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“Vivienne,” he murmured.
My pulse thrummed as I climbed out, unable to take my gaze from him.
“Stay close,” he ordered as he closed the door behind me and reached into his pocket for a small flashlight. “This place hasn’t been used in a while.”
The bright light was instant, illuminating the empty parking area. I opened my mouth to saywhat?But he was already moving, striding out into the dark, leaving me to scramble after him once more. All I thought about was Ryth as I ran. Ryth, who’d promised to take me with her. Ryth that had felt the closest I’d ever had to family. We’d run together, her, me, and her stepbrothers. We’d leave this place and never look back.
London stopped at a set of chained glass doors, but the chain hung free. The lock was snapped and lay on the ground, the shorn bolt glinting under the wash of the bright light. Hinges howled and grated as London opened the door and motioned me inside.
“We’ll need to take the stairs,” he said. “The elevator is inoperable.”
“Is Ryth up there?” I asked. “Is she up on the roof?”
But he didn’t answer, just strode past heading for a door. I focused on my steps, wincing at the filthy floor. The place didn’t just look unused. It lookedabandoned.London climbed and I followed, clenching my hands into fists to not touch the peeling paint on the railing…
That lasted until I hit the third floor. My breaths had turned heavier and hotter, leaving me to ignore the filth and grab the damn thing instead. By the fifth floor, I was gasping and out of breath. London barely seemed to be breathing heavy, his steps strong and sure, and I hated that.
“London…” I gasped, losing count of exactly what floor this was. He stopped and turned. His face was flushed in the glow of the flashlight. “Ryth…is she…”
“Three more flights to go, Vivienne, then you get to see her. You want to see her, right?” His gaze bored into mine
I gave a nod, straightened, then kept going…three more…just three more…two now.I lifted my gaze as we rounded the landing, and kept pushing. My stomach clenched, that burn now a searing rasp in my chest. Higher and higher. By the time London slowed, grasped a door and yanked it open, I felt like my soul was leaving my body.
Cold air rushed at us, carrying with it a faintcrack…crack…crack!
“What the hell?” I gasped, following London out onto the roof of the building. The further I came, the louder the sound got.
Crack!
Crack!
CRACK!
I flinched, yet drawn by the sound as London moved closer to the edge. Sparks flared in the street below, bright against the dark. It took me a second to realize what I was looking at. “Is this some kind of training exercise?”
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK!
I jerked, sucking in hard breaths, unable to know where to look as men dressed in black raced around the corner of a building and opened fire.
“No training exercise, Vivienne,” London answered, taking a step closer as movement peeked out from the edge of the building. I barely saw them as four figures stepped backwards and fired back.
An icy grip of terror moved through me as I whispered. “What is this?”
Those figures moved further out into the empty street, desperately firing back as their attackers advanced, and as they did, they became clearer…it was a woman…a familiar woman…
“You wanted to see her.” London snarled. “So see her.”
A moan tore free as I narrowed in on Ryth as she unleashed a guttural scream of desperation and fired the gun in her hand.
I jerked my gaze to his.“What the hell are you doing?”I stepped closer to the edge, flinching with everypopof gunfire that reached me. “They’re firing at them!”
“They are.”
I tore my focus away, searching the empty streets as my pulse boomed in my ears. Movement came from further behind them with the shine of headlights as they splashed against a building, and a dark SUV skidded to a stop.
