He raises his weapon and fires.
The bullet slams into my thigh. White-hot agony explodes through my leg. I drop, my weapon clattering away across the tilting floor.
"This time you die," Roman says, standing over me. "No prison. No torture. Just death."
He turns and runs, disappearing into the smoke and chaos.
I grit my teeth against the pain. Blood pours from my thigh, hot and sticky. I pull off my belt and quickly wrap it around my upper thigh.
Another explosion rocks the building. The ceiling above me cracks, chunks of concrete raining down.
I have to move. Have to get back to Kira's father.
I drag myself across the floor, my leg screaming with every movement.
The building groans. Metal shrieks. The entire structure is coming down, and I'm crawling through it like a wounded animal.
I make it to where Kira's father stares at me with wide, terrified eyes.
"You're hit," he says unnecessarily.
"Noticed that." I pull myself into the room using my arms, my useless leg dragging behind.
Another explosion. This one feels like it's directly below us. The floor tilts at a sickening angle. Equipment slides across the room, crashing into walls.
"We're going to die here," Kira's father whispers.
"Not yet." I reach him, pulling myself up using the wall. "Not while I can still breathe."
The ceiling cracks. A massive support beam tears free, swinging down like a pendulum of death.
I don't think. Just react.
I throw myself over Kira's father, covering his body with mine as the world explodes around us.
The beam crashes down. The ceiling follows. Tons of concrete and steel collapsing in a deafening roar.
My last thought before the darkness takes me is of Kira.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I tried.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Kira
The sound of gunfire has been echoing for a good ten minutes. I’m freaking out. I want to be in there. I want to fight.
My hands drip the steering wheel. The car is running and I’m ready to hit the gas and rush headlong into danger.
“Don’t do it,” Anya says quietly.
“I can’t sit here,” I groan.
“You have to. They’ll come out. We’ll go. But not until then.”
“What if—”
