyes. Red and white, surrounded by black. Then he was there. Chris.

He was calling my name. No, not my name. He was saying in an eerily calm voice, “Songbird? Can you hear me? Songbird?”

Was this all a dream? It felt like one, certainly.

There were lights. More figures crammed into the small space. Everything sped up, all at once. As if we had been buffering all that time, and now everything moved too fast.

“Is she okay?” That was Stasia, but her voice sounded like it was under water. “Jestiny, can you hear me?”

“She’s in shock,” Chris said, turning to Stasia. “I’m covered in blood, I need someone to stay with her.” He looked back at me and said, “Songbird, can you sit down? Right here in the chair?”

I obeyed, like my body was automatically up for suggestion.

“I had a photo of him.” Hot tears came down my cheeks. “He wanted me to… at Miss Idol. I… I…” I wasn’t a saint in this. I wasn’t a helpless victim. I was a criminal too. “Had a photo of him, when he… I told him I’d show it to everyone if he didn’t… if he didn’t help me… he… ”

There. It was out. My misdeeds. The thing that had gotten me success wasn’t talent or beauty. It wasn’t grace, charity work or virtues. I wasn’t a role model for little girls.

I had blackmailed my way to the top of the charts.

“Everyone’s going to know,” I wept. “I’m a fraud.”

“No, Songbird,” he came to his knees in front of me. “You’re not a fraud. You’re no more fake than those people who use connections to give them a boost, baby, I promise you. It will be fine.”

“No! When this gets out, everyone will know. I’ll be ruined! I’ll be ruined.” I fell into his arms, down on the floor with him, my face falling into his red-stained shirt. I wept until I had no more tears left. “No one will ever work with me. It’s all over. I’ll be nothing! I am nothing!”

I smelled the coppery scent of blood. His arms slowly encircled me.

“My dear, you will be fine. This will all be contained. Trust me.” Stasia knelt down, her hand coming to my back.

She was just being kind. I knew it. No one could keep the truth from coming out. No one. The truth was not in my favor, no matter what. Now, I was a killer too.

Chris rocked me back and forth. “Songbird, I’m covered in blood. It’s getting all over you.”

“I didn’t want to tell you.” I held on tighter as he tried to pry me off of him.

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