Page 29 of Shattered World

The door began to shake, my hand clamping over Stephanie’s mouth as she let out a terrified squeal. Splinters of wood flew through the air as the door fell open, six masked men on the other side.

They didn’t have a chance to blink, not with Rainer and Warner on the other side. Consecutive shots rang through the air, the bodies falling to the ground in an instant.

We all waited for others to arrive. But after we stood there for another hour, the six bodies bleeding into the floor, I finally realized that was it.

Releasing Stephanie, she slumped into her mother’s arms. Warner and Rainer stepped over the bodies, scanning the hallway, before ushering everyone out of the room and back upstairs.

There were no more rushed steps, everyone shaken and wary as they stepped over the bodies and made their way back to the safety they thought they had. We followed the others, but when we reached the top floor, I knew we needed to head back down.

Surprisingly, Rainer agreed, but only if he went first, making sure no one else was inside the hotel. Our small group meandered down the stairs, deciding that was safer than the elevator.

Rainer canvassed the floor, nodding for us once it was deemed safe. Immediately, I headed toward Caroline’s office, not the least bit surprised that she wasn’t here. I jiggled the knob, pulling with all my might, but it didn’t budge. My mind sprung to the image of the key she had pocketed.

“Back up, Alessia,” Warner muttered, pushing me away from the door.

Lifting his foot up, he kicked with all his might, the door not moving an inch. Rainer and Murphy joined him, the three of them throwing their bodies against the door, but still, it didn’t move.

“What the hell?” Sasha whispered, reading my thoughts exactly.

The men upstairs had easily knocked down that door. Why couldn’t these three do the same?

“Fuck. It’s reinforced,” Warner stated, and the other two shared a desperate look.

Murphy and Rainer tried one last time, but Warner shook his head. “There’s no use. There’s no way we’re getting through that door without a battering ram or a key.”

At that moment, the front door swung open, and Rainer turned with his gun held high. A relieved breath escaped me when Aiden walked inside, his hands raised.

“What did I miss?” He asked, taking in our ashen expressions.

What did he miss? I wanted to laugh, no humor in my bones. Fucking everything. Because Caroline was gone, most likely not coming back, and with her, so was our one chance.

Chapter Fifteen

The next few weeks passed in a tireless blur. After the raid on the hotel, we were back to nightly guard shifts. Warner, Murphy, and Rainer took most of them, refusing to sleep even when exhaustion seemed to pull them under.

However, when they couldn’t stay awake any longer, the rest of us stepped in, even Matthew and a few of the other occupants taking their turns.

When we weren’t keeping guard, we were searching every nook and cranny of this hotel, looking for any information that Caroline may have left behind. We quickly learned that no one else was staying in the hotel, even though Caroline had led everyone to believe that was the case.

Hundreds of busted doors later, each room had been searched, nothing but linens and furniture inside. Murphy did his best on the computer, hacking into whatever he could, but besidesseveral correspondences between Caroline and a man named Chandler, he found nothing.

Caroline’s office door still stood shut, none of us able to get inside. Sasha had tried to pick the lock several times, but to no avail. Every few days, I would hear the unmistakable thud of a body against the door, one of the men attempting to break it down, but it stood strong.

And now today was November seventh. One month until the meteor. We had the location of the bunker. We knew where the entrance was. And we had absolutely zero way to get inside that didn’t involve getting detained by the guards that would be outside or, worse, killed.

I stood behind Murphy as he clicked away at the computer, my chin resting on his shoulder. Rainer was at my side, scanning a few maps he had found in the drawers behind the counter, his one hand tapping against the surface of the counter, his other wrapped around my thigh.

If I had any worries about my feelings for three different men, they had faded over the past month. Our touches became easier. Our heated looks hard to hide. And although I could see the flickers of jealousy in their eyes every now and then, they never said a word.

Murphy had pulled up the emails between Caroline and Chandler once again, skimming over the lines of words. As I read the message, a sudden idea popped into my head. It was a reckless one. One that I was sure would send Rainer into a stroke. But really, what was new?

“Why don’t we message him?” I whispered to Murphy, trying to keep my voice low.

By the way fingers dipped roughly into my thigh, I knew Rainer had heard. A low growl rumbled through his chest.

“No.”

I clucked my tongue at his refusal, lifting my chin and glaring at him. “You didn’t even let me explain the idea.”

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