Kendra’s POV
The next moments passed in flashes of sound and instinct.
Caleb was beside me before I could even process the second blast, crouching down, one hand gripping my arm, the other pulling me low with him. All around us, screams tore through the air. I felt the vibration of feet pounding against the marble floors. The acrid stench hit me a second later, sharp and metallic, carried on a thick grey fog now pouring into the ballroom like some toxic tide.
“What was that?” I cried out, choking on smoke. “Was that… was that gunfire?”
I nodded, terrified but not frozen. I let him pull me across the room, through the chaos, toward the south end of the ballroom. Behind us, I could feel Scott’s presence, close and tense, covering us like a shield. My eyes stung. I could hardly see anythi
