The sound of a violent, high-caliber gunshot shattered the night, intercepting her own shots fired at him, tearing through the wooden pillar barely two inches above Lucian's head. Splinters exploded in a sharp shower of jagged debris.
Lucian’s reaction wasn't what she expected, the lightning speed wasn't human—it was pure, terrifying, predatory instinct.
Before the echo of the gunshot could even bounce across his face, Lucian had spun on his heel. He didn't drop to the floor to avoid being shot, instead he lunged directly toward the stairwell doorway where Elara stood.
In a fraction of a second, his heavy hand clamped around her shoulder, his sheer momentum slamming her back into the alcove of the iron frame as a second high-powered round of gunshots ripped through the floorboards prec
