Page 133 of The Devil's Pawn

“Nicholas.” Xan grips my shoulder, shaking me. “Are you okay?”

I touch the back of my head. My fingers come back red. “Think so. What happened?”

“Don’t know. Something exploded.”

“Is Imogen okay?”

“She’s fine. We were farther away than you and Victoria.”

“God, Victoria.” She’s face down on the pavement, and I let go of the lamppost and stagger over to her. “Victoria.” I shake her gently, but she doesn’t respond. “Call an ambulance.”

“Already done,” Xan says. “Steven’s on it.”

“Stay with her.” I sway and rock, stumbling down thestreet to where Elizabeth’s cab went. As I turn the corner, a gut-wrenching horror congeals in my chest.

“No! Elizabeth!”

I race toward the flaming cab, but the heat of the fire beats me back. Sirens sound in the distance, but they’re too far away to save her.

My fiancée is dead…

A second explosion sends me flying through the air. Time slows to a crawl, the deafening roar of the second blast drowning out any other sounds. Fragments of debris rain down on me, singeing my clothes, my hair, my skin. With a sickening thud, I hit the ground a second time. As consciousness slips through my fingers like grains of sand, I detach from reality.

Then the world fades from gray to black until there’s nothing but the echo of my heartbeat, and a ferocious desire for vengeance.

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