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I intend to live forever So far, so good

--T-SHIRT

The world slowed, as it had sooff reached rabbed for it, he’d pushed it until it was pointed directly at my heart

Naturally

Because where else would it be pointed?

I had been charging forward, but when the world slowed, I decelerated and watched the bullet burst out of the barrel of Cookie’s pistol, mere inches away froht toward my chest as I reared back

But time was different here Gravity didn’t work quite the same The laws of physics broke As the bullet crept forward, I tried to shifttoward me, but it seemed like all I could do was stare at it

Fros of panic inan ar on with only mild concern And some, cops mostly, ju took over

The bullet kept co with friction I needed e a bullet Literally Feeling as though I were swi back in the direction I’d coh If the world ca back now, the round would enter the left side of my chest just under my collarbone And unfortunately, I was never able to slow ti back, like a rubber band snapping into place, when I least expected it

Just as I felt ained a precious inch too quickly for my eyes to track, as sound skipped forward like a scratched record jue andand pulled it out of my path A heat as familiar as the sun bathed me in its warmth And another hand slid around the back of my neck as Reyes Alexander Farrow palmed the bullet and pulled me into his arms

And what beautiful arms they were Forearms corded with sinew and tendon Biceps sculpted with the hills and valleys of well-defined muscle Shoulders wide and powerful beneath a khaki T-shirt