“You’re going to be fine,” Blue said, her voice motherly and soothing. “Shh, shh. Everything’s all better now.”
The keypad suddenly began beeping, and a red light flashed. Christian stepped out of the room and punched a series of numbers. When the beeps drew closer together until they were a flutter of sound, a chill ran up my spine.
The lights in the building shut off. Seconds later, red lights popped on in each room.
Blue stood up with the baby in her arms. “What’s happening?”
“Feck me,” Christian growled. “Get out!”
Blue went out first. As I followed behind her, I noticed the panel above the keypad had digital numbers that were changing.
“What the hell is that?”
His nostrils flared. “A countdown.”
According to the numbers, we had less than five minutes to escape.
As they ran through the study, I pulled out my phone.
“Raven!” Christian’s black silhouette turned in my direction.
Viktor needed to know what was happening, and I didn’t have time to send a text to the team. I called him, and he answered immediately. “It’s a bomb, Viktor! We have four minutes before this place blows up. Get everyone out!”
My heart raced as I jogged toward Christian. Instead of descending the ladder, he opened a heavy door to the left, revealing an outside tunnel.
The baby screeched as Blue jostled him with each step. She cradled his head to reduce the bouncing, and when we reached the end of the hall, she stopped and tucked him inside her coat.
“Be quiet, sweet baby,” she said, putting a pacifier into his mouth.
“Is this how you guys came in? Are there any traps?” I asked Christian.
He pulled the collar of his shirt aside and showed me a stain of blood on his chest, the wound healed. “I took one for the team. Left is a dead end. To the right is an open room, but it’s black as night.”
“Sounds familiar. Any pillars?”
“None straight ahead. But there’s an opening in the floor in two places. Traps to the left and right, so we’ll have to jump over the holes.”
I swallowed hard. “How far of a jump?”
“Christian, I can’t jump with the baby,” Blue said. “It was hard enough by myself.”
He reached out. “Give him to me.”
She recoiled.
“For feck’s sake, I’m not going to drop him.”
When Christian collected the baby in his strong arms, my nonfunctioning ovaries sprang to life. He held the infant as if he’d held one a million times. When he brushed his thumb tenderly across the little guy’s cheek, that protective image made my heart clench.
“I’ll go first,” he said. “Follow behind me, and keep running until I say otherwise.”
We followed his lead, and the heavy door behind us eventually closed, immersing us in darkness. I could vaguely make out the grainy image of his shape in front of me.
“Stop!” he shouted, and then silence when he jumped. Christian landed with ease, the soles of his shoes sliding across the dirty floor only a fraction. “It’s fifteen feet in front of you. There are traps on either side, so there’s no way around it. Raven, you go first.”
The hole in the floor looked like an inky pool of water.
“Time’s ticking, lass.”
