Page 80 of Midnight Whispers

Crawling forward, I palm the gun, then take out the magazine and bullet from the chamber. I stand to go to Cinder, and my blood runs cold as I watch blood pour from her side.

“No, no, no, no!” I rush over and set the gun on the ground, kneeling beside her.

The sound of sirens ring through the night. Obviously, someone must’ve heard the gunshots and called the police.

Quickly pulling off my shirt, I ball it up and use it to put pressure on her wound, hoping to slow the bleeding.

“Why did you have to do that, princess? I’d rather it be me than you.” Tears track down my cheeks. I shake my head, thinking of how I’ve treated her these past couple of weeks and wishing I could take it back. “Don’t you dare die, Cinder, do you hear me? Don’t you dare die!”

Despite me pushing down hard on the wound, my shirt soaks with blood.

“Step away from the gun!”

I look over my shoulder and see the police with guns drawn and a paramedic with a bag waiting behind them.

I raise my hands and step away. “Please help her!”

One of the cops comes forward and pushes me up against the wall, yanking my hands behind me and cuffing me. When he turns me around to pat me down, Cinder is already being cared for by the paramedic. Thank God.

“What the hell happened here?” the cop asks.

I ignore him and call out to the paramedic, “Is she going to be okay?” Please tell me she’s going to survive.

“We’re going to do our best, sir,” he says.

“I’ve got a pulse on this one,” the female paramedic helping Freddie says.

“We need to transport her to hospital ASAP. I’m calling the helicopter,” the guy says and presses the button on his radio.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” the cop says again.

“I need to go with her when they transport her.”

“You’re not going anywhere, son.” He tries to lead me down the alleyway, but I put up a fight, not wanting to be away from Cinder. The cop shoves me into the wall. “Resisting arrest is only going to make this worse for you.”

“I’m not leaving her!” I hate using my family name like this, but it’s for Cinder, so I have no shame. “My name is Nero Voss, and that man assaulted and shot my girlfriend.”

The word girlfriend slips out without a thought. But it feels right. Because I know now that if she survives this, I will never let her go again. Ever.

“Voss? Like the Vosses that live at the top of the hill?”

“One and the same. Check my wallet for my ID if you want.”

He reaches out his hand to his partner for the wallet he took out when he did his initial pat down and flips open my wallet to my ID.

“Listen, I’ll answer anything you want me to, but I need to make sure she’s all right first. I need to be on that helicopter with her.”

“Sir, there’s no room for you on the helicopter,” the male paramedic says. “You’d be compromising the level of care we can give her. You’ll have to meet us there.”

I clench my teeth—hard—wanting to argue with him, but I don’t want to make it harder for them to save her life.

“Fine. Whatever.” I look back at the cop. “Just take these cuffs off, and I promise once I know she’s going to be okay, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

The cop talking to me looks at his partner, who nods. Clearly his buddy knows that my family has the ability to make their lives a living hell. They’ll be stuck at a desk job for the rest of their careers if they don’t fall in line.

The cop pulls out the key to undo the handcuffs just as they’re moving Cinder onto a stretcher. “I’m sorry about this, Mr. Voss. We didn’t realize who you were when we arrived.”

“It’s fine.” I rush over to the stretcher and notice that Freddie is gaining consciousness. I get the cops’ attention. “He’s the one who shot her. That’s who you should have cuffs on.”

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