Page 112 of Symphony for Lies

With one arm locked around my thighs, he lifted the gun with his free hand, his muscles tensing as he moved toward the door.

On the way, I grabbed a wooden stick leaning on the wall. From my precarious position, I noticed notes painted on the floor, but there wasno time to decipher them because Zane was already on the move.

No one was around.

It was too quiet. Too easy.

Again, I had the sense that something wasn’t right.

It was as if the culprit had left Zane behind on purpose. A trap? A warning? A test?

“We have to go that way.” I pointed to the door I had come from.

Once Zane was certain nothing lurked inside the room, he lowered me onto the sturdy table and helped me climb through the window.

I turned to reach for him.“Come on, Zane.”

His rough hand gripped mine as he slipped through the tight space, and we fell to the cold, damp, unforgiving ground together, but I didn’t care. He was alive.

We lay there, panting and shaking from exhaustion.

His breath was warm against my skin. I turned my head, and the moment our gazes locked, everything else faded.

He was alive. Safe.

My entire body trembled with relief, need, and overwhelming emotions I couldn’t name.

My heart raced, skipping and tumbling over itself.

I wanted to kiss him.

I wanted to pull him closer.

I wanted to feel him to reassure myself that he was truly with me.

His dark, burning stare told me he wanted the same.

The heat between us coiled—

“Amelia!”The desperate cries of my friends shattered the moment.

Layla, Stacy, and Tiana were blurs of motion as I was pulled into a group hug.

Tears streamed down their faces as they clung to me, their arms wrapping around my body in a crushing embrace.

“How could you do this to us?!” Tiana’s voice shook with emotion.

I tried to speak and tell them I was okay, but my mind was still on Zane.Still caught in that lingering moment.

Ali arrived, and he immediatelymoved toward Zane, his expression tense.

But Zane didn’t look away. Not once, not even for a second. He was still watching me. Just like I was still watching him.

Chapter 25

The flashing blue and red lights of the police cars bathed the campus in an eerie, flickering glow, and an ambulance was parked near the barricade. Once again, the school had turned into a crime scene.

Paramedics were tending to Zane, guiding him toward the ambulance, while Spencer pulled me aside. His face was shadowed with dark circles and exhaustion.

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