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Nick waited as the sound of their footsteps receded on the stairwell, the sound of another door opening and closing far below.
“Let’s go,” he said to Alexa.
They made their way around the fourth floor landing and kept going. They were almost there, almost to the garage level where Nick's car was parked. If he could get them there in one piece, they could leave the hotel and get to the house, make sure everyone was okay.
The door opened on the first-floor landing and a mountain of a man stepped into the vestibule, his eyes registering surprise in the moment before he raised his weapon. Nick kicked it out of his hand and leveled another kick at the man’s chest. The man stumbled back a couple of feet, then charged at Nick.
Nick’s weapon fell from his hand as he was knocked against the metal railing. The balance shifted in his body, the weight of his torso threatening to pull him over the edge. He planted his feet and forced his body to fight gravity. It worked, but it cost him precious seconds.
The man was on top of him, one hand around Nick’s neck, squeezing the breath out of him while the other hand raised his weapon to Nick’s head.
Nick lifted his leg, hoping to knee the man in the groin, but the man hammered his head against Nick’s and stars exploded in Nick’s brain, either from the hit or lack of oxygen through his constricted airway.
Or both.
Alexa came into view behind the man trying to kill him. Her face called up a rallying cry of fight from somewhere deep inside him. He let his head fall back, then slammed it full force into the other man’s nose.
The force of the blow, so close on the heels of the last one, almost made him lose consciousness, but the man’s grip on his throat loosened as blood poured into Nick’s eyes.
He moved into position to rotate, planning to force his opponent into the weaker position against the railings. A deafening crack echoed through the stairwell and blood exploded from the man’s forehead, his hands falling away from Nick’s throat as he dropped to the floor.
Alexa stood behind him, Nick’s weapon in her shaking hands.
He choked out a breath and straightened, taking the gun from her hands. “It’s okay, Lex. Thank you.” He took her hand. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
He was worried about the shots in the stairwell. If the power was still out, the sound would carry farther than normal, unmasked by the day-to-day sounds of the hotel. He didn't know how much time had passed since they’d entered the stairwell — conflict distorted time — but he couldn’t count on the fact that the shots hadn't been reported, that the police weren't already on their way.
They passed the third floor, then the second. He slowed his pace as they approached the lobby level. If maintenance crews or police were going to enter the stairwell, it would be here, and there wouldn't be any warning.
They rounded the landing and continued downward, working their way to the parking level below ground.
“We just have to get to the car,” he said. “Then we’re home free.”
He hesitated at the door to the parking garage and put his weapon behind his back in case there were police, but when he opened the door, the parking garage was empty.
He took Alexa’s hand and hurried across the garage. Only feet away from Nick’s car, a figure emerged from behind the pillar next to it.
Nick recognized him immediately — Matis Juska.
Juska raised the weapon in his hand. Nick tried to beat him to the punch, but he’d let his guard down as they’d approached the car, assuming they were home free.
Stupid.
It was the last thing he thought before a thunderbolt of fire tore through his shoulder.
There was a flash of searing pain, then nothing as numbness settled over his arm, now hanging useless at his side.
His mind narrowed to a single-pointed focus: keep Alexa safe.
I need you to stay close and do exactly what I say. No questions, okay?
He could only hope she’d listened, that she’d meant it when she'd agreed.
“Get down,” he shouted as Juska walked slowly and deliberately toward him.
A series of impressions fired through his mind — Juska’s dark eyes, flat and emotionless, his body wide and muscular despite his only moderate height, his pace even and steady.
No fear.
