Chapter One-Hundred and Three

Lauren's POV

I turned slowly, my heart pounding in my chest as dread spread through my veins. The sound of the gunshot still echoed in the air, its sharp bang reverberating in my ears like a nightmare I couldn’t escape. My eyes locked with Damien’s, and he was standing only a few feet away from me, his expression one of shock and disbelief.

His hand instinctively went to his back, where blood was beginning to seep through his shirt. My stomach dropped.

“No,” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the sound of my beating heart.

Damien looked at me, his eyes wide and filled with a pain that mirrored the ache tearing through my chest. He staggered, his hand clutching the wound, and I looked behind him to see nobody else but his own brother holding the gun that had done the job.

“Lauren…” Damien called out to me, his voice strained and weak from the pain. “Run… find a place to hide.”

I wanted to move, to run to him and stop the blood seeping out of