Page 162 of Hide And Seek

“You’re overthinking it,” he said. “You’re not gonna kill me. You’re just putting a bullet through my arm.”

“I’ve never fired a gun before.”

“Then congratulations. Today’s your first time.” A faint smile ghosted across his face before disappearing again. “Two hands on the grip. Don’t lock your elbows. And aim a little toward the outside of the arm so the round passes clean through.”

My breathing was becoming uneven now.

Rhys stepped back until there was barely three feet between us, then slowly lifted his left arm away from his body. “Right there,” he said, tapping the fleshy part just below his shoulder. “Nice and easy.”

“I… I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can.” His gaze never left mine. “And you need to do it now.”

My fingers tightened around the gun. The barrel shook visibly. Rhys noticed, but if it worried him, he didn’t show it. “Take a breath,” he said. “Good. Now exhale slowly.”

I did.

“Good girl,” he said softly. “Now pull the trigger.”

The gun went off with a violent crack that made me gasp.

Rhys staggered backward with a sharp grunt, and for one horrifying second, all I saw was blood. It sprayed across his chest, darkening his shirt in a sudden burst as his body slammed backward into the wall beside the sink.

A harsh sound tore out of him, somewhere between a grunt and a gasp, and panic detonated through me so fast it almost knocked the breath from my lungs.

My mind instantly jumped to the worst possibility.

His heart.

I’d hit his fucking heart.

I’d killed him.

“Oh my god.” The gun slipped from my hands, and I rushed toward him. “Oh, fuck!”

Rhys’s hand clamped hard over his upper arm, blood pouring between his fingers as he bent forward slightly, breathing hard through his teeth. Then he looked up at me.

“Alissa.”

I was still staring at the blood spreading rapidly across his chest. “I’m so sorry,” I choked out. “Oh my god, I didn’t mean to—”

“You did it perfectly.”

“What?”

“The spray carried across my shirt,” he said through a strained breath. “The actual wound’s here.”

He lifted his hand slightly from his arm for half a second, just enough for me to see the hole torn through it.

My knees almost gave out with relief.

Rhys let out another harsh breath before a crooked, wolfish smile slowly spread across his face. “You were really worried about me for a second there,” he said softly. “Weren’t you?”

My entire body was shaking now. “W-what should I do now?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t heard his question.

He dipped his chin toward the door. “Remember that syringe I showed you earlier? I need you to grab it and bring it to me.”

“You’re taking the drugs for the pain?”