I was glad that Jack was also down in the floorboard and out of the line of fire. I didn’t want to risk hitting him.

I heard Katie’s footsteps getting closer.

“Where’s Jena, motherfuck-”

She didn’t finish her sentence. As soon as she appeared around the door, I pulled the trigger. I didn’t let myself think about it, I just did it.

Her body jerked violently, but her grip on the door kept her from falling down. “What in the hell?” she moaned, looking down at her belly.

In horror, I watched as blood bloomed on the front of her grey t-shirt. Her head came up, the fire of hate burning in her eyes. Her arm started to lift, the gun in her hand.

“Katie, don’t do it,” I begged, tears falling down my cheeks.

A thin line of blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to smile. It looked more like a grimace. “Fuck you, Jena.”

Her arm came up and I knew she was about to fire. A sob escaped my lips as I pulled the trigger again. Then again. I shot her two more times until her arm dropped and her body collapsed on the ground.

Crying, I lunged toward the door and grabbed her gun out of the grass. I threw it in the back seat.

My hands were trembling as I checked Jack’s pulse. It was quick, but still felt strong, though I wouldn’t know if that was good or bad since I had no first aid training.

My entire body shook as I reached out of the door and laid my fingertips against Katie’s throat. I left them there for a long time. There was nothing.

Sobs began to wrack my body. It was all too much. I didn’t know what to do. I curled up in the front seat and began rocking back and forth.

Jack released a quiet groan, ripping me out of my hysteria. I didn’t have the luxury of falling apart. Jack was hurt and I had to call for help.

I needed a phone. I knew Jack had a Bluetooth in his ear, which meant he had a phone somewhere. Quickly, I started going through his pockets.

I found his smart phone in his back pocket and yanked it out. I nearly dropped it when it rang in my hand. I saw King’s name on the display and sobbed in relief.

Connecting the call, I lifted the phone to my ear. “K-k-king,” I stuttered, my teeth chattering.

“Jena?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes, but Jack’s hurt. We need an ambulance.”

“We’re almost there. We’ll take care of him.”

I sniffled. “Okay.”

“Where’s Katie? Did Jack manage to take her down?”

I sobbed again, louder and harder. “N-no.”

“Where is she? Jena, I know you’re worried about Jack, but you need to get somewhere safe. He’ll be fine, I promise.”

“She’s…she’s dead,” I whimpered.

King was silent. “Jack killed her?”

“No.”

“Oh fuck, Jena, what happened?”

I took a shuddering breath. “I had to-” My voice cracked. I swallowed hard. “I had to shoot her. She was trying to kill me. Oh God, oh God, I killed her. I killed her.”

“Darlin’, I’m almost there. I’ll be there in less than two minutes. Can you stay on the phone with me? Stay with me, Jena.”

I pulled my knees to my chest and began to rock back and forth in the seat. “I killed her, King. I shot her. I did what Tia told me and I shot her until she died right in front of me. Ohgod, ohgod, ohgod.”

“Jena!” King called sharply.

I could hear him, but I was trapped in my mind. I began sobbing in earnest then. “They’re going to put me in jail, King, for the rest of my life. Then I’m going to hell. I took a life. Murderers go to hell, don’t they?”

I couldn’t hear what he said in response because the phone slipped from my suddenly nerveless fingers. My eyes were fixed on Katie’s body.

I wasn’t aware of the passage of time, only the image of my friend’s lifeless body that was curled up against the driver’s side door.

The passenger door opened and I didn’t resist as arms reached in and pulled me out of the car.

“Jena.”

My name sounded so far away, as though I were standing in the bottom of a well and they were at the top.

“Jena!”

Something smacked my cheek, breaking through the shock that deadened my senses.

I gasped and my head jerked back. I blinked and Tia’s face came into focus.

“Where else are you hurt?” she asked, anxiety making her voice tight.

“Huh?”

“Your arm is bleeding,” she stated. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

I shook my head. “No, no. Just my arm.”

I winced as Tia started dabbing away the blood oozing from my bicep.

“It’s just a graze,” she murmured. “The doc will clean you up, maybe give you a couple of stitches. You’ll be good as new.”

Her hand wrapped around mine, squeezing lightly.

Tia scrambled out of the way and I realized I was sitting in the backseat of another black SUV. Then King was in front of me, his arms wrapped tightly around my body.

My own arms lifted and curled around his back.

“Thank God you’re all right,” he growled, hugging me so close I couldn’t breathe.

My eyes lifted to meet Tia’s over his shoulder. Though she didn’t say anything, I knew she understood I’d never be all right again.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Four Weeks Later

‡

It was a dream. It had to be a dream.

I stood in the middle of the field that surrounded the white building where I nearly died. The sun shone down on me, so bright it almost hurt my eyes. Standing about fifteen feet from me was Katie.

It wasn’t the gaunt, damaged woman I’d last seen. This was the Katie I’d met years ago, pretty, sweet, and young. The Katie I knew before life ruined her.

“Why?” she asked me, her hands clutching at her belly.

I looked down and saw the gun clasped loosely in my right hand. Horrified, I dropped it on the grass.

When I lifted my eyes again, Katie was much closer. She stood about five feet from me, holding out her hands. Her palms were dripping with thick, dark red blood. I watched in horror as fat droplets fell to the ground, staining the bright green grass and turning it brown.

More blood welled out of the holes in her torso, all five of them.

“Why, Jena?” she whimpered. “Why did you kill me?”

“I had to,” I answered in a whisper. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“No, I didn’t.”

She took a shambling step forward. “You always have a choice, Jena. You wanted to kill me. You wanted to hurt me.”

Closing my eyes, I put my hands over my ears like a child, wanting to block out her words. “That’s not true. I never wanted to hurt you, Katie. I loved you.”

Her sticky hands closed over my wrists, yanking them away from my head. My eyes flew open and I gasped in terror.

Katie’s face began to turn brown, then black, withering before my very eyes. Her eyes were bulging out of her skull and her lips peeled back from her teeth.

“Admit it, Jena. You’re just like me. You enjoyed killing me.”

“NO!” I shrieked, fighting against her hold. “NONONONO!”

Screams tore from my throat as the dream shattered around me and I scrambled out of the bed, hitting the floor hard.

Rolling onto my back, I crab walked away from the figure standing over me, crying out in terror.

The lamp next to the bed flipped on, revealing King’s half naked body. I stopped my desperate attempts to escape, collapsing against the cold floor.

When he crouched down, hesitantly reaching out for me, I dove into his arms. He rocked back on his ass, holding me close.

I buried my face in his neck and let the sobs overwhelm me. I cried and cried. I didn’t understand how the human body could hold so many tears. Every day since it happened, I’d cried more tears than I did when Justin died.

“Shh, darlin’. I got you. I’m right here,” King crooned in my ear, his hand stroking over my hair.

My body bucked harder and I clutched at him almost violently. I wanted him to absorb me, his strength to swallow my weakness so I never had to stand alone again.