Chapter 3
As the energy receded, leaving shattered pain in its wake, Vic didn’t know what hurt more—his head or his chest. A steady throb behind his left eye promised a splitting migraine later; for now, the pain pooled at the back of his head, where he must’ve hit the floor as he fell. His chest was on fire—each heartbeat felt like a punch, as if there were someone inside him trying to get out. A desolate keening filled his ears, a sound that mimicked the pain that riddled his body. At first he thought it was an alarm of sorts, the wail of an ambulance perhaps, or some other siren. Then he realized it was a human voice, one he knew all too well.
Matt.
With Herculean effort, Vic sat up and gasped. Gunpowder and smoke filled his lungs, but the world around him was a blinding shade of w
