Page 50 of Light Me Up

“No one,” Noah said. “The door was open, so we—”

“That’s a goddamn lie!”Boom.

“Noah!” Caro yelled down from above. “The phone! Right infront of you!”

Noah grabbed for his phone. Knocked it to the side a few inches. Scrabbled for it again.Boom.Tile shards hit his face as he jerked back just in time.

He squinted at the screen, eyes streaming as he looked for the app. The wooden staircase squeaked. That son of a bitch was climbing up into the gallery after Caro.

Konig started to laugh. “You know what I’m going to do now, you eyeless, useless prick? I’m going to shoot your whore. I’m going to shoot her right in the face. I’ll dump her body down on top of you. Then I’ll shoot you—and then I’ll blame you. For everything. You used Lella, but I figured it out. Stopped you just in time. What a hero I am, huh?”

“It won’t work.” Noah tapped desperately at his screen. “No one will believe you.”

“We’ll see.” The stairs squeaked and groaned underKonig’s weight.

Shield activated. Finally. His vision was still blurry and watery, but Noah could just make out the bull’s angry eyes frowning down at him.

Bam.He heard Caro gasp, her feet thudding as she scrambled for cover.

* * * *

Shit!Every time Caro got her hand into her evening bag to get the gun, a fresh gun blast sent her scrambling frantically forward on all fours on the wooden gallery walkway, which now seemed barely attached to the wall.

She wedged herself into the nearest statue niche.Bam.A bullet snapped off the leg of a marble soldier, right by her ear. She jumped, and the evening bag slipped forward and slid down into a hole from a broken flooringplank,oh fuck…

She barely caught the end of the bag’s strap beforeit disappeared.

She fished it back up with shaking hands. The shooter was getting closer, he moved more carefully now. The disintegrating walkway teetered withhis every step.

And the fucking bag was trapped beneath the wooden slats now. She couldn’t tug it back out. Caro eased forward, slid her hand into the hole to pry it loose—and saw Noah springing up onto the bullstatue’s back.

Oh God. He was about to do something reckless and heroic. For her.

Had to distract that shooterfast…

She gave a final desperate yank at the piece of wood blocking the bag. The chunk of wood broke free. She pulled the bag out and leaped out of the statue’s niche, screaming at the top of her lungs and taking off at a dead run down the gallery.

Her foot punched through the rotten floor and she pitched forward onto her knees. Broken wood shards raked her ankle as she dragged herfoot back out.

Bam, bam.Bullets zinged off marble. One tore through her skirt. She dove for the next niche, huddling down into a narrow space between a marble boy and a huge bird.

Bam.The bird’s head explodedright over her.

Caro dug desperately in her evening bag for the gun.

Chapter 19

Noah caught the railing and pulled himself up and over, between Caro and Konig. He heard the slide and click of a magazine. Konigwas reloading.

Fuck that shit.

He yelled as he charged. Slammed into Konig. Bounced him off the wall. They hit the railing together—broke through it—and fell.

A large section of the gallery tore loose andfell with them.

Noah hit the chandelier and clamped his hand onto the big, circular bronze frame as massive pieces of the fractured walkway crashed down to the floor below him.

Caro.Where…?

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