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“You aren’t what she’s barking at,” Gage said, scanning the foyer once again.
Athena took off toward the doors and Gage followed with his eyes.
“Wait,” he said, his eye catching on a familiar figure. “Wait, wait, wait…”
“What’s going on?” Naomi demanded.
But Gage was already moving, imploring his muscles to launch him faster and faster.
The man who had been sweating and tapping his foot at the front of the line earlier was just inside the doors now.
And he wasn’t wearing the backpack.
“Bomb,” Gage yelled. “Get out. Bomb!”
The lobby filled with the sounds of panic as the people inside all ran for the doors, creating a hopeless tangle of bodies.
A tug at his heart told him Naomi was nearby. But there was no time to chase her away.
He reached the place where he had seen the man, and sure enough, the backpack sat on the ground, emitting a beeping sound he hadn’t been able to hear over the rush of people.
He bent to examine it, but the sound only intensified, telling him they were in the last few seconds before it went off.
“What is it?” Naomi asked from behind him.
He turned, and grabbed her, using his body to shelter hers from the blast as he threw them sideways as hard as he could.
As they fell, he swore he felt a rush of air move beside him.
“Athena,” Naomi cried out over his shoulder. “No.”
Everything seemed to melt into slow motion.
They hit the ground and he covered Naomi with his body. At this range, there was no way he would survive the blast, but if he could block as much of the force as possible, she might have a shot.
He turned his head to see Athena, the backpack secured in her jaws, crouching low to leap. Her back legs extended, like a spring being released, and she sailed over a few other people who were huddled on the ground.
The last thing he saw was her tail, wagging as she leapt out the window.
Less than a second later, an explosion boomed, sending the whole building trembling.
Broken glass fell like rain as his heart splintered, thinking about his partner and the sacrifice she had made to save them all.
22
Naomi
Naomi screamed, tears burning her eyes.
She didn’t care about the scrapes from the broken glass or her bruised hip from when Gage had thrown them to the ground.
Somehow, they were still alive because his best friend had sacrificed herself to save their lives.
The world was blurry with her tears as Gage grabbed her hand and they both scrambled up.
“It wasn’t a bomb,” he said to himself.
“There was an explosion,” she said.
