Page 86 of Through the Fire
He ran after them again as fast as he could, only pausing for a brief moment to unhook the twine leash when it got caught in some brush. The trees thinned a little as they ran over the crest of a hill, enough so that he saw the two figures—one on the ground and one standing—at the bottom of the incline. He sped up, dodging trees and rocks, and Justice pulled him to an even faster pace. The dog started baying, and both women turned their heads.
Elena was the one standing, and her arms were outstretched, the dull black of a handgun in her hands. It felt as if Wes’s heart stopped at the sight. Time slowed down, but that didn’t help, since there was no way he could get close enough in time to stop what was going to happen.
Elena was going to shoot Kit, and there was nothing Wes could do but watch.
* * *
The sight of Wes and Justice made hope leap in Kit’s chest for one illogical moment before she realized they were too far away. They couldn’t help her. Kit felt around for a rock or a branch or some kind of weapon so that she could at least go out fighting, but there was nothing except leaves and snow and sandy dirt.
“My plan didn’t go like I wanted,” Elena said, adjusting her aim, “but at least I get to kill you. You were the most aggravating part of this place.”
A boom echoed through the trees, and Kit’s eyes snapped shut. She braced for the hit, wondering if it was going to hurt, sending a mental apology to everyone who’d be heartbroken at her death. She’d failed to stay alive, but at least she’d saved the others. Despite the comfort in that thought, she still felt a rush of fury and grief as she waited for the bullet that would end her life.
There was no impact. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was alive and unhurt and that Elena was the one on the ground, a hole through her middle and her eyes wide with shock.
Kit looked around, trying to understand what had just happened, how she’d been saved. Her gaze landed on a camouflaged figure standing in the trees a short distance away, smoke curling from the shotgun as he lowered it to his side. “Murphy?”
He gave her an odd half salute before he turned and walked away. Then Wes was there, and her attention was focused on him and Justice, one who was patting her down, looking for bullet wounds, and the other who was focused on licking her face.
She was alive. Despite everything, she’d survived. Wrapping an arm around Justice and the other around Wes, she felt a moment of sheer happiness.
At a low groan, she turned her head to see Elena’s sprawled and bleeding body. Forcing herself to release Wes and Justice, she dragged herself to Elena’s side. Grabbing the gun sitting in the snow by the other woman, Kit slid it toward Wes. “Clear that,” she ordered roughly.
As she felt for a pulse, she used her other hand to cover the bleeding hole where the slug had entered. Elena’s heart beat sluggishly, throbbing weakly against her fingers, and Kit turned her entire focus to stopping the bleeding. Elena may have been a monster, but Kit was still a cop—and she had to help. She couldn’t let even Elena die if there was some way she could prevent it.
“Are medics following?” she asked Wes without turning toward him.
“I’m not sure. Justice and I just took off.” His voice shook, and she wished she could spare a moment to reassure him, but she was too focused on stopping Elena from bleeding out and keeping herself from passing out. “We had to find you.”
She opened her mouth to thank him for coming after her, for having her back, when she felt a sharp pain prick her stomach. Glancing down, she saw a knife blade pointing at her belly. It seemed surreal, so small and yet so deadly as it pressed against her skin. Shocked, her gaze flew to Elena’s face to see her small, cold smile. In that moment, Kit could read everything in those dark eyes. Elena was going to punish Kit for interfering in her plan, for seeing through Elena’s act when everyone else had believed her. Before she died, Elena was going to drag one last person with her.
Kit knew in that second that she was going to die in these snowy woods after all.
A loud boom rocked the world around her, making Kit flinch, and she saw the moment Elena’s hand slipped off the knife, leaving it to fall harmlessly into the snow. When Kit moved her stunned gaze back to Elena’s face, the smile was gone…and so was most of her head. Dark hair was caught in a spreading halo of blood.
Everything was quiet as Kit turned her head to look at Wes.
His arm was extended, Elena’s gun smoking in his hands, a grim look on his face.
“Thank you,” she said, the words echoing strangely inside her head. She could hardly believe everything that had happened. “You saved my life.”
He stared at her, his gun hand falling to his side. Without looking away from Kit, he dropped the magazine and cleared the chamber, letting the bullet drop into the snow. Sliding the gun in his pocket, he crouched next to her and pulled her gently into his arms. Once she was pressed against his chest, his arms tightened until she could barely breathe.
She didn’t mind, though. The pressure reminded her that she was alive.
Justice pressed against her other side. Wrapping an arm around the dog and the other around the man, she hugged them both tightly to her. “How am I not dead?” Her voice shook, but she forgave herself for that. After all, she’d just come closer to dying than she ever had—and considering the insanity of the last half hour, that was saying something.
Finally releasing her, Wes ran his gaze over her, quickly finding the bullet wound. “I thought I was going to have to watch you die.” His hands trembled as he tore the fabric of her pants, exposing the bloody hole in her thigh. For some reason, that shakiness made her start to cry.
“I’ll be okay,” she said as much for her own reassurance as his. “I’m not dead. I’m not even injured that much. Well, except for my leg, but that’s just a bullet hole.”
His huff of breath was shaky at best. “Right. Just a bullet hole. Over here!” His last two words were a shout.
Everything was getting fuzzy around the edges, and her leg had pretty much stopped hurting again, even though Wes was pressing on it.
“Thanks for saving my life again,” she said, unable to keep her words from slurring. Other voices around them caught her attention for a moment, and then they slipped away from her. Even Wes’s face was getting a little blurry. “You seem to be making a habit of it.”
This time, when unconsciousness tugged at her, she let it take her. Wes was here, and he’d keep her safe.
