Diana's breathing was fast and shallow. She spoke again, louder this time, her voice cracking with emotion while still shielding me completely:
"Katrina… you can shoot me. You can kill me right now. I don't care. But if any of you even look at Dexter the wrong way…" Her voice turned ice-cold and murderous, "I will make sure every single one of you dies screaming. Slowly. Painfully. I swear it on everything I have."
She pushed me even further back against the wall, almost crushing me with her body, using herself as a complete barrier. One of her arms stayed wrapped behind her, holding me protectively while the other kept her gun aimed forward.
"Grace," Diana ordered without looking away, "if they fire, you get Dexter out first. Drag him if you have to. Don't worry about me."
Grace looked torn but nodded, positioning herself to cover us as well.
Diana turned her head slightly toward me, her eyes glistening with rare vulnerability. Her voice dropped again to the softest whisper:
