Chapter 10

Large beads of sweat rolled down Vince’s forehead and temples as pain consumed both his legs. He had always imagined what it would feel like to be shot and — maybe it was a bit extreme — but he’d even romanticized the idea. But now that he had three bullets half the length of his pinky embedded in his thighs, there was nothing remotely fun about it. It was just an obscene amount of pain that wouldn’t assuage no matter how hard he tried to relax.

Nero was firing shot after shot in quick succession and having learned from his friends’ experiences. He remained lodged behind the machine he used as a shield.

Jessie was working even harder as she alternated between stemming blood flow from both Artemis’s shoulder and Vince’s legs.

“You see, Jessie, we Latinos are born defenders,” the injured blonde said as she rode the waves of pain. “We can get hurt over and over, but we wouldn’t back down from keeping the ones we love safe,” she turned to a panting Vince and reached ou