Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked into Jay's. He was opposite me, with Frost and Dallas on either side. His brown eyes were wide, staring at me without blinking.
"I'm okay," he whispered.
"Me too," Frost agreed. "Dallas?"
"Fine," Dallas said. "What… What happened?"
It wasn't until he spoke that I realised the tang of blood filled my nostrils. If all of us were okay, then…
Biting my lip, I turned to look at where Sierra stood. Now, she lay on the ground, blood seeping from a hole in her chest, directly above her heart.
"Fuck," I whispered. My instinct was to try to help her, but she was beyond help. I swivelled my gaze to the door. "I didn't see anyone."
"Me either," Frost said. "My eyes were on her." Slowly, he released his grip on us and stood.
"I saw," Jay said, slowly rising as well. "It was that other girl, Milly. I saw the gun in her hand and pulled all of you down."
I realised now, he was right. He started to push us to the ground before the gunshot sounded. If he hadn't…
"My hero." Frost kissed his mouth. "We need to find her." He headed towards the door.
Dallas was the last to stand, trembling, his eyes on Sierra. "It happened again." His tone was haunted. For the rest of my life, I'd remember the look in his eyes.
I grabbed his arm. "It wasn't you. You didn't do this."
He couldn't seem to stop staring at her. "I came here again and someone died. What if… What if it was you?" He shook his head.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and turned him to face me. "It wasn't me. You didn't do this. This is not your fault. I don't know why Milly did it, but it wasn't because of anything you did. Okay?"
I wished I believed that. Milly was either aiming at one of us, or was trying to stop Sierra from talking to us. Either way, this was my fault. I was the one who decided to come here. If I hadn't, Sierra would still be alive.
For how long though? I didn't know, but a while at least.
"We should go before she comes back," Jay said. His phone was in his hand, presumably filling Atlas in on what happened.
"Looking for someone?" Storm asked as he stepped into the doorway, a small body over his shoulder. Milly writhed and struggled, but his arm was clamped over her, holding her firmly in place.
"She came running out with a gun in her hand, so we figured we should grab her," Atlas said. He glanced around us to Sierra, his expression grim. "Looks like we were right. Is everyone okay?"
"We're fine," I said. "Everyone except for her."
Divina wasn't going to be happy. Technically, we didn't make a mess, but another woman was dead. And two girls would be missing from tonight's lineup.
If she wanted to, she could take it out on Milly when we were done with her.
"Looks like we're going to have a chat with this woman then," Storm said. "Unless she wants to give us some answers now." He glanced back over his shoulder.
"Let me go," Milly insisted. "You have the wrong person." She wriggled harder, but it got her nowhere. He was approximately twice her size and at least twice as strong. Not to mention angry. That alone would keep her pinned there until he was ready to let her go.
"Gun says otherwise." Ramsey appeared, carrying a small handgun. "Recently fired." He held it between his thumb and forefinger, a look of disgust in his eyes. Not for the gun, but for what it was used for. The gun itself was just a tool, albeit a deadly one. Milly was the one at fault here.
"Definitely by her," Jay said. "I saw her do it." He explained in a handful of words.
"Care to rethink your answer?" Storm asked. He looked ready to snap her neck and throw her in the bay.
"Fuck off." She tried to kick him in the back, but he turned, almost hitting her head against the door frame. She managed to duck her head to the side at the last moment. "Hey, watch it!"
He turned back around the other way, almost doing the same thing, and not looking even slightly sorry for it. If anything, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Of course he was. She was luckyhe hadn't strangled her the moment he realised what she did. Or what she might have done if they hadn’t caught up with her first. "We can take her to your brother's workroom," Storm said.
