Lucrezia wouldn't have noticed Joel creeping up on them had Cass not called attention to him, all ready to blind him with the brightest smile yet though it dies before it reaches her eyes. She knows what a gun looks like and what it looks like when someone means to use it. Gripping Cass's hand more tightly, she does take cover, standing stock still behind her friend as the man keeps... stalking them. As many enemies as her family has garnered, this is the first time she has remotely felt like mere prey for the kill. Does he intend to kill them?

Her mind speeds up, running through all the possible reasons why (what has she even done to him that she hasn't inflicted on others even less deserving?), just as she sees him taking aim.

Even amid all of it, she distinctly understands that Cass is standing here to shield her from the worst of it and guns are worse than cannons. Much worse. She can still recall those men on the fields torn in half with their guts strewn on the ground like vivid red ribbons. She spots her friend's face among the fallen just as she hears the deafening sound, remembering I would cover your ears, my dear, as she tries to shove to the ground. Much too late.