His eyes are soft as he smiles and pushes my hair back. “You’re the sweetest girl,” he murmurs. “Always thinking of everyone else. But if we have time, we should get some of your stuff. Just to tide you over until—”
“Hunter,” Daniel rumbles. “Stop flirting with my daughter.”
I chuckle, shaking my head at his exasperated tone, but I can’t ignore the butterflies in my stomach at him casually calling me his daughter—still.
“Code,” Ghost quietly barks as Hunter pulls me into his arms. I settle against him and call out the code, knowing the guys can just change it when we’re back home.
Hunter presses a kiss against my throat, and for the first time since this all started, I finally feel a sense of hope. I know without a shadow of a doubt that the answers we need are on Stone’s computer. We’ll track them, and by tomorrow, they’ll be back in my arms.
It’s almost over.
Beep, beep—BOOM!
Chapter 37
The explosion is instantaneous,the force of it ripping through the night like a thunderclap. Hunter reacts in a split second, his arm tightening around my waist and yanking me back with a strength that’s almost violent. I barely register the movement before I’m slammed into his chest, hisbody shielding mine as the world erupts around us—or at least, that’s how it feels.
He did it a-fucking-gain, my brain hisses.If we survive this, I’m going to fucking kill Hunter!
I expect to be thrown through the air, to feel the blast rip through my body like it did in my nightmares—in my reality.
I expect to hear the screams, the chaos, the fire licking at my skin.
I expect pain.
But none of that happens. Everything remains eerily still, almost frozen in time.
For a moment, it’s as if the world holds its breath.
Then, another explosion rocks the ground beneath us, and Bobby’s voice breaks through the stillness, sharp and panicked.
“It’s the gas main!Run!”
And we do. Without hesitation, without thought, we turn and bolt, our movements in sync as if we’ve practiced this a hundred times. The training kicks in for everyone, and surprisingly, it does for me too. Or maybe it's adrenaline, the need to survive, to escape, but everything around me disappears and all I know is the path in front of me, the bodies around me and Hunter.
I can feel his hand gripping mine tightly as we sprint away from the house, the heat of the explosion searing my back. The air is thick with smoke, choking and acrid, but I push through it, my legs burning with the effort. Every muscle in my body screams for me to stop, to rest, but I can’t. I won’t.
We reach the tree line a quarter of a mile behind their home, the cover of heavy branches offering a semblance of safety, and we dive into the shadows, the sound of the explosion still ringing in my ears. I collapse against a tree, gasping for breath, my heart hammering in my chest. Hunter is right beside me, his hand still clinging to mine, his breath coming in harsh, uneven gasps.
Suddenly, his hands are sliding across my body, patting, searching, frantic. “Are you okay? Baby, tell me you’re fucking okay!”
“I’m alright,” I choke out, searching his face. He’s sweating, his body trembling, but in the dark, he looks whole. “Did you get hurt? Are your stitches okay?”
He exhales raggedly and nods, pulling me into his arms tightly. “We’re okay,” he breathes, repeating the words again and again. “I was so fucking scared, Elle. Jesus Chirst, I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I’m here,” I rasp, hugging him just as tightly. “We’re okay.”
He doesn’t let go until the others gather around us, their faces drawn and tense, but there’s a collective sense of relief that we made it out. We’re alive, but just barely.
“Everyone here?” Daniel calls quietly. I can hear his own breath rasping, but he stands tall, doing a headcount. He yanks Evelyn into his arms and holds her tightly, murmuring words of reassurance. “Everyone okay?”
A chorus of voices fill the quiet air and my shoulders drop.
I press a hand to my chest, feeling the rapid thud of my heart against my ribs, and try to process what just happened.
The house. Our only lead—ourhome—gone in an instant. My mind races, the fear clawing at me, making it hard to breathe. What if the guys were inside? What if—
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head as I force the thought away. “They weren’t in there. They couldn’t have been.”
