Before the smoke even cleared, I was moving.
More shots rang out, wild, panicked bullets tearing through the air around me. I didn't flinch. Didn't stop. My mind calculated trajectory, distance, threat level, all in the span of a heartbeat.
For one split second, I thought...
Kairen.
The thought cut sharper than it should have.
But when the smoke cleared and I closed the distance between us, I saw him. Still standing. Still breathing. Blood splattered across his face, but none of it his.
Relief hit me like a fist to the chest. I didn't let it show.
I grabbed him, hard, rough and yanked him toward me just as the masked man stumbled back, clutching his abdomen. Blood poured between his fingers, but he was still standing, still shooting. Wild shots. Desperate shots.
I pressed Kairen against my chest with one arm, shielding him, and raised my stolen pistol with the other.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
