Page 60 of Saint

That one word sent a chill down her spine. Well, they’dhadthe upper hand. He was looking at her with so much hate glowing in his eyes, squeezing the phone hard enough to crack it. And her hopes plummeted.

“I’ll take care of them,” Chadwick stated ominously and hung up. He stalked toward her, face turning a mottled shade of red. “You are so much like your mother. A lying, conniving, little bit—”

The entire bunker rocked as though God himself had struck it. Or, maybe the Devil. Mia grabbed onto the armrests, trying to figure out what the hell was happening, when a series of distant pops filled the cold air.

The brief distraction was exactly what she needed and she hopped up, lunging for the gun. Chadwick spun at the same time and grabbed it first.Screw that. She threw herself at him and tackled him at the knees. They both fell to the ground, theforce of her body causing him to release the weapon and it went skittering across the floor.

As she wrestled with Chadwick, using all her strength to keep him away from the gun, she saw Grendel run. Salinger stood there like a deer caught in headlights, and she had a fleeting fantasy of grabbing the gun and putting a bullet between his beady eyes.

A moment later, two people in head-to-toe military gear swept into the room. Their faces were covered from the nose down, they wore protective vests and they each carried a pistol.

POP! POP! Salinger dropped, a bullet neatly delivered to his chest and then one between his eyes, just like she’d imagined. The utterly precise and smooth delivery made her jaw drop. They had to be part of Nik’s team.

Ex Nihilo.

Distracted by what was happening, Mia let her guard down and Chadwick wrapped a forearm around her neck, dragging her up, and using her as a human shield. The gunmen turned, aiming their weapons at his head, but didn’t fire as he hid behind Mia, towing her along with him.

“You’re such a coward,” she hissed between gritted teeth.

“Let me pass or I’ll break her neck,” Chadwick threatened.

Mia met the intense gray eyes of the first man, who growled, “Stand down,” to the other man who was absolutely huge and staring at her with concern in his amber gaze. Reluctantly, they stepped aside, allowing them to pass.

Shit.

“Get Nik!” she cried, frantically pulling against Chadwick’s hold. “He’s nailed shut in the coffin!”

Once again, the entire bunker rumbled and Mia felt the ground move beneath her feet as an ominous sound filled the air. It felt like an earthquake.

“Avalanche!” someone yelled.

The next thing she knew, the ceiling above her cracked and began to fall. Mia screamed and Chadwick shoved her away as rocks and snow dropped all around them.

“Move it!” he yelled, pushing her forward.

She stumbled and ran, keeping her head down and covered. Debris rained down all around them, but somehow they made it through before being buried alive. Glancing over her shoulder, Mia’s heart fell. A huge pile of rocks, snow and ice now separated her from Nik’s teammates. Once again, she was stuck with Chadwick.

Fear punched her in the gut when he lifted his hand and waved the gun in front of her face. How had he managed to grab it? Furious with herself for letting it happen, she wanted to scream in frustration. Instead, she pressed her lips together and, when he motioned for her to walk, she marched forward, lifting her chin, defiant as hell. Nik would be proud.

The bad news was they’d been separated from the good guys. The good news was she was on the side of the cave-in where Nik was located. As soon as they passed the room, she was going to somehow escape Chadwick, duck inside and get Nik out. But when they reached the doorway, Chadwick grabbed her arm and yanked her inside.

“You want to be with him so badly?” he snarled, shaking her so hard her head rattled. “Then be with him, you lying, cheating, deceitful whore!” His voice cracked and, with wild eyes, he turned the gun and opened fire at the wooden box.

The box that held Nik.

A scream tore from Mia’s throat as chunks of wood splintered and cracked. Even after the gun had emptied, he kept pulling the trigger.

Click, click, click.

“No!” Mia cried, her knees buckling. There was no way Nik hadn’t been hit and as she dropped to the floor, her world plunged into despair.

Chapter Twenty

Saint forced his eyes open and stared at the lid that almost touched his nose.Suck it up,he told himself. If he lost his shit, he wouldn’t be able to help Mia.

He just needed to figure a way out of the damn box.

Tilting his head back, he twisted, craning his neck to get a glimpse of the corners that had been nailed shut. The nail on the right side had been driven in crooked and he reached up and grasped the sharp end of it. Unfortunately, he’d royally fucked his fingers up after trying to dig his way out, so it hurt when he applied pressure.Stupid.

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