left in my body. The crunch of bone as the branch hit his outstretched arm surprised me as much as him.
“Abazure,” he swore, but I heard the metal of his gun clatter against the bark and land with a thud. As much as Ken’Ichi was the head of a crime syndicate, he was obviously not used to doing the dirty work. It was the third time Jada and I had taken him by surprise.
I didn’t give him a moment to recover. I turned and ran, even though my heart and lungs were objecting. I started for the Academy again when Dawson’s voice tore through the night, full of anguish and fear. “Violet!”
Like always when he called to me, it drew me. A lighthouse in the darkness. I switched directions, running out from the trees into the open grass of the park. It was a risk, but now I was running toward Dawson. Toward the man I loved. The missing part of me.
The moon came out from behind the clouds, lighting my way. Dawson became a glimmering hope. My heart leaped. Relief. And a new fear. Fear for him. He was standing at the edge of the park with my lab coat in his hands, searching the darkness. As soon as his eyes landed on me, he was moving toward me. We were running, like those dumb romance scenes, and I would have laughed if the horror didn’t have me breathless in its clutches.
A shot rang out, and I ducked, weaving. Dawson had his gun pointing toward me—no, behind me. I didn’t stop running while my lungs continued to scream at me. My chest hurt. My legs hurt. I could see the spark of Dawson’s gun as it flared to life. Maybe I should have been afraid that it was so close to me, pointing vaguely in my direction, but I trusted Dawson with every fiber of my being.
Another shot came from behind me that Dawson returned just as we reached each other. He wrapped me in one arm, hugging me to him as he fired three more shots in the direction Ken’Ichi was coming from.
Then, he stopped, surrounding me in both arms, pulling me tight up against him and his warmth. I was shivering from head to toe, my breathing ragged and harsh. But I was home.
“Are you hurt?” he said, smothering my hair with kisses.
I shook my head because I couldn’t talk. My throat was all but closed, my heart a tangled mess of knots, and my lungs were trying to catch up.
“Stay here,” he said and let me go.
I hated it. I hated being out of his arms, but I nodded dumbly.
He moved into the now quiet night toward the dark shape that lay on the grass of the park near a playground I hadn’t even registered I’d run past. The swings were swaying eerily even though there was very little wind.
Dawson reached the shape and kicked what I imagined was Ken’Ichi’s gun away before leaning over to check for a pulse. He said something. I could see his mouth moving but not the words. Then he turned, picking up the gun he’d kicked away. He was on his phone as he headed back to me.
The dark shape that was Ken’Ichi moved, stumbling up and toward Dawson.
“Dawson!” I screamed.
He whipped around and shot one last time into the hunched body lunging at him. Ken’Ichi hit his knees and then fell forward to the ground once again.
I flew to him, barely taking in the words that he breathed into the phone. “He’s down. Send the paramedics, but they won’t be needed.”
He hung up as he swept me back into his embrace. I pushed my nose into his chest, absorbing the scent of him. The smoky pine and sea scent mingled with fear. I wasn’t sure if the fear was wafting off of me or him or both of us. Terror.
He separated us so he could look down into my face. He put his hands on my cheeks, scanning my eyes, and then going down every single part of me before returning to my face.
“You’re really unhurt?”
I nodded, unable to find my voice as my body shook from head to toe. That was when I noticed the blood. The blood pooling on the sleeve of the white Henley he’d put on before leaving the B&B that afternoon.
“Dawson, you’re bleeding!” Alarm twisted my heart that had been trying to unwind back into a clenched knot. Dread filled me. More blood. More