Holding it in one hand, it’s a lot lighter than Alexi’s gun and feels weirdly small and cold in my clenched palm. A better fit than his was. Arm shaking because I am so scared of having one of these in my grasp once more and jump when Alexi slides behind me to lean over my shoulder and see the gun from my perspective.

I completely freeze as his body heat flows over my entire spine and his breath hits my neck. That internal trigger of fear at a human coming in at me from behind and I stop breathing.

‘Sorry.’ Alexi clears his throat and moves back to the...