The explosion cuts me off.
It comes from the front of the house. The sound is deafening, and I feel it in my chest, in my bones.
"What the fuck—" Leo pulls me toward him.
Then the second explosion hits.
This one is behind us. At the back gate. Where the security station is.
The shockwave slams into us like a physical force. I'm thrown forward, hitting the ground hard. My ears are ringing. My vision blurs. I taste copper and dirt.
"Sera!" Leo is beside me, trying to pull me up. Blood is running down the side of his face from a gash above his eyebrow. "Get up! We need to move!"
I try. My body won't cooperate. Everything is spinning, and my ears are ringing painfully.
Smoke is everywhere. Thick and black and choking. I can hear screaming. Gunfire. Chaos.
Leo hauls me to my feet, his arm around my waist. "Stay with me. We're going inside. Now."
We make it three steps before I see him.
Gabe.
He's coming through the destroyed back gate with armed men. Maybe eight. Maybe ten. I can't count. Can't focus.
But I see him. My brother. Looking wild. Desperate. Determined.
"Leo." My voice comes out strangled.
He sees them too. Pushes me behind him. Gun already drawn.
"Run," he orders. "Back to the house. Get inside. Lock the doors. Don't open them for anyone but Adrian. They're safe secured, so they lock from the inside."
"Leo—"
"Go!"
But I can't move. I'm pregnant and injured and scared, and I stay frozen, unable to leave.
Gabe is walking toward us. Gun raised. Aimed at Leo.
"Don't," I hear myself say. "Gabe, don't." I step between Leo and the gun, ignoring the way he tries to move me. Hisarm is shaky, and I can feel the stickiness of his blood. He's hurt badly—I can see it in how unfocused his eyes are.
Gabe doesn't lower the gun. "Get out of the way, Sera."
"No."
"Move. Now."
"Gabe, please?—"
"He's in my way." Gabe's voice is hard. Cold. Nothing like the brother I knew. "Move, or I'll shoot through you to get to him."
Leo's grip on me tightens. "Sera, do what he says?—"
"Wait!" I step forward, hands raised. "Wait. If you shoot him, you're giving me a chance to run, and you and I know that I'm a fantastic piece of leverage."
"Sera, no—" Leo tries to grab me, but he is weak enough that I can ignore his attempts.
