Chapter 38

• Belle****
• The gunshot rang out like a thunderclap, deafening in the suffocating silence. The bullet found its mark, tearing through Victor's leg, sending him crashing to his knees with a strangled cry of pain. Blood seeped from the wound, staining the floor beneath him, and for the first time, I saw something flicker in his eyes—shock, anger, pain. But not fear. Never fear.
• His hands clutched at his leg, crimson spilling between his fingers. "You—" he snarled, but I wasn’t listening.