Page 77 of Dangerous Silence
I went as fast as we could manage, skipping steps when I could.
“I’m fine,” she said, trying to be louder. But her hands were weak. She was barely holding onto the gun.
“That’s adrenaline,” I said. “You need to be careful.”
The gun went off. A crash echoed in the stairwell. I glanced back, but we had already turned the corner; I couldn’t see what had happened.
“I got him,” Demi said, but then she cringed, and I held her tighter.
“Concentrate on you,” I said. “Just you, Demi.”
She closed her eyes. By the second floor, the barricade looked more spread out than before, but I didn’t question it. I would have heard if someone had moved it out of the way. I went through the second floor, finding the window. I ripped down the tarp with one hand, holding Demi with the other. Immediately, a few of my men came running toward me. I jumped out, holding her in my arms, landing on my feet, the shock of the ground heavy in my knees. I ran as fast I could, holding Demi close to my heart. Halfway across the parking lot. Almost there. I locked eyes with Randy.
“Go!” I shouted.
The world was silent for a second. There were no birds chirping. No cars. Not even my breath or hers. Only Demi in my arms. Then the explosion ignited, bursting through the building in loud pulses, shocking through me, making me fall to my knees. I covered her with my body. The blast of heat washed over us. Her eyes stay closed.
Come on,I thought.Stay alive, Demi. Stay alive.
CHAPTER 25
Demi
In the darkness, I saw my dad. Instead of the skinny, shriveled arms I had gotten used to seeing, he was full, standing upright, a strong smile on his face, the kind he used to have when Mom was alive. His white hair was cut short, his shoulders straight. An apron sprinkled with blood was strewn across his chest. This time, I knew it wasn’t animal’s blood, but I wasn’t ashamed. He was the same dad I had always had. He had raised me to respect authority, to believe in the order of the world. Even with his past, those teachings didn’t change. Only my understanding did.
Axe, his bottom lip with that deep, pitted scar, his dark eyes somehow narrowed and warm at the same time, stood beside Dad, towering over him. Dad put a hand on Axe’s arm and nodded at him.
That’s my boy, Dad said.Take care of my girl.
Dad vanished into dust and Axe came forward, scooping me into his arms, his brows furrowed with desperation. His eyes darkened and he mouthed the same words over and over again.I need you, Demi. I need you.Stay alive. Stay alive.
Stay.
***
I blinked my eyes, letting the light flood in. I closed them again, then squeezed my fingers, feeling a warm presence inside of my palm. I turned toward it. Axe was beside me, holding my hand. He was whispering to himself, words I had to concentrate to hear: “Stay alive, Demi,” he said to himself, almost like a prayer. “Stay alive.”
“I am alive,” I croaked.
Axe startled. “Demi,” he said. He ran a hand over his face, dust and dirt and blood in the creases of his forehead and in his hairline. I cleared my throat, but it hurt like hell. Axe found me a cup of water.
“What happened?” I asked. Fluorescent lights hummed above us and the table-cloth curtains hung in neat lines. “Where are we?”
“A hospital,” he said.
“Where?”
“Brackston.”
Miles Muro. I sat up, and the pain coursed through me, charging through my spine, knocking me back down.
“Lay down,” he said. “You need rest.”
Rest? How was I supposed to rest when we were still in Brackston?!
“Why are we still in Brackston?” I asked, my voice panicked.
“Muro is gone,” Axe said. “Went down with the building.”
