Page 27 of Inescapable Gravity

But now, she felt like she could find the heart and soul of the violin because she had finally found her own.

She could bring the magic from her soul into the instrument in her hands.

Beauty. True beauty came from the strings and they filled the air.

She had never felt so entangled and in touch with the music, believing that it might be singing from the very tips of her fingers.

And then the piece was over.

Her bow lifted away from the strings.

Her lungs filled with air over and over as the remaining sounds rose up and into the rafters of the room.

She lowered her bow to her side and with her hand gently holding the neck of the violin, she lowered it as well.

The crowd erupted into a torrent of applause as she bent at the waist to bow and thank the crowd.

It was when she stood up that she heard Marius call out her name.

"Heather, get down!"

She saw it. Saw the danger coming in her direction like it was moving in slow motion.

But she froze and couldn't manage to move out of its way.

A red beam of light coming from the back corner of the room, high up in the rafters.

She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER SIX

The laser sight that cut through the air of the room might not have been so visible if it hadn't been for the light haze of dust in the air.

Marius burst out of the wings with one thought in his head.

Save Heather.

He grabbed her and drove her down to the floor as gunfire bit into the wooden stage, POW POW. Side by side like fangs.

"Get up, baby. Get up."

He put his hands on her and lifted her from the ground.

She moved with him. Putting her feet under her body and managed to keep up with him when he ran her into the shadows.

It was a hallway that he'd scouted out earlier when he was with Miles.

His job wasn't to seek out the shooter. His job was to get Heather and the violin out of danger.

And that's exactly what he did.

From the venue into a car.

From the car to a nearby hotel.

And from that hotel into a secure room.

But that's where the plan ran off the rails.

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