I roar and drive an elbow down into the man’s throat. He gasps and starts to choke, but his grip doesn’t loosen. If anything, it tightens. He holds me harder, struggling for air.
Just as he starts to breathe normally again, an angel rises over his right shoulder. I don’t even have time to look up before there’s a flash of white… and then a wooden handle is protruding from the guard’s neck.
His eyes go wide. Then they go blank. Then, pulse by pulse, they close.
Blood pours from the wound, staining the beige sofa beneath him. When he finally lets me go, I’m not willing to take any chances. I press the gun to his forehead and pull the trigger to put this dog down forever.
Only when his eyes roll back in his head and his limbs go limp do I finally look up.
Cora is standing next to the cou
