Page 267 of Entangled

I shake my head, but the ringing only increases. It’s unbearably loud, swallowing my ability to think, but I hesitate before clearing the door. A peculiar dread anchors my feet to the ground.

Something isn’t right.

I grasp my radio right as Lucien drops to his knees and holds up his hands. Raw panic clutches me, and I rush forward, swinging up my rifle. As soon as I clear the door, Lucien’s furious, fearful eyes stare up at me.

And the cold barrel of a gun kisses my temple.

Chapter61

Beau

Survival tip #116

Long jump is an underrated skill.

Lucky’s voice cuts off on the radio, and the sight of his team racing up the street is enough to convince me that we want to be here about as much as ole Daisy wants to be at the slaughterhouse. But damn it, why are they runningtowardthe Den?

Dom crackles over the radio, demanding answers, but he’s going to have to wait.

“Move. Over the rooftops and follow Team Decoy. Go!” I shout, and my team doesn’t need any more urging.

One by one, they fly toward the adjacent building, leaping over the ten-foot gap to the next building, and running toward the next without pausing. Team Decoy might be the prettiest, but Team Rooftop knows how tomove.

Except for one.

Bentley hesitates beside me, eyeing the gap.

“We don’t have time. Pack it away and move,” I order, and his shoulders roll like uncomfortable boulders.

I start to sweat, and I see Jennifer jump over a trash can like she’s aiming for Olympic gold.

What on God’s green earth did Lucky do this time?

Bentley backs away from the rooftop edge. “Ehh. Not much of a jumper, me. I sink like a rock. I’ll hold the fort here.”

Urgency whips me. “It’s hardly a jump at all. You could walk over it. Move.”

“No.”

“Move, or I’ll push you.”

“Are you trying to save my life or end it?”

“Which will shut you up faster?” I push him, and Bentley flinches like he’s a mouse staring down a cat’s maw and not a six-foot-five human tank.

“Move!” I shout, and with a groan, he backs up and races toward the edge of the building, hollering as he jumps.

Wasting no time, I race after him and together we barrel toward the next ledge. He shouts as he goes over that one too, and on the street, I see Lucky turn into a bank, his team following inside.

Clouds roll over the moon, blocking out the main shine of our light. I see flashlights flicker over the rooftop garden on the next building, and it’s only as we’re clearing the ledge that I realize this jump is much larger than the two before it.

“Oh, shiiiiiit,” Bentley bellows.

My stomach unanchors as we soar through empty space, flying over a distance I’m not sure we’re going to clear.

Then I feel it.

The blast wave wallops us from behind like a steam train, the force hurdling us the last few feet over onto the building. Neither of us land clean this time. My insides feel bruised even before I hit the artificial turf of the rooftop garden, and Bentley and I slam into one another as we roll to a jerky, painful halt.

---