His scream was high and raw, the agony of a wounded animal.
The men at his side stalled for a second, distracted. Akilov stumbled backward, his hands clawing at his face, at the burning phosphorus eating through flesh.
The stink of burning meat hit Wyatt in the face, carried on the wind. Jen dropped the flare gun, her hand clamping over her mouth, her eyes wide.
Christ.She’d stepped into the line for him.
Akilov’s men pivoted at the clatter of the flare gun, their focus once more back on Wyatt and Jen.
“Inside!” Wyatt shoved her inside, yanking the door closed behind him as a round sparked off the hull. The locking wheel turned under his hands. More bullets hammered the hull. He wasn’t hanging around to see if they could hammer their way in through sheer firepower.
“Strap in!” He yelled, swinging into the pilot’s seat. He grabbed the red-painted release mechanism with both hands.
Caro was already pasty-faced and buckled into a forward seat.
Jen fumbled with her harness. “I’m in.”
A bullet hit a porthole. The glass cracked but held, spiderwebs spreading across the surface.
Another impact.
One more shot and they’d breach it.
Wyatt yanked the lever. The mechanism made a sound like tearing metal.
The capsule jolted.
Dropped.
His stomach lurched, as if his insides were a step behind the fall.
Zero gravity. His body slammed against the harness straps.
The sensation of free-fall blasted through every nerve. He’d done airborne training. Jumped from planes.
But this?—
No chute. No control. Just gravity, speed, and a forty-five degree drop into the ocean at terminal velocity.
The world blurred into streaks.
Rain. Metal structure. Storm.
The capsule shook—a savage rattling that traveled through his bones.
Sound compressed. His own heartbeat. Jen’s sharp inhale. Caro’s scream.
The ocean rushed up to meet them.
Don’t let this kill her.
Two seconds.
Three.
They hit the water.
The impact was a freight train. Wyatt slammed forward against the harness, his head jerking forward and colliding with his chest. Blood filled his mouth instantly, and the straps bit into his chest and shoulders. Stars burst white across his vision.
