Page 106 of Greed
She trembled with fear, but she wasn’t going to let him control her anymore. “No!”
“For fuck’s sake, Lilo. Do I have to do everything for you?” He turned on the ignition. She shoved her elbow in his face, snapping his head back.
When he came back up, blood dripped from his nose, but before he could say a word, Griffin was there—standing before the van, looking at Donald with menacing eyes.
“I thought you learned your lesson, Doppenger. You’re no match for me.”
“You’re right, I did learn my lesson,” Donnie said. He aimed his gun out the window. “It just wasn’t the one you think.”
He swung his aim to point at his backpack left by the monorail. The backpack must hold a bomb. The train would be coming soon. It came every nine minutes. There were innocents on board.
“Bomb!” she shouted.
Griffin must have yanked on the gun with his power, because it suddenly seemed as though Donnie grappled the air for control of his pistol. But, instead of being worried, Donnie turned to Lilo with a grin. He pulled something from his other pocket. A remote detonator.
“This is the infamy part.” Donnie’s thumb pressed down on the red button.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Griffin had been standing only meters away from the monorail sub-structure when the bomb went off, exploding into him. On instinct, his hands went up to protect himself, and he rolled, letting his leather take the full impact of the blast. The kinetic clash launched him backward and slid him across the asphalt. For a moment, he lay face down, feeling the heat while his ears rang.
Arms good.
Legs can move.
Not on fire. Not dead.
His magnetic power must have taken the brunt of the blast. His skin was scorched in patches through his leather, but he was okay.
Alive. And seriously pissed.
He rolled his limber body to land swiftly on his feet and stared at the armored vehicle. Doppenger had his gun pointed at a frightened Lilo, and when he noticed Griffin unscathed, he became infuriated. Griffin reached out with his power to grasp the car, intending to bring it closer, but a loud creaking sound drew his attention over his shoulder. The steel metal structure holding the monorail began to buckle. The rail track snapped in two, and the steel column fell hard, bringing the track with it. Griffin let go of the van and moved his power to grip the monolith framework, but he got to it too late. With a deafening crash, the rail collapsed, throwing cloud and debris everywhere.
It was then Griffin heard the telltale sound of screeching metal-on-metal as the approaching Nine-Train grew closer.
He tapped his earpiece to open up the communication channel. “Where are you?” he shouted. “The rail has collapsed.”
“We’re almost there,” came Parker’s voice through his earpiece. “Hold on.”
Griffin widened his stance, pushed his force out and readied himself for the train’s impact. He had to save the people inside.
Had to save Lilo.
But the train.
He roared in frustration, knowing he had no choice, despite the wants of his heart. Protecting a train load of innocents was his first priority. He would kill Doppenger if he hurt Lilo. Kill him. The darkness of his past had nothing on the depths of his heart. The screeching grew louder. He only hoped he had enough force to hold the heavy train as it approached the end of the line. He’d never stopped anything that powerful before.
“The train is almost here,” he bit out. “I don’t know if I’ll be enough to stop it derailing. Someone needs to get through to the driver. We may need emergency assistance.”
The closer the heavy object came, the less faith he had. Almost there. Get ready. He braced, heart racing every second the screech of the train tracks escalated.
Impact!
He staggered as his power caught the force of the train speeding toward him. Metal wailed, rails screeched and, through it all, he heard the distinct sound of tires spinning as the armored van took off behind him, taking Lilo away.
His defiance surged and all he could think was that he couldn’t let them get away, he couldn’t let Doppenger take her from him. He needed her. He had to protect her.
Protect them both.
