Keira draped her body over as many as she could in a last-ditch effort to save them from being shot to death.
She covered her head and prayed for help.
Oh, Rogue, I wish we’d had more time together.
As the thump of rotor blades faded into the distance, a buzzing sound took its place.
Keira braced herself, expecting the bullets to rip through her first.
Brrrrrpppppp!
That sound wasn’t what Keira had expected. She raised her head. What looked like a small airplane, too tiny to carry passengers, flew overhead—a drone.
Brrrrppppp!
The sound was that of a mini machine gun mounted on the drone as it swooped over the men who’d been advancing on Keira, Jade and the girls.
Brrrrpppp!
Viktor’s men aimed their weapons upward.
Before they could fire...
Brrrpppp!
The men fell one by one, the machine gun mowing them down.
The ones who had the sense to run raced for the HUMMVs and dove inside.
The drone circled and came back, firing at the vehicles as they spun around and drove away so fast, they spat gravel up behind them. Soon, the attackers still breathing were gone, leaving the dead or wounded in their wake.
As the drone circled once more, Keira rose from behind the concrete barrier, looking for any armed men remaining.
“I’ll cover,” Jade said. “Go. Find Rogue.”
Keira spun and limped as fast as she could toward the destroyed building, her heart in her throat, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Rogue!” She stumbled over a piece of metal roofing, regained her balance and searched through the debris. “Rogue! Damn it! You’d better be alive.”
“Or what?” Rogue’s voice sounded from the middle of a pile of debris. He lay sprawled on his belly across a piece of corrugated tin that had been part of the roof, his legs trapped beneath a beam, his rifle perched out in front of him.
“Rogue,” Keira cried and picked her way through the splintered wood, broken glass and pieces of what had been the gas station. She dropped to her knees beside him, her gaze sweeping over his bruised and battered body. “Are you bleeding? Anything broken? Can I help you up?”
He stared up at her. “You’re not hurt?”
She shook her head.
“The girls?”
“All okay,” she said.
“Jade?”
“Also okay.” She reached out and cupped his cheek. “I thought you were dead,” she whispered.
He chuckled and coughed. “Apparently, it’ll take more than an explosion to kill me. Fortunately, I landed with my rifle intact.” He glanced to where his legs were covered in what looked like part of the wall. “However, my legs are trapped. I might need help getting out.”
The rumble of a vehicle’s engine as it approached made Keira tense. What looked like a plain white utility van roared to a stop in front of the barricades. A broad-shouldered man with dark hair jumped out. “Rogue!” he called out.
Jade straightened and pointed her pistol at him. “Who are you, and what do you want with Rogue?”
