CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A train full of silent shifters isn’t as fun as it sounds. Not one peep was made. No one even moved, except for an Ancient king who paced back and forth down the aisle. He pinched his bottom lip and continued to check his bracelet.
Theron pointed a sharp finger at my husband. “You should have let her leave when she first wanted to. Her tears could have fucking waited.”
Alaric’s bear rumbled deep inside his chest, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “We did nothing wrong, and you know it.”
Theron bared his teeth at him in warning.
Then he resumed his pacing.
All was quiet again.
Ba-ba-ba-boom. Boom.
Boom.
Everyone froze where they were.
My head shot up from his chest. “What was that?”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Rune quickly looked out the window. “It sounded like a gas line exploding.” His eyes widened on the horizon, and his brows rose on his forehead. “Fuck me. That’s one hell of an explosion.”
Mina and Finn sat in the aisle next to us.
And Theron shoved right over them to peer out the window. He studied the view. Continued studying it. Then he hissed, “It’s the pasta restaurant next to hers.”
He pushed back and stalked down the aisle. His feet pounded and his fists clenched. The king stopped in front of the door and stared at it. Then…he just stood there.
Waiting.
He was waiting at the front of the door.
And we were still ten minutes out, at least.
I peeked up at my husband, and mouthed, “Is he serious?”
“He’s worried,” he mouthed back.
Theron suddenly growled. “If you can breathe, then you can damn well get over here and get in line. As soon as the door opens, we spread out. She is the priority, but save as many as you can.”
We all stood silently and formed a line behind him.
Wolfe cleared his throat. “You should change the address, Theron. There may be people lying in the street from the trajectory.”
Theron jerked his hand to the panel and tapped on the lit screen. His hands went down to his sides, fisting, and opening. Fisting and opening. He shook out his shoulders.
And we waited.
Single file line.
To enter a “dead zone.”
* * *
Dust and ash beat at my face. I grabbed more rubble and carried it carefully to the drop area. Cries for help resounded from under so much stone, citizens of New City trapped beneath. In was a constant rush to dig down to find. We weren’t the only civilians working like mad. Others were lining up down the block to take over when any helper needed a break.
