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Catherine spins around, firing off two shots at Dr. Pinney. One bullet strikes below his right eye and the other hits above his left eyebrow. Suddenly, she shifts her aim to me and pulls the trigger three more times.
The bullets’ impact has my body moving like a rag doll, an onslaught of breath-stealing pain surging through me. My legs give out, and my knees hit the floor with jarring impact. I clutch at my chest and stomach that are already drenched in blood.
I stare up at her in horror just as a full-body flinch overtakes her and she puts the gun to her head. Her voice sounds robotic. “I’m not a monster.”
Then she pulls the trigger.
62
DANIEL
The moment the woman pulls the trigger, scattering her fucking brains out the other side, I regain the ability to move.
Mac is sprawled against the cabinet, doing a shitty job of suppressing the blood flow from her wounds. I kick aside the dead doctor’s feet as I scramble toward her.
Ripping off my shirt, I press it against her. When it becomes drenched in mere seconds, I know it’s too late. Fuckfuckfuck!
My heartbeat thunders as conflict wars within me. I fell in love with a murderer—with the woman who killed my sister.
“Goddammit, Mac.” My throat feels like it’s made of sandpaper as I watch her eyes grow dim. “I should’ve just shot the motherfucker from the start, but I knew you needed this.”
“It needed to be me. You knew I had to do it.” Her voice is ragged. “But it’s over now, Daniel. It’s finally over.”
I pull out my phone only to realize I have no signal. Shit. “I gotta get outta this buildin’ to get signal and call for—”
Her clumsy movement stops me, her hand covering my phone, and I lift my eyes to hers. “In another life,” she murmurs, repeating what she’d said earlier tonight, “our eyes would meet across a crowded room.”
The words feel like I’m swallowing barbed wire. “Or a salvage yard.” I smooth back her hair, tucking it behind her ear.
A sheen of tears glosses her eyes. Her smile is so weak it fucking guts me. “I’d be a normal woman with a boring past, and you’d come in looking for a spare rim for your '77 Chevelle.”
A cough overtakes her, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, and fear has my heart stalling in my chest.
“I’d insist on feedin’ you real food.”
When she closes her eyes on a soft smile and says, “None of my processed meat shit,” it’s like someone’s ripped open my chest and reached in to crush my heart in their goddamn fist. “You’d lecture me about eating crap and insist on me eating lettuce wraps."
“We’d find out we both love '80s music and black steel-toed boots. And you’d call me Danny just to harass me.”
“And we’d fall in love.” When she opens her eyes, it looks like it takes great effort to do so. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I swear to you, I wouldn’t have done it—any of it—if I’d been in control and could’ve stopped myself.”
I swallow hard. “I know.” Desperation floods me, because this can’t be it. This can’t be how this ends. Urgency lines my words. “I’m gonna get you outta here and get you help.”
“Daniel—"
I ignore her protest, sliding my arms beneath her to gently lift her. “Let me get you outta here.” I barely raise her off the floor when the agony etched on her features and the blood rushing from her wounds even faster has me stopping even before she says it.
“Please stop, Daniel.” Her voice is weak, but the acceptance in her eyes empties my lungs of oxygen. “It’s too late for that. Just…stay with me. Please.” More blood trickles from the corners of her mouth, and she winces when I ease her back down as gently as I can.
Fuck. My breaths turn shaky, and I bite back the urge to roar at the helplessness I’m feeling. A small, shaky smile teases her lips, blue eyes filled with affection.
“I love you, Daniel. I want you to be happy. Because you deserve all the happiness in the world.”
Her eyes drift over my face as if she’s memorizing it. “I know what love is now. It means you’ll do whatever it takes to make that person’s life easier—even if it means not being part of it.”
“Please evacuate the premises within six minutes.”
When her body goes eerily still, her eyes taking on a faraway look, panicked grief overtakes me. “Mac, no! Just hang on. I’ll run outside and call for—”
