Page 173 of A Million To Fall

Just the ringing in my ears and the stunned realization that something irreversible has happened.

I look down and notice the blood.

I frown.

Huh.

I must be hurt.

But somehow I don’t feel a damn thing.

Jake stares.

Archer does, too, wide-eyed. Uncomprehending. “Shit. What—” he chokes out.

A beat.

Then he drops the gun and bolts. His tires screech as he peels out of the parking lot, speeding away into the night.

Jake drops to his knees next to me.

Frantic.

Patting my chest.

Fumbling for his phone.

I’m looking up at the clear, star-strewn night sky, my back cushioned by the snow.

Weirdly, it doesn’t feel so cold anymore.

But it’s hard to breathe. Like my lungs are… wrong. Broken somehow.

“Fuck, fuck,” Jake gasps. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Is he talking to me? To himself? I can’t tell.

His phone slips from his hand into the snow.

He retrieves it with trembling fingers.

“I’m gonna call 911,” he says, furiously wiping the blood—my blood?—off his phone. He’s only making it worse.

I inhale a rattling breath. “I need you to call Skye first.” My voice sounds strange in my ears. Weak. Thin.

I try to take another breath.

Fuck. Big mistake.

A sharp pain shoots through my chest into my shoulder and down my arm.

I groan.

Okay.

There it is.

And fuck, I’m tired.