Maksim lowers his voice. “I know you believe in justice,” he says. “Do it now, before she gets away.”
For a second the whole hallway seems to narrow to the space between me and her.
Sienna looks at the gun. Then at me.
I raise it.
Her breathing stops.
The look on her face changes so slowly it nearly breaks something in me. Fear gives way to disbelief, then to something quieter. Acceptance. As if this is one more terrible thing she has no strength left to fight.
She closes her eyes. “I love you,” she whispers.
Maksim exhales beside me, almost in relief. “Good,” he says.
I pull the trigger.
The shot tears through the hallway.
Maksim jerks backward. His body hits the wall hard, one hand flying to his chest, eyes wide with shock. He slides down slowly, leaving a dark smear behind him, and lands on the floor with a sound that feels too small for what just happened.
Sienna’s eyes open.
She stares at me first. Then at him.
Maksim tries to breathe and fails once before finding enough air to speak. “Why?” he chokes.
I walk toward him.
He looks up at me, blood already gathering at the corner of his mouth. “I was your friend.”
I stop in front of him. “You betrayed me.”
His face twists. “You don’t know the truth.”
“No,” I say. “Not all of it.”
He gives a broken laugh, then coughs. Blood stains his teeth.
I glance at Sienna. She’s still on the floor, frozen now, tears on her face, one hand trembling near her stomach.
I look back at Maksim. “But I know she didn’t do this.”
His expression changes. Just enough. “You’re making a mistake,” he says.
“No. You made it.”
He breathes through his mouth, each breath wet and uneven. “I was your friend.”
“Yes,” I say. “That’s why you got this close.”
That shuts him up for a second.
“I will always chose her. I will always trust her. I will always love her.”
Sienna’s gaze cuts to me, tears now streaming down her face.
He tries to laugh, but it breaks halfway. “She’s lying to you.”