out another cry, I realized that the guards who were sent to our houses hadn’t abandoned their posts at all. They were dead and buried, their clothes stolen and standing in front of us.
Not that this information did me any good now.
I knew that I should run, that Maxon and Kriss should run if they were going to make it. But I was frozen as the menacing figure raised his gun and directed it at Maxon. I looked up at Maxon, and he looked to me. I wished I had time to speak. I turned away, back to the man.
A look of amusement crossed his face. As if he suspected this would be much more entertaining for himself and much more painful for Maxon, he slid his gun ever so slightly to his left and aimed it at me.
I didn’t even think to scream. I couldn’t move at all, but I saw the blur of Maxon’s suit coat as he leaped toward me.
I fell to the ground, but not in the direction I thought I would. Maxon missed me, flying across in front of me. When I hit the floor, I looked up to see Aspen. He’d sprinted to the table and pushed over my chair, crashing on top of me.
“I got him!” someone shouted. “Find the king!”
I heard several shouts of delight, pleased with the declaration. And screaming. So much screaming. As I came out of my stupor, the sounds crashed into my ears again. Other chairs and bodies clamored to the floor. Guards yelled out orders. Shots were fired, and the sickening pops pierced my ears. It was pure pandemonium.
“Are you hurt?” Aspen demanded over the commotion.
I think I shook my head.
“Don’t move.”
I watched as he stood, widened his stance, and aimed. He fired several times, eyes focused and body at ease. By the angle of his shots, it looked like more rebels were trying to get close to us. Thanks to Aspen, they failed.
After a quick survey, he popped down again. “I’m going to get her out of here before she really loses it.”
He crawled over me and grabbed Kriss, who was covering her ears and crying in earnest. Aspen pulled her face up and slapped her. She was stunned into silence long enough to listen to his orders and follow him from the room, shielding her head as she went.
It was getting quieter. People must be leaving now. Or dying.
And then I noticed a very still leg hanging out from under the tablecloth. Oh, God! Maxon!
I scurried under the table to find Maxon breathing with great labor, a large red stain growing across his shirt. There was a wound below his left shoulder, and it looked very serious.
“Oh, Maxon,” I cried. Unsure of what else to do, I balled up the hem of my dress in my hands and pressed it to the bullet wound. He winced a bit. “I’m so sorry.”
He reached up his hand and covered mine. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “I was about to ruin both our lives.”
“Don’t talk right now. Just focus, okay?”
“Look at me, America.”
I blinked a few times and pulled my gaze up to his eyes. Through the pain, he smiled at me.
“Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway.”
“Shhh,” I urged.
“I’ll love you until my very last breath. Every beat of my heart is yours. I don’t want to die without you knowing that.”
“Please don’t,” I choked.
He took his hand off mine and laced it through my hair. The pressure was light, but it was enough for me to know what he wanted. I bent to kiss him. It was every kiss we’d ever had, all the uncertainty, all the hope.
“Don’t give up, Maxon. I love you; please don’t give up.”
He took an unsteady breath.
Aspen ducked under the table then, and I squealed in fear before I realized who it was.
“Kriss is in a safe room, Your Majesty,” Aspen said, all business. “Your turn. Can you stand?”
He shook his head. “A waste of time. Take her.”
“But, Your Majesty—”
“That’s an order,” he said as forcefully as he could manage.
Maxon and Aspen stared at each other for a long second.
“Yes, sir.”
“No! I won’t go!” I insisted.
“You’ll go,” Maxon said, sounding tired.
“Come on, Mer. We’ll have to hurry.”
“I’m not leaving!”
Quickly, as if he might suddenly be fine, Maxon reached up to Aspen’s uniform and clutched it in his hands. “She lives. Do you understand me? Whatever it takes, she lives.”