Page 119 of The Truths that Deceive

No way he’d come in without a weapon. I look at him, his jacket. There, at the back, a small bulge where he hastily tucked it.

I swallow past the burning, searing lump.

“Smith… please,” I whisper. “Go. I don’t have a life anyway, not anymore.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Aw… how sweet, trying to protect her. Who the fuck are you? I’m hazy on the who’s who here. I came to make sure the senator didn’t live to tell the tale of any of this. A break-in, whatever. I’m good at that shit. Besides, I’ve got a ticket out of here in a few hours, so… Who wants to die first?”

Smith’s going to do something insane. And he’ll die for it.

A tiny sob escapes and I push past him. It’s the wrong thing to do. Eric’s eyes narrow and his arm jerks. We both see it. I’m in the line of sight.

It all happens in slow motion.

Eric pulls the trigger as his arm jerks and it’s pointed right at me. The gun goes off.

An anguished roar, Smith’s shout, full of anguish, rage, fills the air, my blood.

The bullet comes at me… right at the same time Smith leaps. I see him fly in the air and he hits me so hard, I fall to the floor.

But as I fall, the bullet hits flesh. Not mine.

Smith’s.

It rips into him, blood spurting in the air.

He goes down.

Hard.

And his gun clatters on the floor next to him.

Chapter 33

Smith

It hurts like a bitch, the agony spreading fast through my arm and upper chest. But through the pain, I don’t miss the choked cry from Calista.

She rushes the guy who shot me. I struggle to pull myself up off the floor, just in time to see her with what looks like some kind of vibrator in her hand. She skids across the smooth desktop, kicking his arm that holds the gun. A second bullet goes wide as the thing in her hand makes contact with balls and then his chest.

Oh fuck.

It’s a stun gun.

It cracks and sings, and by the time I’m on my feet, Eric’s on his back. She fires at his nuts, doesn’t stop until another scream bursts from her lips, one so loud it smothers his. Then she pulls out an actual gun—I recognize it—and she shoots him, point fucking blank.

“You killed him. You killed Smith! You fuck?—”

“Calista?”

She shrieks, drops the gun, and turns. A sob, ugly and big,breaks free. She flings the stun gun and rushes at me as the room fills with the other Knights.

I’m pretty fucking sure I’m bleeding all over the place, more blood than I’d expect from a clean shot.

But before I can say anything, the world wavers as Calista throws her arms around me and kisses me.

I stagger like I can’t hold any weight, like standing is treacherous. My legs wobble.

---