a reason to live(96)

We walked across the sensor that made the double doors open. They slid wide and we crossed the threshold into the night. We made it two steps outside when Heller stopped abruptly. Shane came out of nowhere with his gun raised.

My heart leaped at the sight.

Heller yanked me in front of him and pulled his gun out, pointing it at Shane.

“Let her go,” Shane demanded.

“That’s not how this works,” Heller answered. “You step back or I pull the trigger.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack creeping low, headed in our direction. I looked to the right and saw Barry mimicking Jack.

“Sage!” Shane shouted, his voice hard and commanding, “Just like the man at the carnival, baby.”

“What?”

He mouthed one and I shook my head.

Heller must have caught Jack moving because he swung to the left and shouted, “Stop where you are!” redirecting his gun toward Jack.

I looked back at Shane and he mouthed two.

“Shane—” I didn’t have time to think. I knew Shane wanted me to create a distraction, to attack Heller in the same way I had the man at the carnival, so I tensed my muscles in preparation.

Heller swung back around and looked at Shane. His breathing was accelerated and his hold on me tightened.

Shane mouthed three when Heller pointed his gun back at him and I reacted, slamming my foot into his instep followed with an elbow to the wound in his side. He grunted in pain and his grip loosened, so I head-butted him in the mouth. I saw stars for a moment.

Then a shot rang out.

Shane flew back and hit the ground, and I shrieked, “Shane!” as Heller disappeared from behind me. I screamed, “Get a doctor!” and ran to his prone body.

“Shane? Talk to me, please. Oh, God. Jack, get a doctor!” I shouted, looking back at where they stood.

I was surprised when I found Max standing over Heller’s body, Jack and Barry both moving toward him.

“Did he just break his neck?” Barry asked as he shouldered his weapon.

“He shot my mother,” Max seethed.

“But you just broke his neck like it was a twig,” Barry replied warily.

“I should have ripped his heart out, too.”

“Get a doctor!” I shrieked again. Jack looked at me and grinned.

What was wrong with him?

“Baby.”

I looked down into Shane’s open eyes.

“Where are you hit?” I cried out, searching his chest for blood.

“Next time I tell you not to move,” Shane grunted, “you fuckin’ listen.”

Was he kidding me right now?

“We can argue about this later!” I shouted, in hysterics. “Where are you hit?”

Shane reached up then and grabbed my neck, yanking me down until my mouth was on his. “I’m gonna tan your hide when I get you home,” he breathed into my mouth and then he kissed me . . . Thoroughly.

“I don’t understand?” I muttered when he broke free of my mouth.

“I’ve got a bulletproof vest on.”

“What?” I shoved him back, rising to my knees. “You made yourself a target on purpose? Are you crazy? What if he aimed for your head?”

“I knew he wouldn’t. Soldiers are trained to aim for the body.”

“What if he had one of those armor-piercing bullets?” I pointed out.

Shane pushed up slowly, grimacing as he did. I reached out and helped him until he was on his feet. “It was a risk worth takin’ to keep you safe,” he answered in a slow exhale.

My bottom lip began to tremble.

The past two days came to a head.

Shane could have been killed and Maxine could die, all because of me.

When I drew a deep breath to control my tears, Shane yanked me into his body and wrapped his arms around me, holding on tight. “I thought you were dead,” I hiccupped.

“Shh, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

I burrowed in deeper and began to shake.

“Sage, where’s Jenn?” Jack shouted.

I froze.

“Oh. My. God. Heller hit her in the head, Shane. She’s out cold in the waiting room,” I whispered.

Shane curled me into his side and shouted, “Heller knocked her cold! She’s in the waiting room!”

Jack paled, then he took off running into the hospital.

“She’s okay,” Max stated as he followed his cousin with his gaze. “We found her after Heller left with you. She was holding her head and spittin’ mad.”

Shane tried to guide me past my stepfather’s body, shielding me from the violence, but I locked my legs and looked down. I felt nothing. No remorse that he was dead. No spark of anger. Nothing.

The crash and burn would come later, I knew. Probably when I was alone with Shane. But for now, we had to worry about Maxine.