Page 166 of Taken By the Fae

I scream when another gunshot fills the air. My eyes go wide, flying to Max’s face. His mouth is open as if he’s about to scream, but no sound comes out. Two more gunshots sound, and Max stumbles forward, out of the building and to the ground.

“No!”

I rush to his side, grabbing the detonator from his hand. Before the guards can lift their guns, my thumb comes down on the button.

The blare of the lockdown signal drowns out their screams, and a solid metal barrier comes down, sealing the doorway closed as the ground rumbles.

“Open your damn eyes, Max! We need to move!”

His eyelids flutter until they finally open, and his distant gaze makes my blood run cold.

“Why aren’t you healing?”

He groans. “Iron bullets.”

“Fucking hell,” I breathe. Struggling to get my arm under his shoulders, it takes several attempts to get him to his feet and start shuffling away from the building.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

There go the bombs in the basement.

I force my legs to move faster, dragging us farther away.

We’re still in danger of falling debris, and the building is coming down fast, getting louder the closer it gets to the ground floor.

My head shoots up at the sound of tires spinning fast on gravel, and I find a black Escalade tearing toward us. It screeches to a halt, and my breath hitches when Dr. Collins jumps out of the driver's seat.

“What did you do?” she screams, her eyes wild with devastation.

“Don’t you dare,” I seethe, pointing the gun at her face. It’s empty now, but she doesn’t know that. “Help me get him in the car, or Iwillshoot you.”

She trembles, and it gives me a sick sense of satisfaction.

After we struggle to get Max into the passenger seat, Dr. Collins stumbles back, and I clock her on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. She falls against the side of the vehicle, and I hold her up while getting the trunk open. I take a deep breath and use the strength I have left to haul her inside, slamming it shut before getting behind the wheel.

Max is slumped against the door, his cheek pressed against the window.

“Hey.” I shake him. “Stay awake.” Shoving the key into the ignition, I turn the car on and turn around, going back the way Dr. Collins came in.

I realize that I have no idea where we are, but I figure so long as we’re driving away from the building that’s collapsing in the rearview, we’re going in the right direction. I scan the dash, and my heart races when I see a small map icon on the display screen. Entering the address of the Westbrook Hotel, my stomach drops when I see we’re almost an hour away.

“Aurora…” Max’s voice is so low, so broken, it brings tears to my eyes.

“Good,” I say, hitting the gas harder, “just keep talking to me.”

“I need you… to make sure they know. They’re my… family and… they need to know.” He takes some time to get the words out, and he coughs up blood halfway through.

Son of a bitch.

Max might not have an hour. I need to drive faster.

I speed up again, following the GPS directions.

“Aurora,” Max says through his teeth, his breathing getting shallower with each exhale.

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