Chapter Twenty-Eight: Safe

By the time the police arrived, they were out of the way. They snuck through the trees under the cover of sirens and flashing lights, three shadows unnoticed in the commotion. None of them said a word until they had climbed back up to the rocky cliff overlooking the dam.

Aaron sank to the ground in utter exhaustion. The powerhouse was a beehive; half the police force had responded to the shutdown. But from here, it was just a swarm of motion and errant beams of light, and they still hadn’t restored power to the station.

Selena swung her black case to the ground and pulled a slim tablet out of the front pocket. She plugged a pair of earbuds into it and stuck one end in her ear. Molly paced instead—still too full of nervous energy to relax very much.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Breaking Point

Ivy’s scream echoed over the lake. Lucia whirled around at the sound to see Brennan  collapsed on the ground, blood splattered over his jacket.

“Oh, god, the gunshot,” Lucia said. Through the panic, she somehow hadn’t noticed, hadn’t seen or felt anything. She sprinted back to him, sliding to her knees hard enough to rip through the denim.

“I’ve got it, Ivy, move over.” Gently, she pulled Ivy’s hands away so she could press her own palm against the wound. “Bren,” she said. “Hey, Bren, are you with us?”

His eyes opened, and his body tensed in pain.

“Okay, okay, stay still.” His shirt was plastered to the wound, sticky with blood. She pressed her hands against the surge of blood, trying to focus through the panic.

Carter had already started tearing a long strip off the bottom of his own shirt.

“Show-off,” Brennan murmured.

“Hush,” Lucia said, but she was glad he was conscious enough to talk, even if every breath he took was forced through a grimace of pain. She closed her eyes and concentrated. It was hard for her to sort out what was damaged; everything was overloading in shock and panic. She didn’t think any major organs had ruptured, but something had been hit, because he was losing blood fast.