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“Come on, big guy,” he said gruffly. He bent and gathered Tarron into his arms and lifted him with a grunt. “Calla, stay behind me.”
“Want me to get his feet?”
“No. That would leave you exposed.” He started off, then hesitated. Turning back to Calla, he sent her a look filled with regret. “Baby, I’m so sorry. For everything. I—”
She put her fingers to his lips. “I love you. Nothing will ever change that.” She tilted her face to his and he brought his lips to hers.
“I love you, too, baby,” he said. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.” Shifting her brother higher in his arms, he took the metal stairs, Calla on his heels. At the top, they stepped out into the dim hallway.
And smelled the acrid odor of smoke.
As he climbed the stone staircase to the main floor, Nick’s chest and arms ached from the strain of her brother’s weight. Compounding the problem was the knife wound in his side, which was worse than he’d led Calla to believe. Already, dizziness threatened to overtake him, but adrenaline propelled him on. As they neared the main floor, the smoke grew thicker. Almost there.
“Baby, when we get up there, I want you to stick as close to my back as you can,” he said over his shoulder.
“Do you think he’s waiting for you?” she asked worriedly.
“My guess is he’s still here somewhere, and he’s not going to give up so easily. He’s got a lot riding on the outcome,” Nick pointed out.
They ascended the final distance to the main floor and stepped through the archway. Nick was nearly knocked down by the blast of heat as he continued on into the main living area. Either Ivan or his thugs had set the piles of furniture and other items ablaze, or at least the ones Nick’s men hadn’t been able to douse with water, and flames were just beginning to lick up the walls and leap toward the ceiling.
He spotted a ragged hole that had been blown through the rock about fifty yards away.
“There! Let’s go!” he yelled above the noise. The roaring flames and the fighting around them obstructed any view of the other routes out of the stronghold.
He wanted to get Calla and Tarron out of here. Then he’d return to the battle.
Starting off, he felt a gentle tugging at his waist and realized Calla was hanging on to one of his belt loops. Ten yards gained, then twenty. Freedom was so close at hand he could almost feel the fresh air on his face. Then he heard the popping. At first he thought it was only noise from the fire. Then a splinter of wood exploded in front of his face.
“Get down!” Nick yelled. He dropped to his knees and laid Tarron on the floor, then grabbed Calla by the arm. He pulled her down next to her brother, then crouched over them, shielding them from the gunfire. Bullets whizzed dangerously close, ricocheting everywhere. He raised his voice above the din.
“Calla, listen to me! I’m gonna cover you. When I say go, I want you to make a run for it!”
“No! I want to stay with you and Tarron!”
“When I tell you,” Nick repeated, leaving no room for argument. “Go!” He stood, spun around, and opened fire in the direction of the shooting.
* * *
Though she was terrified of leaving Nick at Ivan’s mercy, Calla was left with no other option but to run.
She sprinted for the ragged hole, not daring to look back until she reached relative safety. Gaining the outside, she turned to see whether he would follow and saw Ivan on the opposite side of the room. Nick was out in the open, drawing the other man’s attention away from her. It was clear from where she stood that he was firing blind through the smoke and Ivan now had him in his sights.
“Noo!” The scream tore from her lips even as the shot spat from the pistol in Ivan’s hand.
The world ground to a stop. Nick’s body jerked and he sank to the floor beside Tarron, arms flung out to his sides. She ran into the daylight, her only thought now to get help. Where? After gaining a few yards across the rocky ground she halted, her s
ides heaving.
There was no one. She clasped her arms to the sides of her head, keening her grief, tears flowing down her cheeks. Ivan was going to murder the man she loved, the man who’d risked his life to save her. To save them all.
The inferno leapt from the torn mountainside into the sky.
* * *
“Nick?” Someone was speaking anxiously, patting his face. Hard.
“Wake up, man. We’ve got to get you guys outta here. Help me!”
