Shea watched in horror as it slowly tilted. It hit the point of no return and began toppling.
“It’s collapsing, run!” she shouted. The men watched for a frozen moment before scattering, trying to avoid the stone as it rained down from above.
Fallon grabbed Shea’s arm and hauled her behind him. A small rock struck her shoulder, making her cry out. Fallon held one arm above his head, protecting it from the smaller rubble.
The wall toppled into another building. With a loud groan, it buckled and began to give way, falling toward them as they fled. Shea and Fallon dodged, running for all they were worth as another building in front of them began to fall, this one three stories high and much bigger.
They were trapped between the collapsing buildings.
Shea cast around for a place that would provide cover. All she saw were more buildings, each as likely to fall as the next. There was nowhere to go.
Fallon leapt, taking her to the ground and covering her body with his own. She didn’t protest, knowing if a building landed on him, she would be crushed underneath as well. She looped her arms around his neck and waited. Her eyes screwed shut as the stone rained down around them.
After a long moment, when the dust had settled, Shea opened her eyes. Fallon had both arms around her head, further protecting it. She’d done the same to his. His eyes stared into hers from an inch away, the intensity of feeling in them nearly taking her breath away.
“We’re alive,” she finally observed.
“For which I am thankful.”
He dipped his head and placed a soft kiss on Shea’s lips.
“Fallon!” a voice cried in the distance.
He sighed against her lips and she gave a soft laugh. “It just never ends with them.”
He sat up and held out a hand to pull her to her feet. They were dusting themselves off, as they were covered by a thin layer of dust that had been displaced when the buildings had fallen, when their scouting party found them. They were joined by Caden and several other Anateri.
“Are you alright, Warlord?” Caden asked as he approached at a rapid pace.
“Somehow.” Fallon didn’t seem surprised at his presence.
Shea gave the two a suspicious look. She had a sneaky suspicion that the feeling of being watched all day hadn’t been in her imagination and that the man at her side had been the one to order it.
“What is Caden doing here?” Shea asked.
Neither man spared her a glance. Shea gritted her teeth. Figured.
She stalked off. If they wanted to keep secrets and play games, then that was fine. She would go be useful somewhere else and leave the plotting to Fallon and Caden.
Shea looked around, counting heads. Her group was all here.
“Buck, do you have everyone?” she asked.
He turned and counted. “We’re missing two.”
She saw that. Fiona and Clark.
“Anybody have eyes on them during the fall?” Shea asked.
“They got cut off and ran the other way. I lost track of them after that,” Johnny said.
“Let’s split up and look for them,” Shea said. “Eamon, you’re with me. Buck, you can decide the pairings for your team. Be careful of further collapses. We don’t know if their structure is compromised as well. Yell if you find something.”
She stalked off, not giving the Anateri or Fallon time to argue. She had no doubt he would order someone to follow her, but in the meantime, she would do what needed to be done. That included finding Clark and Fiona.
“Hold up, Shea,” Eamon said.
Shea bit back the sharp retort that wanted to spring to her lips. She was angry about the building collapse, frustrated that she’d felt something was wrong and hadn’t listened, upset that Fallon had once again kept secrets from her, and worried about the two who were missing. None of which was Eamon’s fault and yelling at him wouldn’t help anything.
