“What are you doing?” Scarlet questions.
“The sprinklers aren’t working. The alarm failed. I have to warn the others to evacuate!”
“What others?”
The front door crashes open, and figures pour in, dark silhouettes against the glow of rising flames. One of our men rushes forward, only to be met with the glint of a blade. Blood sprays.
“We own the whole building,” I say. “Some of our army, our staff, they live above us.”
“Warn them!” she shouts, quickly understanding.
“Stay low,” I growl. I pick a name from my call list after she crouches down next to a table.
A man charges me, baton swinging. I sidestep, grabbing a shattered chair leg from the floor, and drive it into his ribs. The impact is solid, satisfying. He crumples, but there’s no time to breathe. Another bastard rushes me as the heat of the flames licks my skin and the acrid smoke claws at my lungs.
I pull out my gun and point the barrel at a man charging Vincent from behind. The shattering pop aimed right at his torso is barely a whisper in the chaos around us.
Even Morrigan has a guy by the throat on the ground, punching his face in as Vincent attempts to pull her off.
“Get the fuck out!” Maddox thunders.
I swipe over a name on my phone and put the call on speaker as I look for the exit, but the smoke confuses me in what were once familiar surroundings.
Another explosion blasts out the back, and I swing to Scarlet, shielding her body with mine. A menacing creak ripples through the sound waves, and the ceiling trembles dangerously. Flames lick it, spreading further.
“Hello? Carter!”
“Code re—”
“Behind!” Scarlet bellows, and I swing without a second thought.
My gun hits muscle before I even aim it, and I fire, then shove the figure away, but he grabs my shirt collar and pulls me with him. I snarl as I pistol-whip him on the nose, then put a bullet in the middle of his forehead.
“Carter! What’s happening?”
“Code fucking red! Evacuate! Now!” I shout into my phone before sticking it into my pocket without waiting for an answer.
Everyone fights around me, making a path of fallen bodies toward the exit. I don’t know if anyone has gone out. I can’t see through the bitter smoke. My pulse thrums in my ears as my Midnight crumbles around me, wood burning, leather melting, memories shattering.
“Scarlet!” I howl for her as I whip around.
She rises from between the two fallen tables she’s hidden behind and moves for me.
“We have to get out!” I shout, and reach for her.
But the smoke behind her moves. A man in a gas mask walks through it, and I jump into a sprint just as he grabs her. He pulls her into the fumes as she flails and kicks to get him off, arms outstretched toward me. Her desperate gaze tears at something within me, and I finally get to her, clutching her hand in mine.
Her gaze widens in horror, mouth open in a scream I don’t get to hear as a searing jolt erupts at the side of my head, and my world falls into darkness.
Chapter 38
Carter
Pain radiates against my cheek, ears ringing as the world floods my senses all at once. A loud crack sounds. My head whips violently to the side, neck straining as the same pain blooms against my other cheek.
Voices sound around me, senseless, muddled, as I open my eyes and fight through my blurred vision.
But one voice breaks through the haze.
