39
It was as if watching a slow motion slapstick show: Alistair, Sophia, and Leonard saw Tavish fling himself over Laetitia, burying her under his body, as he shouted for them to take cover.
Air blew from Laetitia’s lungs when Tavish’s full weight bore down on her. Her head hit something hard, and a bright star flashed in the darkness, which overcame her eyes.
Nae, nae. Facedown, with his arms covering his head, Tavish was in a world faraway, where cries ensued from people hurt and dying from a bomb, with children screaming and women and men shouting. Louder sobs and a constant cry embroiled his mind—a hellish world of roaring shouts and cracks, which announced destruction, and the smell of burning flesh and blood.
His whole body shuddered under the next blast of thunder.
His breath c
