Chapter 15 - The Trigger
"Well, well," the mercenary grinned, shifting his weight to turn his sidearm toward her.
"Saved me the trouble of cutting through the steel—"
Elena didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. She pulled the trigger.
The deafening roar of the shotgun echoed through the house like thunder. The heavy recoil barely shook her frame as the blast struck the mercenary squarely in the chest, lifting his massive body off his feet and throwing him backward over the catwalk railing into the foyer below.
The heavy thud of his body hitting the lower floor was followed by absolute, ringing silence.
Elena dropped the smoking shotgun, ran across the hallway, and dropped to her knees beside me.
"Lucas! Oh god, Lucas!" she cried, ripping her sweater off to press it with all her strength against my shoulder wound.
"Stay with me! Stay open!"
I let out a ragged breath, pressing my forehead weakly against hers, a genuine smile breaking through the pain.
May you like
"You... you took the shot," I whispered, my voice faint.
"Nobody takes my life away from me ever again," she sobbed, pulling me tight against her chest as the red and blue flashing lights of federal emergency vehicles finally illuminated the storm-swept windows outside.
