The road looked blurry through the tears I couldn’t stop. The lights ahead smeared into long white lines as I gripped the handle so tight my knuckles turned pale. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. There was blood between my fingers, drying under my nails. I had scrubbed them on my jeans but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t come off.
Victor’s words kept echoing in my head.
He brought this on himself.
Every time I blinked, I saw him falling back in his chair, that stunned look on his face before the blood spread through his shirt. I could still hear the gunshot ringing in my ears. I could still smell the smoke.
And then—Jaxson.
The way he stepped in front of me. The sound of the bullet hitting him instead of me. The way his body crumpled. His blood. His weight.
I slammed the brakes too hard
