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Twenty-Seven
Aria had barely gottendown on the floor of the back seat when the explosion ripped through theair.
The SUV rocked and a series of thuds and clanks hit the roof, the back window cracking as something slammed intoit.
Her heart was beating like a war drum, her breath coming fast and shallow. Propped up on her arms, she was mesmerized by the SUV’s carpet, the grid that seemed to develop in its fibers as she staredit.
Andre was behind her, his body hovering over hers in the back seat. She craned her neck to get a view of the front, hoping Enzo had made it intime.
He was there, his body splayed across the seats, a patch of gray sky visible beyond the open door next to the steering wheel. She was still watching it when she saw the first swirl of black smoke move upward toward theclouds.
For a long moment there was nothing but silence and the crackling of somethingburning.
“Stay put,” Andre said to her, his voice strangelycalm.
He sat up, removed his weapon from its holster, and looked around before stepping carefully from thecar.
Aria stayed huddled in the back, replaying the moments before the explosion: their approach to the house, Enzo’s attention to something in the sky, the small black dot, Andre and Enzo hustling her back toward theSUV.
Her body trembled as she recounted everymoment.
Her teeth were chattering by the time she felt arms around her shoulders, strong hands lifting her from the backseat.
“Aria… Thank god.” Damian sat her on the edge of the backseat and took her face in his hands, studying her for injury, running his hands across her shoulders and down her arms as if to make sure she was really in one piece. “Are you allright?”
She nodded, the words stuck in herthroat.
“What happened?” she finallyasked.
Damian’s gaze strayed upwards toward the house before returning to her. “Some kind ofexplosion.”
“We saw something,” she said. “Something in thesky…”
He pulled her into his arms. “Shhh… it’s okay. We’ll talk about itlater.”
Cole moved into view behindDamian.
“Ambulance is on theway.”
She pushed Damian away. “I don’t need anambulance.”
“It’s just a precaution,” Damian said. “Do you know if anyone else was in thehouse?”
Aria’s hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Theguards…”
Tears stung hereyes.
“We’re looking for them now,” Damian said. “They may be okay. The whole house isn’t aloss.”
Aria shoved past him and turned to survey thedamage.
A dozen of their guards were talking to Enzo and Andre some distance away, surrounded by shattered glass and splintered wood, some of it still onfire.
The house was still there, but a hole had been ripped into the foyer, flames and black smoke rising above it. The stone facade had partially collapsed, the porch nothing but rubble, but the rest of the house still stood behindit.
“Oh, Damian…” She fell back onto the back seat and covered her face with her hands as the tears came. “The house… your beautifulhouse.”
She was still crying when the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles clamored into theclearing.
