Beyond Shame

do.”

After an endless moment, she blinked and focused on him. She drew in a deep breath, another, and nodded. “I think my arm needs some gel.”

He shook his head and peeled the makeshift bandage away just enough to catch a glimpse of ravaged, bleeding skin. “Looks like a flesh wound,” he muttered through the rage. “It’ll hold until we take care of Lex.”

“Okay.” She grabbed his hand. “Are you okay? Did you get—?”

“What the hell is going on?” Dallas’s roar made Noelle start, her fingers clenching convulsively around Jasper’s. Dallas shoved through the door from the back hallway, a frantic Trix half-running to keep up with him.

He took two steps into the room and caught sight of Lex. The rage and worry slipped from his face, leaving behind the blank, cold mask that scared the living hell out of Jasper.

He stepped between Dallas and the stage. “Sniper. Ace went for the doctor.”

Dallas’s head turned toward him first, followed belatedly by his impassive gaze. The effect was chilling. “Who’s going after the sniper?”

“If he hasn’t bugged out already, Bren will round him up.”

“Good. Now get the fuck out of my way.”

“I’m sorry,” Jasper rasped. “We were headed back—”

Dallas punched him, snapping his head to one side, then strode past him without another word. Noelle pressed close to his side and lifted her good arm to touch his jaw. “Are you all right?”

A sniper, and Lex bleeding on the Broken Circle stage. Jasper swallowed a mirthless laugh. All things considered, he was damn lucky to only get smacked in the face. “I’m fine.”

Dallas spoke from the stage, where he was bent over Lex, stroking her hair. “If you’re fine, go meet up with Bren. Find the bastard who did this.”

Noelle’s fingers tightened at the words, but Jasper peeled them away from his arm. “You’ll be all right.” he murmured. “Doc can take a look at your arm too, okay?”

She opened her mouth, but Dallas cut off any chance of a reply. “Now, Jas. I’ll take care of your woman.”

The way you should have taken care of mine. He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. The words echoed in Jasper’s head, followed him all the way out into the sunlight.

He skirted the spot where Lex had bled on the dirty asphalt. Bren was standing at the end of the alley, the offending rifle in one hand, his gaze riveted to the building that had served as the sniper’s perch.

He turned at the sound of Jasper’s footsteps. “Fourth floor?”

“Yeah—that window right there.” He pointed. Already, his hands were steadier. The immediate danger was past, Noelle was fine, and Lex would be too—she would be, damn it. For now…he could occupy himself with work.

Bren hefted the rifle. “Top of the line. I’ve never seen one outside of Eden before.”

That drew Jasper up short. “You think this was a city hit?”

“Not just. Military police. They use these Mark 30s on the guard towers out at the wind farms. They’re fast, they’re accurate—” He met Jasper’s gaze, cold and calculating. “They’re traceable.”

“To users?”

“Uh-huh.” He tilted the rifle and slid his thumb over a shiny square panel at the base of the stock. The panel flashed red, and some mechanism inside the rifle clicked. “Modified at issue for maximum ergonomic efficiency and encoded with biometrics. I’ve already got Cruz tracking down the serial number on this one. As long as we have a thumb, we’ll know we found our guy.”

“We need answers.” An MP sniper on a hit in the sectors was certainly something one of Eden’s powerful councilmen could have ordered. “We need him alive.”

Bren snorted. “Fuck answers. Do you know anyone stupid enough to end the guy before Dallas gets his pound of flesh?”

No. Jasper knew he was one of Dallas’s most trusted men, but he was still lucky to walk away from the whole clusterfuck with no broken bones—and he hadn’t even been the one shooting the place up. “I think I winged him when I fired back, but it could have been a more solid shot. We should do a sweep.”

“Nah.” Bren pointed to the broken window. “We can check that room, see if you killed him. If not, he’s in the wind. But we’ll get him back.”

He seemed so damn sure of both points that Jasper didn’t argue. “You know Eden politics. Do you think Noelle’s father is cleaning up loose ends?”

“Couldn’t tell you.” Bren shrugged and started backing away. “I’m out here because I was particularly bad at Eden politics, remember?”

Chapter Eighteen

When Dallas got angry, Dallas spent money.

Braced against the bed’s massive headboard, Noelle ran her fingertips over the smooth new flesh on her upper arm. Regen technology was ridiculously expensive in Eden, and supposedly impossible to obtain in the sectors.

Apparently nothing was impossible to obtain when Lex had been shot in the gut. Within an hour of the doctor’s arrival, Ace had returned with a thin, silent woman shadowed by two bodyguards who made Flash look tiny. Her black case had contained all the equipment necessary for accelerated regeneration, and Dallas hadn’t stopped with healing Lex, though that alone must have cost a fortune. He’d stampeded over Noelle’s protests and paid to patch up her wound, as well, though the doctor had declared it would heal on its own in a few weeks.

Lex was stretched out beside her, sleeping off the sedative she’d been given for the procedure. From time to time, Noelle stroked her hair, sifting her fingers through the smooth strands. Her panic had been quieted by a sedative—a much smaller dose than Lex had received, though enough to fuzz out the world for a few hours—but the ensuing sleepiness faded as afternoon stretched toward evening, and worry took its place.

She wanted Jasper to come back. She wanted Lex to wake up.

She wanted to believe that the bullet that had torn through her friend’s body hadn’t been meant for her.

Lex stirred. “You and Dallas both have a thing for my hair, don’t you?”

Dallas had seemed so intent on stroking it that Noelle assumed Lex found it soothing, but maybe he’d been soothing himself. “It’s pretty hair. Welcome back.”

After slowly blinking, Lex carefully shifted upright. “How’s your arm?”

“Like new.” Noelle reached out to steady Lex and twisted so she could see the pink, slightly puckered skin. “I tried to tell Dallas it would heal fine on its own, but he told me to shut the fuck up. He’s not as charming when he’s worried.”

“I’m shocked as hell that you think he’s ever charming.” Lex pressed a testing hand to her side and bent a little. “Regeneration, huh? I’m glad he sprung for yours too. I would’ve pinched his dick off if he made you suffer.”

The mental image was enough to make Noelle wince. “No, he wasn’t really in a listening mood. More like a killing mood.”

“He gets that way when shit goes down.”

“He was worried about you. Really worried.”

“Of course he was.” Lex closed her eyes, the dark circles beneath them standing out in stark relief against her pale skin. “He’ll get over it.”

Noelle tried to coax her back to the mattress. “Rest for a bit. You’re not supposed to move much tonight.”

Lex shook her off. “I’m not moving. I’m sitting. Still, as a matter of fact.”

And if she wanted to move, Noelle didn’t have the will to stop her, not with guilt churning in her gut. “Sorry. I was worried too.”

“Don’t.” The corner of Lex’s mouth curved up. “I’m tough. They have to work a lot harder if they want to kill