Page 46 of Sweet and Salty

An odd bit of movement to my right catches my eye, and my muscles tighten.

Spencer is here.

He’s moving through the crowd, bumping into people, his eyes on Zoe as he reaches into his jacket pocket?—

Fear trickles ice cold into my veins.

“Down!” I shout toward Zoe, but she can't hear me over the applause.

I start shoving through the throngs of people around me, trying to get ahead. There are too many people, so I climb onto the table next to me, jumping to the next one, and the next one, causing an outright scene as Zoe’s eyes lock on mine.

Terror shoots across her face as she scans the crowd, her eyes falling on Spencer who's almost made it to the stage. She stumbles back a few steps, and I jump to another table, then I’m on the stage.

I jump in front of Zoe just as I hear a loud crack break over the crowd, taking her down to the stage, hearing the panicked screams behind me as something sharp and hot sears my chest.

Knowing Zoe is secure, I roll to my back, retrieving my gun holstered to my ankle in a second flat.

Spencer’s eyes are wide and angry as he points his gun toward me, looking at Zoe pressed beneath me. He shifts?—

I squeeze the trigger.

Two rounds.

Clean shots, no citizens around.

Spencer goes down, the gun he holds sliding a few feet away from him as he hits the stage floor.

“Owen,” Zoe’s voice is drenched in panic and fear as I slump, the gun heavy in my hand. “Owen, no,” she says, rushing into my view, dropping to her knees at my side as her hands fly to my chest.

I look down. Everything still moves in slow motion. Blood pools on my chest.

“Someone help!” Zoe screams, tears rolling down her cheeks as she presses her hands against the bullet wound.

My head is heavy, my eyes drooping slightly as I look up at her. My hand shakes as I reach up to touch her cheek. “It's okay,” I say, although the words are hard to get out. My hands are starting to tingle, and my shirt is soaked with my blood. I'mmilitary. I've dressed enough wounds to know this one's a real fucking doozy.

“It's okay,” I say again, the sounds of the panicked crowd muffling around me as my heart stutters in my chest. “You're safe,” I say. “That's all that matters.”

I try to keep my eyes open, but they're so damn heavy.

“No, Owen!” Zoe screams. “You stay with me! Youstaywith me!”

My eyes fall closed. I slip backward down a long black tunnel as I desperately try to stay for her.

CHAPTER 18

Zoe

Sirens blare, and I do my best to make myself as small as possible, sitting where the EMTs put me in the ambulance. Owen is on a stretcher, unconscious as they work to get an IV into him, stuffing gauze against the hole in his chest.

I can barely control my breathing, my brain fragmenting as I try to make sense of the last five minutes.

Spencer.

The sound of the gun going off.

The return fire from Owen.

The way his body hit the ground. How soft his voice sounded when he said I was safe.

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