A round of applause sings through the audience, most of them getting to their feet.
"Lily, can you hear me?" Sammi says in my ear, drowning out Blake's speech.
"Yeah, go ahead, Boa," I say into my communicator.
"We got a fucking problem. Get Blake, Shannon, and Sorina out of their now!"
My eyes dart to Blake. "What's going on?"
"Someone put an adapter on my computer and hacked my system. The transmission is rerouted to a warehouse five miles from your location. I sent the address to your cell phone," she hisses.
"Gun!" Vlad screams from the other side of the stage.
I look up as screams erupt throughout the room. Time moves in slow motion. Several men move toward the stage . . . we've miscounted the number of Taurus.
"Blake, hit the ground," I scream.
He drops as bullets hit the podium. I pull my guns from their holsters and send a bullet flying, hitting the closest man in the temple. He drops as I run across the stage and slide next to Blake, blocking his body with mine, and Vlad kneels on the other side.
Vlad leans around us, and fires, the blasts vibrating my eardrums. I move to turn as someone grabs my ankle, knocking me on my ass. I pull my leg up, dragging them with me. Blake reaches out from behind the podium, grasping the person's head between his hands. The sick snap of bone reaches my ears as Blake twists his hands, breaking the hitman's neck.
"Get him the fuck out of here," I hiss, as Vlad reloads his guns.
"I'm not leaving without you," Blake says, grabbing my arm.
"Yes, you are. Now go. I'll meet you back at the apartment," I say, quickly kissing him.
I jump to my feet, side shuffling to cover Blake and Vlad as they move to the stairs. I hit another hitman in the shoulder as the guys dart for the main entrance. I crouch down behind a table, watching as they go. Another man jumps out from the other side of the door, trying to put Blake in a headlock.
Blake jabs his elbow into the man's ribs twice, breaking the hold, and as he spins around Vlad puts a bullet in the guy's head. They dart for the entrance as the straggling guests' storm the front door.
Impressive, baby.
I stand and look around, the hall cleared and only Dresden and I remain with three members of the Taurus left standing. They eye us ruefully.
"So, you guys really think you're going to make it out of here?" Dresden hisses, reloading his .45.
"There are three of us, and two of you. The odds are in our favor," the one furthest from me says.
I squeeze the trigger of my gun, hitting the guy closest to me in the forehead. He hits the floor with a thud. "Now you have two," I hiss.
The guy's eyes widen. "You must be Viper."
"And you must be stupid." I smile at him.
"Oh, fuck this," Dresden says, rolling his eyes. He fires two rounds, hitting the last two hitmen, both in the chest. He turns to me, and smiles. "Let's go. I want to know who's in that warehouse.”
Dresden and I run to the lone SUV still sitting out back of the event location. He jumps in the driver's seat and starts the car as I slide into the passenger's side. I pull my cell phone out, glancing at the text message Sammi sent. I give Dresden the address, and then dial Blake's number.
"Lily, where are you?" he answers, his voice panicked.
"Dresden and I are going to the warehouse. Tell Sammi. Get your ass home. Put Vlad on the phone," I say quickly.
"Lily, it's Vlad," he hisses, breathless.
"Lock that fucking apartment down until I get there."
"You got it," he says.