She flicked the trigger.
A blue flame hissed to life.
She exhaled softly. “Let’s go.”
She touched the flame to the fuel trail we’d poured.
The fire whooshed outward instantly, racing across the floor like a starving beast. It turned the corner, growing brighter as it devoured the line we’d laid out. The heat from the flame hit us a second later.
The guards shouted in confusion as the flames surged upward. Smoke filled the corridor behind us.
“Move!” I grabbed Katya’s hand and pulled her as we sprinted toward the opposite side of the huge space.
We burst through a maintenance door that led to the outside perimeter and ran full out. A blast pulsed behind us. The whole building shuddered. Yells could be heard behind us. Then another explosion. The fire had hit the fuel pouring through the ducts.
Katya looked over her shoulder as the compound lit up from inside. “We did that,” she said proudly.
“Yes, we did,” I smirked.
She smiled. “We’re lucky we didn’t blow ourselves up.”
“We’re not lucky,” I threw back. “We’re good.”
“I like the way you think.”
“Plane is that way,” I said, pointing to the jet across the field.
We ran through tall grass, keeping low. Katya kept pace easily, even after everything we’d done together. Her breath came out steamy, her silhouette stark against the burning compound behind us.
At the far end of the field, the jet sat ready. Our pilot stepped out of the plane as soon as he saw us sprinting toward him.
“What the hell?” he yelled over the roar of collapsing metal behind us.
“Start the engines!” Katya shouted back.
He took one look over our shoulders at the inferno climbing into the sky and didn’t question a thing.
We rushed up the stairs. Katya turned and gave one last look at the compound.
“Revenant’s plans die here,” she said quietly.
“Not all of them,” I said. “But this chapter is closed.”
She swallowed, the fire reflecting in her pupils. “Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 20
En route to Dubai, one week ago…
Katya
For the first hour of the flight back, it almost felt like we might get away with it.
The cabin lights were dim. Andrei sat opposite me, one arm stretched along the back of the leather seat, eyes half-lidded but alert. He hadn’t stopped watching me since we’d cleared the runway, like if he looked away for too long, I’d vanish back into smoke and fire.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Define okay,” I said.
