I step in front of her without thinking, my body a shield. “Your fight is with me.”
“No.” Lorenzo’s smile is terrible. “My fight is with everyone you love. Starting with her.”
He fires.
The bullet goes wide as we duck to the side. Sophia fires three times in rapid succession.
The first shot hits Lorenzo’s gun hand, sending his weapon clattering to the catwalk.
The second catches his leg, dropping him to his knees.
The third goes wide as the catwalk shudders beneath us.
Lorenzo clutches his bleeding leg, his face twisted with pain and rage.
Below us, the firefight continues, but up here it’s just the three of us.
“You think you’ve won?” Lorenzo spits blood. “You think killing me ends this?”
“I don’t want to kill you.” The words surprise even me.
The catwalk groans ominously.
I glance down and see flames licking at the support beams.
The metal beneath our feet is heating up, beginning to warp.
“We need to move,” I say. “This whole section is going to collapse.”
Lorenzo sees it too, sees his last chance slipping away.
With a roar of fury, he lunges forward, ignoring his wounded leg.
His hands close around Sophia’s arm, yanking her toward the edge of the catwalk.
Startled, she drops the gun, the sound of it clanging on the metal loud despite the chaos surrounding us.
“If I’m going to hell,” Lorenzo snarls, dragging her closer to the railing, “I’m taking her with me!”
31
SOPHIA
Lorenzo’s grip on my arm is iron, dragging me backward toward the stairs and the flames that lick hungrily at the warehouse walls.
Heat sears my face, and smoke burns my lungs with each desperate breath.
Mikhail stands on the other side of the catwalk, gun raised. His green eyes are wild with fury and fear.
“Let her go!” Mikhail’s roar cuts through the crackling fire.
Lorenzo laughs, the sound unhinged.
The flames are so close now I can feel my skin blistering. This is it. This is how it ends. But then I remember the small device in my pocket, the one I planted before Lorenzo ever brought me here. The remote detonator for the second set of charges I set around the building’s perimeter.
I have one chance.
I slam my heel down on Lorenzo’s instep with every ounce of strength I have. He howls and his grip loosens just enough.
