Dario’s helping himself to more of the gold, but he grins and follows easily enough. We start jogging through the office, past empty desks and meeting tables, and I’ve never been so glad to get out of somewhere.
“They’re through.”Declan says.
“Shit, look out!”Cole’s cry comes at the same time.
Gunshots crack through the air, louder and closer than before.
And I know it’s Declan they’re shooting at.
Twenty-Nine
Raven
My gun is in my hand, thumb on the safety, and Dario has his out too. Kurt is ahead, running for an unmarked door in a wall between two washrooms, male on one side, female on the other. I shake my head at how unimportant that is; I seem to be noting everything.
I’m following him, looking over my shoulder as I run.
Where’s Declan?
Then I see them.
He and Cole are running through the office over to our left, both jinking and using the desks as cover. He doesn’t look hurt, and my chest eases just a fraction.
There’s a glimpse of security in navy-blue uniforms before a pillar blocks my line of sight.
Shots fire behind us, and with a crack, a bullet hits a pillar only a dozen feet from me. Plaster breaks off, then I’m past, keeping my head down.
Where are Declan and Cole? I can’t see them anymore. Have they been hit?
Kurt slams through the exit, a green sign illuminated above it. A flight of metal steps beyond, but he doesn’t take them, instead holding the door as Dario races past.
“Come on, Genesis!” Kurt says, and I realize I’ve slowed to look back. I sprint for the door, going through without stopping, following Dario up the stairs. “Declan?”
“Five guards. Down to three now; Cole winged one and I wounded another. Twenty seconds.”
Thank fuck. They’re still fine.
For now.
Dario is already a level ahead. I glance up. Sixty feet and more to the roof, steps all the way. Kurt’s on my heels, his gun in his hand. I’m on the third flight when Declan and Cole burst through below, but my relief is short-lived as gunshots slam into the door behind them.
They’re thirty seconds beneath us. Far too long, far too exposed.
“Keep going!” Kurt orders, right behind me.
Two flights above, Dario has the outside door open, and a moment later we spill onto the roof. It’s roughly two hundred feet square, nearly all in deep shadow, but a red aviation light pulses ominously, picking out the edge in the dark. A small parapet wall runs the perimeter—that will make our jump easier.
If we all get there.
Dario’s stopped to pull his ’chute on, just to theside of the exit. Kurt follows me out, then drops to one knee, pistol raised, covering the door.
Declan and Cole are racing up the stairs, but more gunshots fire. I check my ’chute, ensuring I’m ready, not wanting to keep anyone waiting. My hands are steady; the rest of me isn’t.
Cole bursts out a moment later, Declan on his heels. Bullets clang into the stairs and walls behind them, ricocheting God-knows-where. Too damn close.
I stare at Declan, and swallow hard. Even though I can see he’s fine, I want to run my hands all over him, confirm for myself he hasn’t been shot.
Cole slams the door closed. “Give me something to wedge this.”
