With laser precision, the bullet tore through me, and I was falling face-first into the snow.
21
Dan
I jumped at the unexpected noise, my head spinning to look outside the snow-capped window in shock. At first, I thought I was imagining things in my exhausted state, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized what it was I’d just heard.
Was that a gunshot?
I didn’t give myself much more time to think about it and I bolted out of the office and into the main part of the house.
No one else was around, all of them in bed in the dorm. I didn’t bother to call out to anyone as I threw open the front door and peered into the snow. The blackness made it impossible to see much, but something propelled me forward, the snow crunching beneath my feet. I didn’t even notice the cold as I surged forward into the unforgiving landscape, my heart racing.
My deeply honed sixth sense told me that something terrible was waiting for me in that vast nothingness. It was stupid. I should have called for backup. I knew better. But there was no time for regrets now, and I listened for signs of life. If there were a gunshot, there was a person. I hoped it wasn’t a dead person.
There was no chance it was a hunter in the middle of the night and not when I suddenly heard loud voices arguing nearby.
It wasn’t a dueling pair I came across but Sasha, unconscious and bleeding in the snow. Yet I’d somehow known that was exactly who it was going to be all along.
“Oh shit!” I muttered, scooping her up in my arms. “Sasha! Sasha, open your eyes!”
The voices were getting nearer, and I knew whoever had shot her was coming back to finish the job. I had to get her out of there.
“Amanda, no!” I heard a man yell. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“I’ll explain everything to you in a minute, Hunter,” Amanda muttered breathlessly.
I could tell she was looking for Sasha, but I wasn’t about to let her anywhere near the limp figure in my arms.
“Amanda, come back to the container with me,” Hunter told her.
“Not yet. I just have to—" Her words abruptly cut out, and then there was silence.
I wondered if Hunter had knocked her out, but I was already ducking back into the night with Sasha, trying to put as much distance between me and whatever firearm was out there. I wasn’t about to go investigate what those two were up to.
Harry was standing in the door I’d left wide open, and I was struck by a peculiar sense of déjà vu as I hurried back into the cabin.
“What are you doing out there?” he demanded. “You left the door—” He abruptly stopped speaking.
“I-is that Sasha?” He gasped.
“I need you to stand guard,” I growled. “There’s someone armed out there, and she’s been shot. Get Stevie and Seth, too.”
“W-what?” Harry choked, but I was already racing into the dorm.
“Get up!” I yelled, and instantly, five heads poked up from their respective beds. “Get up and get armed.”
Pandemonium broke loose as the men jumped to attention, the concern and confusion on their faces evident.
“What the hell happened?”
“Who did this?”
“What’s going on?”
I ripped open Sasha’s pajama top to look at the wound and exhaled. “Bash, get me the medical kit. It’s a through and through.”
She was losing a lot of blood, her milky white skin almost translucent, but the angle of the bullet seemed to have taken out only tissue. I prayed she wouldn’t have any mobility issues.
“Dammit, Dan, who did this?” Graham yelled, hovering over me as I applied pressure to the wound. I cast him a sidelong look as I continued to work.
“Her team,” I said flatly. “The woman, I think.”
“I told you!” Graham roared, kicking the foot of the bed. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“This isn’t the time for you to lose control, Graham,” I told him in an even tone. “If you’re not going to stand guard, then get out of my way.”
“I’m going to kill them both!” Graham raged, and I grabbed his arm before he could move.
“I already told you once tonight,” I hissed. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’m going to patch her up and—”
“She’s waking up!” Graham interrupted, and I whipped my head back toward her.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “How are you doing?”
“She’s trying to kill me!” Sasha squealed, trying to sit up. “Amanda Queenie—”
“I know,” I told her soothingly. “It’s all right. You need to be still. No one’s going to hurt you here.” I shot the others a nervous look. I didn’t know how true that was. We could hold them off for a while, sure, but if they came back with reinforcements…
“Why don’t you tell us what happened,” I said soothingly, my hand firmly on the wound to stop the bleeding.