Page 107 of Concluded
Achilles mutely shook his head.
As if the question itself had summoned bad news, someone shouted, “We’re locked in!”
The doors had been somehow replaced on their hinges, and no amount of force or stabbing at the keypad would open them.
“Back doors!”Charles roared.“Get out!”
It wasn’t a stampede—the agents were too well-trained for that.The ones who were in better shape helped the ones who could barely walk, Achilles put an arm around Dee’s waist to support him, and everyone moved quickly toward the hallway that led to the café.
And then the explosions began.
For a brief moment, Dee’s addled brain assumed they were experiencing an earthquake.But reality broke through a split second later, and he realized that something was hitting the building with tremendous force, making it shake, causing chunks of the ceiling to fall.The electricity cut out, plunging them into complete darkness, and somewhere in front of them, the walls collapsed with an ear-splitting rumble.
Dee choked on air thick with dust and he clutched at Achilles.Agents shouted, and Dee couldn’t tell whether they were cries of pain, surprise, or anger.The ground shook so violently that he fell, pulling Achilles down with him.
Then he smelled the oily chemical reek of synthetic objects burning.
“We’re trapped!”someone yelled.
“They’re bombing us!”
Several people shouted, “Fire!”just before alarms began to shriek.
Heart pounding, lungs straining, Dee knew they were all about to die.
He took the only option remaining, holding Achilles tight and speaking into his ear.“I love you.I don’t regret anything.I love you.”
“Gods, I love you,” Achilles replied hoarsely.Instead of breathing, they kissed ferociously.
Dee didn’t want to die, but knowing that he’d tried to help, knowing he was loved—those things gave him a sense of peace.
And a final bit of hope rose within him like a champagne bubble.He franticly tore at his shirt.“Make a wish.Wish for an escape.”
“But you?—”
“Wish!”
Achilles’ throat sounded shredded, but he whispered, “I wish we could all get out of this place.”
The familiar tingle ran down Dee’s spine, exhilarating even amid the devastation, even as the building burned and collapsed around them.If anyone had been able to see him, they would have been appalled at his ghoulish, manic grin.He thrust a piece of fabric into Achilles’ hand and repeated: “Wish.”He added, for good measure, “Master.”
It sounded as if Achilles laughed before he made his wish.
There was anotherboom!, louder than all the rest.Dee felt it in his bones and waited for everything to fall on them.
Instead, an entire wall collapsed outward, blinding him with sudden light.
“Evacuate!”yelled several people at once.
Dee was smiling as he lost consciousness.
CHAPTER43
The parking lot of the Sherman Oaks Trader Joe’s was chaotic.Bureau agents covered in dust and blood—a couple of them naked—lay on the pavement or moved about, tending to the injured as best they could.Customers and employees stood outside, mostly gaping, although a few had pitched in to help.Sirens wailed from all directions, helicopters buzzed overhead, and a few blocks away, the shell of Bureau HQ smoldered, sending black smoke into the sky.
Charles, Tenrael, and a few others were doing their best to keep everyone calm and organized.Some of the more intact agents had been ordered to keep onlookers at bay, while others commandeered first aid supplies from the store and from bystanders’ cars.Charles was now deep in conversation with a cluster of police officers and firefighters.
Achilles knew perfectly well that he should be helping.But all he could do was sit with Dee’s head in his lap, waiting to make sure that each breath was followed by another.He was dimly aware of being bloody and bruised, that he was still coughing up soot and dust, that his muscles ached from carrying Dee for several blocks.However, Dee’s breathing was all that mattered.
