Page 36 of Chaos & Carnage

“Ah fuck, they know we’re here,” Lor murmurs.

More gunshots go off, and we start back into motion, moving deeper into the building. In the next instant, the entire ground shakes beneath our feet, and I snap my arm out to grab a hold of Sawyer’s upper arm, steadying her.

“Fuck, shit mustn’t be good.” Another mutter from Lor as he plants a hand against the wall, and we wait for the quaking to subside. Sounds of chaos rage from the other end of the building, and the second I let go, Sawyer races toward the noise.

Lor and I share a wide-eyed look before taking off after her, guns out.

Now that there’s no need to be stealthy, we shoot bullets into anyone we see until the ringing in my ears is all I can hear. All around me is chaos as we fight our way toward where the bulk of Grim’s men seems to be coming from.

Another tremor rocks the ground beneath my feet, and I struggle to stay upright as I slam the butt of my gun against some asshole’s forehead, knocking him out before shooting him in the face. I don’t even have time to see him hit the floor at my feet before I’m overwhelmed again, a shot whizzing past my ear a second before some bastard slams his fist into my cheek.

I drop the gun, grabbing the front of his shirt with my fist and pummeling his face until blood coats his teeth and his nose is broken. His eyes look dazed as I start squeezing his head between my palms and twist it to the side, snapping his neck.

Blood has soaked into my shirt, making it stick to my skin, and my forearms are caked with it. Sawyer and Lor aren’t faring much better, the three of us looking like warriors of death as we fight and stab and shoot our way down the corridor.

It’s a bloodbath. With every passing minute, the bodies pile up until they’re twisted around my ankles and I have to step over them. There are more men than I had anticipated, and now that we’ve lost the element of surprise, I’m not sure we have enough people to take them all out. Although, even if we pull back now, we will have seriously weakened Grim, and I’m sure he would think twice about coming after us. However, I also know that my father is an unreasonable man, unaccustomed to the word no. If Grim told my father he was done playing a part in this war, it would probably be the last decision he ever made.

An explosion nearby sends another rumble through the foundations, cracks appearing in the walls. I see what’s about to happen a split second before it does, and latching on to Sawyer, I tug her backwards as the ceiling not twenty feet from us collapses, burying Grim’s men beneath it.

“Holy shit,” I hear her gasp as dust hangs thick in the air, obscuring my vision and making my eyes sting.

There’s another shake and the sound of more foundations giving way. “Fuck, the entire building is going down,” Lor yells as I begin to pull Sawyer back down the hallway.Outside. We need to get outside.That’s all I can think about as the three of us race toward the exit. Thankfully, whatever men are left behind are too preoccupied to chase after us, and Lor throws open the door as more of the building sounds as if it’s caving in.

“Cain and Oliver!” Sawyer cries, a sheen in her eyes as she stares slack-jawed at the building falling apart behind us. “Oh my god, the kids! And Marcus! We have to find them!”

Something inside my chest tightens as I stare up at where the building has all but disappeared from the far side of where we were. Now, there’s nothing but dust and the black sky above. All of us were inside. I don’t know where everyone was, but I’ve no doubts every single one of us was inside that building.

Based on Lor’s grim expression, he’s thinking the same thing. Sawyer is nothing but a blur of movement as she rushes past me, heading back into the building.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I snarl, wrapping my arm around her waist and hauling her back against me.

“Let go of me!” she cries. “I need to find them!” A sob rips from her throat as she thrashes in my arms, struggling to break free.

“Get her out of here,” Lor says to me, keeping his voice low as he flicks a concerned gaze to Sawyer. “I’ll see if I can find any of them…”Alive.That’s the word he doesn’t say aloud.

With a nod, he steps back, his expression anguished as he casts a final glance at Sawyer, who is still twisting and writhing in my arms, unaware of our conversation. After a second, he turns on his heels and disappears out of view beyond the building.

“No!” Sawyer screams as I tighten my arm around her waist. Her nails dig into my skin and claw at my arm as I haul her off the ground and move away from the building. “No! Where are you going?! We have to help!... Dante!” Her voice is near hysterical as I turn so the building is behind us, trying to ignore her desperate cries and the agonizing pain in my chest as she all but falls apart in my arms.

It’s a mission working on getting her out of the compound, and I have to practically throw her into the car.

“Sawyer,” I growl, my voice laced with pain. Not the physical kind, but the type that buries itself deep beneath your skin and never quite heals. “Please,” I plead with her as she shoves at my shoulder, trying to get out of the car.

She’s not hearing a word I say, too busy pushing at my shoulders and avoiding eye contact, so I grasp her face between my hands and force her to look at me. Tears glisten in her eyes, spilling over to run down her cheeks.Fuck, I’m no good at this sort of shit.I don’t know what the right thing to say is. What if I make it worse? I should have thrust her into Lor’s arms and gone to search for the others myself.ThatI know how to do, but this… this is new territory and I’m terrified of fucking it up.

“Please.” Her voice is broken, but now that she’s stopped fighting me, her energy has drained away, leaving her looking smaller and more fragile than ever before.

“I can’t.” My own voice is strained. I hate being part of the cause of her pain. I hate that I have to say no to her now, but she is my top priority—the only thing that matters. I couldn’t risk her going back into that building. Worse, I couldn’t bear to watch her fracture when she inevitably finds one of them in the rubble. I just… can’t.

I might only be sparing her a morsel of heartache, but it will have to do. If I could carry the weight of all of it for her, I would.

More tears fall from her eyes, and I watch as her lower lip trembles, her breath hitching on a sob she refuses to let loose. Stroking a hand along the back of her head, I pitch my voice low, soothing, as I say, “Lor’s searching. He’ll find them. You and me, we’ll go get a shower and curl up in bed, so we’re rested by the time they all return, yeah?”

It’s not really a question, and I’m not sure if she can hear the lies, but she doesn’t respond, and thankfully she doesn’t resist as I tuck her legs into the car and reach across for the seatbelt. When she’s all buckled into the seat, I swipe at the tears under her eyes, even though more immediately run down her cheek to replace them. Whispering one more lie, “everything’s going to be okay,” I step back and close the door.

The drive is silent as we head back to the house, and when I park outside, she makes no effort to get out. I didn’t dare glance into the rearview mirror while I drove, knowing I wouldn’t be able to look away, but now I summon the courage to look. What I see breaks me more than any bullet ever could. Gone is the wildcat who fought me tooth and nail at the fire station, and in her place is something far worse, far harder to bear witness to.

Her head rests against the glass as she stares blankly out the window, her shoulders slumped and leaning against the interior as if she no longer has the energy to prop herself up. She doesn’t seem to even realize we’ve stopped… or perhaps she just doesn’t care.

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