Page 137 of Mad Love

I pushed through the rest of the way and dropped to my knees beside her, helping her sit up. “Are you okay?”

She blinked and focused on my face, dust in her brown hair. “You’re bleeding.”

I touched my forehead, surprised to find it wet with blood. No wonder my head was pounding. “Did you get hurt?”

She looked over herself. “I think I’m okay. Just a few cuts and bruises, but I’m not sure how much of that was from the earthquake.” She gave a nervous, breathy chuckle and looked at my phone. “Tell me you can call for help.”

I shook my head. “No service.” I looked down again. At least the clock worked, and it was showing that the two hours I’d been waiting for Ryan had been more than cut in half.

That was if they could land a plane somewhere following an earthquake.

Hopelessness started bubbling up in me, but I pushed it back. I had to get Bex and I out of here.

“Where’s Gary?” she asked, grunting as I helped her to her feet. “Ouch. I think I sprained my ankle.”

I wrapped her arm around my shoulders so she could use me for support. “I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Okay.” Bex’s teeth were chattering as she tried to hold it together. “Let’s see if we can get the hell out of this deathtrap.” She glanced around, and, as if to prove her point, another piece of the ceiling broke free and fell a few feet away with a crash and cloud of dust.

I couldn’t make out the foyer or front door beyond this room, and the only other option was rappelling down the side of the cliff the house had once sat on top of.

Ironic.

This place had been designed to showcase power and wealth, and it was because of that very thing that it was on the precipice of falling into the valley. If I wasn’t in mortal danger of this monstrosity of a house falling down on my head, I’d take a few pictures to gloat.

Speaking of monsters… I kept my gaze moving, searching for Gary in case he was hiding somewhere. I would’ve liked to think that a natural disaster might’ve tempered his desire to kill me, but the man had already proven he was laser focused on my death, so I wasn’t planning to stick around and tempt fate.

I huffed a breath as we made our way across the uneven floor. “I can’t believe we just got our asses saved by an earthquake.”

The corner of Bex’s mouth turned up. “Well, at least Mother Nature’s on your side.”

I snorted. “About time I had a mom that gave a damn.”

She laughed, the sound soft but strained. “Seriously, Maddie? You’re going to joke about that now?”

I glanced around. “If you can’t laugh during a natural disaster, then when can you?”

Sighing, Bex kept pushing forward until her foot caught on something and we both almost went down. I struggled to keep us upright, the pain in my temples throbbing even harder in protest as my head dipped.

“Shit, sorry,” she apologized.

“We’re almost there,” I said, my gaze fixed on the spot where the doors to the hallway were. I just prayed there wasn’t anything blocking them. “I thought all Los Angeles buildings were earthquake proof.”

“Yeah, but when half the side of a cliff gives way, the house on top doesn’t really stand a chance,” she pointed out, panting as we finished crossing the floor.

“Moment of truth,” I murmured, surprised when I pushed on the door and it swung open easily.

The foyer was a mess, from what I could see. The windows in here were blown out, too, and there was glass scattered across the cracked marble from where yet another chandelier had fallen.

Chandeliers were clearly a major problem in earthquakes.

“I feel like we woke up in a dystopian novel,” Bex whispered.

I had to agree as my gaze traveled around the darkened space. The front doors were gaping open, showing the dark semi-circle of the driveway. Pictures that had lined the curved staircase had fallen off the walls. Splinters of cracked frames and broken glass littered the steps.

The place looked like a damn war zone.

Anxiety tightened my stomach as we moved forward. Where were Gary and the other guard? Or the ones from outside? Shit, was Chase okay?

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