FORTY-TWO
A deafening roar splits the night, freezing the chaos around me.
The crowd halts mid-panic, heads snapping upward as one. My own gaze follows, and for a moment, I think I’m seeing things.
The underside of a Lamborghini flies overhead, illuminated by the neon lights of the Strip.
They’re fucking doing it.
Before the thought even fully registers, Koen’s hand clamps around the back of my neck, “Move!” he barks, pushing me forward.
The crowd has gone eerily still, everyone gawking at the impossible sight above. It’s easier to push through now, but it takes everything in me not to crane my neck again, not to look up and see if they’re actually going to make it—or crash headfirst into the Heights.
Koen doesn’t stop guiding me, and my heart slams against my ribs, the cut in my lip sending a pulse of pain through me with every beat.
A dull thud crackles through the earpiece, followed by the screech of tires. Then, a loud crash.
The sound punches me in the gut, knocking the breath from my lungs.
They made it over, but they crashed the landing?
Sickness coils in my stomach, threatening to claw its way up. I risk a glance at Koen, whose face mirrors my own dread.Stricken.
“Faster!” Ezra barrels through the remaining clusters of people, almost carrying Levi, clearing a path for us, and we follow in his wake. My legs burn, but I don’t stop, not until the van comes into view.
“Sparkle?” Sylus asks hesitantly. “Ric?”
Koen is reaching for the sliding door, his hand brushing the handle, when Novalee’s voice crackles through the earpiece.
“Holy. Fucking. Shit!”
Alaric’s laughter follows, wild and unhinged.
“I hate you both.” Sylus’s voice is breaking, almost sobbing. “I hate you so fucking much.” Relief crashes over me so hard I almost collapse. Koen yanks the van door open, and we pile in, my adrenaline still coursing.
“Did it work? You guys out?” Alaric asks, panting.
“We’re in the van.” Koen grunts.
Ezra kneels in front of Levi, his chest heaving as he cups his face with both hands, scanning him from head to toe. “Are you hurt, love?”
Levi shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “No. I-I’m fine.” His breath hitches, and then the tears spill over. “That was fucking scary. Thank you.”
Ezra crashes his lips against Levi’s, stroking his cheeks gently as Levi clutches his shoulders.
“Sy, try to get us to the front of the Heights so we can grab those two idiots and get the fuck out of here, please,” Koen shouts to the front.
From the comms, Novalee’s voice fires back immediately. “Who are you calling idiots?”
“Oh, it’s fucking you, Little Thief.” Koen’s laugh is humorless. “And believe me, I’m going to whoop your ass for this. Hard.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Novalee quips, and despite everything, I can’t help but smirk.
Koen mutters under his breath but doesn’t push it. My gaze drifts to the windshield and toward the skyline, and I catch myself wondering how soon I can kiss those sassy, reckless lips again.
“The drive is connected to the transmitter,” Alaric informs us. “Get us fucking out of here, Sy.”
Sylus growls in frustration, halting the painstakingly slow drive. “Hold on.” He grabs his laptop from the passenger seat, his fingers flying over the keyboard, all of us watching silently until he lets out a relieved sigh. “I’m in the system. Doors are open. Elevator is called.”
