We wasted no time breezing past him, Merrick’s boots squeaking along the marble floor as we heaved him alongside us.
Zane, Sebastian, and his men had cleared out the lobby and the security room after Giana had gone up. Thankfully they didn’t run into too many problems; otherwise this would’ve been a lot more difficult.
“You’re okay?” Sebastian asked, his voice echoing off the cavernous walls of the lobby from behind us before he slipped back into his role. He jogged ahead of us, his gun out as he led us toward the service entrance we’d staked out earlier.
Just as he rounded the corner, the smash of the rear door had us slamming our backs into the wall and taking cover. Theimpact caused my hand to shift slightly, and I cursed under my breath as I reapplied pressure.
If we didn’t get him out of here soon—
“It’s Zane,” Sebastian said, keeping his gun at his side as he ushered us forward.
My pulse pounded with each step, anxiety vibrating through me both for my friend and the woman we both loved.
The medics rushed forward the moment we rounded the corner, their brows drawn as they assessed the damage. Zane strode down the hall, pushing the stretcher with him, and helped us maneuver Merrick onto it.
“We have to get him to the hospital now,” one of the medics said as they pulled a wad of gauze from their bag and hopped onto the gurney with Merrick, deftly switching it with the jacket with practiced ease.
“I’ll go with him.” Zane nodded, already helping the other medic back down the hallway.
I glanced between my friend and the elevators, already knowing what Merrick would want me to do, already knowing what every muscle in my body begged me to do from the moment I lost sight of her.
“Kellan,” Spade said in warning, a cold fury blazing in his tone.
We both couldn’t go. One of us had to go with Merrick despite his own wishes, or she’d never forgive us.
I could live with her hating me, though. Just as long as I got to know that the world wouldn’t lose her precious light.
“I’m sorry.”
My fist flew toward him in the next second, pain searing across my knuckles as they slammed into his jaw.
“Fuck,” Spade snarled, but I was already moving, already sprinting for the elevators, knowing he’d be only steps behind me.
I knew it was selfish; I knew it was wrong.
We promised that we would trust her, yet both of us were ready to brawl to be the one to go back up there and make sure our angel was still breathing.
“Kellan.” Desperation clung to Spade’s voice, yet I couldn’t stop as I hurtled past Sophia, and I threw myself into the waiting elevator.
“I’m sorry.” I slammed my hand on the button for the penthouse. Violence sparked in his violet eyes as he barely pulled himself to a stop before the closing doors. “Make sure we don’t give her a reason to hate us.”
I knew he would. The three of us had grown as close as brothers, and if he couldn’t be with Giana, I knew he’d be by Merrick’s side, making sure the stubborn bastard stayed with us. I blinked the image of his haunted eyes and the red spot blooming on his jaw away and pulled in a shuddering breath, trying not to imagine the worst.
I’d put myself second so often, but something within me snapped at the thought of leaving Giana up there with that monster. Not knowing what was happening was tearing me apart, shredding the mask of civility I so often chose to don, pretending to be less of a demon than Merrick and Spade. But the truth was, I was scared that if I let the bloodthirsty, depraved part of me loose, I’d never be able to leash it again.
My pulse beat in a heady staccato, a war drum in my ears, summoning the monster lurking beneath my skin.
If Tommaso hurt a single hair on her head, I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back. Her claim on my withered soul wouldn’t be enough to quell the death knell that would ring through my mind, blocking everything else out.
The seconds passed far easier than the trip down as lethal violence boiled in my veins. As the doors opened to the penthouse, I could have sworn it licked against my skin like a flaming inferno.
Wait. It wasn’t in my head.
A ball of flames exploded from the fireplace, sending a shockwave through the condo as fire climbed up the walls and spread across every piece of furniture or fabric in the living room. The acrid taste of smoke filled my mouth. The accelerant he used had no odor, or at least none discernible over the burned paper scent searing my nostrils.
Icy tendrils of fear spiked through my veins despite the crackling flames eating their way through everything in their path.
“Giana.” I could barely even hear myself over the inferno blazing before me, the flickering lights hiding everything that wasn’t in their path in stark shadows.
