Page 99 of Claimed By the Damned
Ahead, Ethan's SUV swerves sharply, narrowly avoiding a black sedan that veers into its path from a side road. The ambush is coordinated is precise and professional.
"They're herding us," Grim mutters, his knuckles white on the wheel as he follows Ethan's desperate maneuvers.
Then, ahead of us— A blinding flash. A deafeningWHOOMPthat shakes our own vehicle, rattling my teeth.
The lead SUV,Ethan's SUV, erupts in a monstrous fireball. Flames engulf it instantly, sending shrapnel and twisted metal cartwheeling through the air. It veers violently off the road, flipping once, twice, before crashing into the trees in a burning, unrecognizable wreck.
"ETHAN!" Theo's roar fills the cabin, raw agony tearing through the sudden, horrifying silence that follows the blast. Grim slams on the brakes, tires screaming as our SUV skids sideways, narrowly avoiding the debris field.
"GO!" Bastian orders, but Grim is already throwing the car into reverse, trying to create distance from whatever triggered the explosion.
"IED," Grim snarls. "Remote detonated. They knew exactly where—"
The night erupts with gunfire. Bullets ping against the SUV's armor, the windshield spiderwebbing but holding. Headlights converge from all directions—the four vehicles from behind, the two that had appeared ahead. We're surrounded.
Theo's already reaching for the door handle, his face a mask of desperate fury. "My brother's in there!"
"Theo, NO!" Bastian commands, but Theo's already half out of the vehicle.
A bullet whizzes past, close enough that I feel the air displacement. Ryker's arms tighten around me protectively, his body tensing to move.
My lungs seize, air trapped. Heart hammering against my ribs, I stare, frozen, at the inferno consuming the vehicle ahead…
The men who saved me are now trapped, pinned down. And it was Kolya, with his last hateful words, who had set this monstrous trap. And Ethan—oh God, Ethan—is burning in that twisted wreckage while bullets rain down around us.
Chapter 29: Under Fire
Lila
My scream rips out, a raw sound shredded by roaring flames and a storm of bullets. The world is a dizzying kaleidoscope of flashing lights—the inferno of Ethan’s SUV, the blinding headlights of our attackers, the staccato muzzle flashes spitting death in our direction. Ryker’s arms are a vice around me, his body a shield, but I still feel the percussivethump-thump-thumpof rounds slamming into our vehicle.
Theo is already halfway out the door, a silhouette against the terrifying orange glow, his anguished roars for Ethan barely audible. Bastian barks his name, a command lost in the onslaught.
"Stay down!" Ryker growls, his voice vibrating against my ear. He shoves me lower onto the seat, his own body arching over mine. His one hand still grips me, but with the other, even as he draws his own weapon, he thrusts a small, cold handgun into my lap, a compact Sig. "Know you don't like 'em, Baby Girl," he grits out, his eyes fierce, "but just in case. Point and shoot. Don't hesitate." Then his focus is entirely on the threat outside, his body a formidable barrier over me.
Fear, cold and biting, claws its way up my throat, choking me. Just moments ago, a flicker of safety, of hope, warmed me. Now? Now it’s this.Kolya’s face swims before my eyes, a sneering phantom, and for a horrifying second, I’m back in his clutches, the world ending around me.
No.The thought is a tiny, defiant spark.I killed him. I survived him.The weight of the gun in my lap is a terrifying, solid reality.
But Ethan…
I crane my neck, desperate to see past Ryker. The burning SUV is a twisted pyre. How could anyone survive that? My heartsplinters.Ethan.They came for me, and now he’s trapped in that inferno.
The SUV lurches violently as Grim wrestles with the wheel, using our vehicle as cover. Sparks fly as lead ricochets off the metal, each impact a hammer blow against my sanity. My fingers instinctively close around the unfamiliar grip of the Sig.
Ryker
Fucking hell.Fucking. Hell.
My world narrows: threats and targets. Nothing else. Ethan’s car blowing sky-high is a gut punch, a fist closing around my heart. But there’s no time for worry or grief, no time for anything but action. Theo’s a raw nerve, half out the door, a perfect target.
"Theo, goddammit, get back in!" I roar, shoving Lila down and angling my body to cover her, my Sig already in hand. "Grim, give us cover! Bastian, right side!"
"Covering!" Bastian snaps, already returning fire, his shots precise even as our SUV rocks.
These are Kolya’s men, no doubt, his elite. The attack is professionally, coordinated. They knew the route we would take, knew where to set the IED. He had a contingency for everything, damn him. They’re boxing us in, using the burning wreck of Ethan’s SUV as an anchor point for their ambush.
"They’re trying to flush us out, get us pinned between the wreck and their vehicles!" Grim shouts over the noise, the SUV groaning as he slides it sideways, putting the engine block between us and the heaviest fire. "We can't stay here!"
