The Cliffhanger
"Adrian!"
Flora's scream rent the air as Adrian crumpled to the ground.
Time slowed. The world narrowed. Nothing existed except the red spreading beneath him.
"No, no, no—Adrian!" She was already on her knees beside him, hands pressing against the wound before she even realized she'd moved. His blood was hot, slick, slipping between her fingers. Too much.
Adrian's breathing was ragged, uneven. His eyes fluttered. "Flora…"
Shh, don't talk," she whispered. "You're gonna be fine. You hear me? You have to be fine."
Jace was shouting something, Alice was moving, but all of it was distant. White noise. The only thing that mattered was Adrian, and the fact that he was bleeding out beneath her hands.
Then—another gunshot.
Flora flinched, ducking instinctively over Adrian's
