Page 112 of Born for Starlight

I heard the girl whimpering and I wanted to cry. I had to get to her, but I didn’t know which way to go. I’d been unconscious when they’d brought me into the office. I didn’t know whether to go right or left to get back to the courtyard, and even if I got back to the courtyard, I had no idea how to get to the auditorium from there.

“Stop it!” the man screamed in Portuguese. Who was he screaming at?

Nobody was talking on the comm, and I didn’t want to interrupt them, not when some lunatic had one of the girls held hostage.

I finally decided to go to the right, and started running.

Now Vargas was talking. But he was talking rapidly, and I was having trouble understanding everything he was saying. Something about not hurting her and letting go and doing some things.

“Work it out fast,” the man screamed.

“We don’t want her hurt. We’ll let you go. We just have to work things out.”

“Well, work fast.”

I jerked and slammed my hand over my ear as I heard the shot. Then another shot, at the same time I heard the child screaming. She kept screaming. And screaming. But underneath it all, I heard Matthew.

“Shhh, Luzia.”

Luzia! My heart stopped. Is she⁠—

“You’re safe, little one. You’re safe, little one.”

I melted against the wall of the hallway. I listened to Matthew consoling Luzia, telling her she was safe.

“Grainger, you need to get off her. She’s terrified, and you’ve been shot.” Simon. It was Simon talking.

I heard Matthew groan.

“What do you mean Matthew has been shot?!” I demanded.

“He’s going to be fine, Angelica.” Simon was attempting to be reassuring, but it wasn’t working.

Then I heard Luzia whimper.

“And Luzia, is she okay? She’s really not hurt?”

“She’s just scared. She’s fine.”

“I need to get there. Simon, I need to be there. Now!”

I pushed off the wall and started stumbling down the hallway. “Where is the auditorium?” I passed by a now-empty classroom except for someone sweeping it like nothing was going on. Were they ignoring the gunshots?

It took me a minute to realize I was probably the only person who had heard the gunshots through the comm.

“Where are you?” I whisper-shouted into the comm.

“Go to the courtyard, I’ll meet you there,” Jase said.

Thank God.

I knew where the courtyard was.

I could still hear Luzia crying.

“I’ve got the bleeding stopped… mostly,” Pinto said. He had to be talking about Matthew.

“How bad is it?” I asked. I kept my voice low. I didn’t scream out my question like I wanted to. “How did he get shot?”