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But when I turned left instead of right to let her know I was home, it wasn't Magda who smiled at me. "Ah, Gwen darling, there you are."
My eyes went wide, and my gaze flickered around. "What are you doing here, Lucy?"
She grinned. "Well, I saw Magda at the service entrance when I was parking my car. Obviously, Magda and I are friends, so she let me up. Isn't that sweet?"
I started backing up. Could I make it to the panic room?
You’re being paranoid. Maybe Lucy is looking for Morgan.
"Right. Well, I don't think Morgan's here. She has classes this morning."
She frowned. "Are you sure? She told me to come this morning."
"Yeah, she's got classes all day. Her schedule is right there on the refrigerator. Where's Magda?"
"Oh, she wanted to have a lie down. She'd done some shopping, so I helped her bring it in." She indicated one of the bags on the counter, and I recognized the label from one of the stalls at the Farmers’ Market down the street that we liked to go to.
"Right. So she must have told you already that Morgan is not here,” I said as I started to back up.
As I retreated, Lucy advanced. "You know, she might have mentioned it. But I figured since you're almost always here, you and I could talk."
"I'm not sure what you want to talk about."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
And no Atticus today. Fucking hell. How on earth had this happened?
My brain tried to work it all out. Was it Lucy trying to kill me? But that wouldn't make any sense. Lucy didn't know how to shoot anyone. She was a socialite.
But still, every instinct in my body told me to run. To head down to the panic room and lock myself in. Atticus had told me to listen to my instincts, so I inched to the left.
Lucy took another step toward me. "You see, you and I have so much in common, you know? You're fucking my man."
"I beg your pardon?" That made me halt. "You and Atticus have been over for a long time now."
"Yeah, about that. We haven't been. We have been sleeping together this entire time. He only married you because of that deal with your father."
For one brief, horrifying moment, the axis of my world tilted. After all, Lucy was the right fit for him. She was a socialite. The right kind of socialite. Blond, refined, what people expected. He’d never have to explain to anyone how or why she was his wife. They’d never have to endure the double takes and the questioning looks because she fit what people expected of him.
But just as the thought started to take hold, I looked at her. Really looked at the gleam in her eye, and I knew she was lying.
I pretended to sob and clutch my chest for one second, and then I took off running. I was faster and stronger than she was, so I didn't even pay attention to the thumping feet behind me. I just kept running. Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten.
And then pain flashed along my back, right at the same shoulder the bullet had struck. And my brain went fuzzy as a wave of dizziness took me.
I screamed, clutching my shoulder as I continued to try and run, but that stab had caused me precious moments, and she was on me then.
She kicked me, and I went sprawling to the floor. She climbed on top of me, wrenching the knife out of my shoulder for a second of blessed relief. But I knew if I stayed like that, she was going to stab me in the back. Literally.
I forced in a deep breath, just like Sven had taught me. Deep in, short one out. I tightened every muscle in my body then did what he’d taught me, drawing elbows to knees and bucking her off me.
Once she was off and went sprawling before me, I grabbed the knife that she'd lost and cast it behind me somewhere. If she wanted to fight me, she was going to have to fight me unarmed.
I screamed, “Avalon, Avalon!” That was the code word, and I prayed to God the guys could hear me next door. "Avalon! Avalon!"
Meanwhile, Lucy launched herself at me again, aiming for my face. But I ducked and tucked my shoulders straight into her ribs, sending her sprawling back again and landing on top of her.
She thumped at my back to no avail, but then she had better success because she grabbed at my ponytail, yanking my head back, and I had no choice but to release her. I staggered backward, and then she punched me in the throat.
