Page 144 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Quinn screamed. “Everyone, run. Get out. You only have a short time.” She yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking with the effort. “Get out.”
Almost as if waking from a dream, the humans snapped out of their daze and ran for safety. Quinn breathed. She did it. She couldn’t save herself, but at least she could save them.
But her victory was short-lived by some terrible fate. Jevon stirred and clutched Seren’s revolver. His neck wound was almost fully healed, and he pointed the gun first at Emrys and shot him through the chest.
The world stilled as Emrys crumpled.
Oh, wicked mirrors. Did it hit his heart? Did it matter if it had?
Quinn gasped in a quivering breath and stumbled over to him, dropping his fake painting at their feet. The bullet barely missed his heart, and Quinn rested her forehead against his as relief flowed through her. He was alive. The Playboy Prince, the bane of her existence and her friend and maybe more, would live.
He’d live.Thank the mirrors.
“Is he okay?” Giselle asked, appearing at Quinn’s side.
Quinn gulped and stared at her best friend. “He’ll live, but you have to get out of here, Giselle.”
“I’ll leave if you do.” Giselle wiggled a brow at her best friend.
“You both need to leave,” Emrys said, blood pouring from his mouth.
As Quinn clutched his agonized face with her good hand, Jevon let off another shot. This one hit Constance through the neck.
Kordelia screamed. As if urged by magic or an increase of adrenaline, Kordelia grasped Constance by the shoulders and slowly—painfully slowly—dragged her, presumedly to get her to starlight to heal the wound.
A third bullet rang through the room this time, hitting Seren in the forehead. Quinn’s heart dropped to her toes. Could a vampire survive a silver bullet to the head? It wasn’t her painting, so most likely, she’d be fine. Jevon aimed the gun at Giselle, and he slowly pulled the trigger.
“No,” Quinn screamed, and without thinking, she pushed her best friend out of the way and pinched her eyes tight, bracing for impact.
Time stilled as the bullet sliced through her stomach beforeexiting and lodging into Emrys. At first, she felt nothing, just shock’s tingles. Then the pain burst with a vengeance as it clawed at her insides. Fire filled her stomach, hot and wicked—an unlivable wound.
She clutched the bullet hole in her core, blood leaking through her fingers.
She needed to clog the bleeding, or she would certainly die from blood loss. Slowly, with her good hand, she pulled Emrys's cravat from around his neck and clumsily stuffed it into her bullet hole. It was excruciating.
“No.” Jevon coughed in pain. “Not you.”
Jevon’s face paled, and his entire demeanor changed. As if a switch was pulled, and he was back to the version of himself that was her friend. He tapped his fingers against his thighs as horror settled into his features for a moment. “What have I done?” he asked, taking in the destruction. But like a light switch, the man turned, his body morphing again, allowing the monster inside him to have free reign. He cracked his neck and said, “So be it.”
Quinn’s focus turned back to her wound. There was nothing she could do to stop death’s beckoning call. “Giselle, you need to leave, please.”
“No,” Giselle breathed.
“Find Francois and find safety, please. I beg you.”
Sorrow played on Giselle’s face as she nodded. Giselle wasn’t foolish; she knew that she was a liability. She was the only living human left in the room and Jevon’s only leverage left. “I trust you, okay.” Tears leaked from her eyes. “I trust you to do what you need to do, but you better come back, or I’ll travel to the afterlife and pull you back myself, and then I will kill you for doing this to me.”
Quinn choked on a smile. “It’s a deal.”
“I love you, you foolish, awful friend.”
“I know.” Blood bubbled through Quinn’s lips. “I love you, too.”
But as promised, Giselle quickly disappeared, as it was the only recourse left.
“Quinn.” Emrys stroked her face with the back of his fingertips. “Drink, please.”
“I—” Quinn started, but her head lulled to the side, too weak to drink anymore. Blood bubbled out from her wound too quickly, staining Emrys's expensive suit in crimson.
