“Move!” I shouted, gathering everyone in front of me and surging forward. Alora was holding onto my arm, and I couldn’t imagine how scary this must be for her, conisdering she couldn’t see what was happening. She could only hear the desperate cries of those around us.
A second later, I noticed someone jump over the crowd and then Cristescu was at the exit, tearing the doors off their hinges and kicking down walls like they were made of nothing but sand.
Jesus H. Christ, even I had to admit that was impressive.
The enlarged opening allowed everyone to get out quicker, and with only seconds to spare, I felt the blessedly cold outdoor air hit my face. Cristescu picked up Tegan, Amanda, and Alvie in one swoop and zoomed with vampire speed away from the building. I threw Alora onto my back and ran like our lives depended on it.
I only managed to round the entrance to the parking lot when the explosion went off, and I was deafened by the sound. I stumbled and hit the pavement, taking most of the impact of the fall with Alora on my back, but I was able to get to my feet again and keep running even as smoke and ash filled my vision. I could barely see a thing. All I knew was I had to keep moving.
A minute or two later, I finally stopped to catch my breath. I let Alora down and ran my hands over her, searching for injuries. I sucked in a harsh breath when I discovered a piece of glass lodged firmly in her shoulder. It wasn’t too deep, so it was safe enough for me to pull it out. A trickle of blood seeped from the wound, and I ripped a piece of material from my sleeve to stem the bleeding.
She shook as I removed Theodore’s coveralls to check the rest of her body, but I didn’t find any other injuries. She only wore leggings and a T-shirt underneath, so I wrapped my arms around her to keep her warm.
“Fuck, Goldy. We were almost goners there for a minute,” I said, breathing harshly. I pulled her in tight, feeling like the luckiest prick in the world to have survived that ordeal. I was shaken, and I definitely needed to hold Alora just as much as she needed to be kept warm. Her chest heaved, and when I raised her chin to look her in the eye, I found that she was crying.
“Don’t cry. You’re safe now, I’ve got you,” I murmured to her softly, kissing the top of her head and her wet cheeks. I captured her face in my hands and rubbed my thumbs under her eyes to dry her tears.
She snuggled into me closer, gripping me tightly, and a wave of emotion overtook me. I barely knew this girl, yet she made something deep inside of me ache for more. More of something I’d never felt before, not like this.
I wanted to take care of her and make sure nothing hurt her ever again.
Lowering my mouth to hers, I took her lips in a tender, exploratory kiss. My tongue slid along hers, and she responded with a gentle moan.
“Finn!” I heard someone call out. Reluctantly, I stopped kissing Alora and looked up to see Tegan and the others running toward us.
“Where’s Cristescu?”
“We can’t find Lucas anywhere. Ethan’s gone back inside the club to find him. He thinks that because he was shot, he didn’t get the chance to recover and leave the building before the bombs went off.”
“He could be dead. There were stakes in those bombs.”
I immediately regretted saying it when Amanda burst into tears. Tegan shot me an annoyed look for being so insensitive.
“What?” I whispered uncomfortably. “He could be.”
“You couldn’t see because you had a bag over your head,” Tegan explained. “But Ethan mistakenly chose to shoot at Amanda on his last shot. Lucas threw himself in front of the bullet before it could hit her.”
He sacrificed himself for a human? Suddenly, my opinion of Lucas changed drastically.
“Ethan said to find you and get everyone back to the house,” Tegan continued.
I was about to argue with her because the fact that we all got taken from there meant it wasn’t exactly safe. But then when I thought about it, nowhere was really safe anymore. Not with Theodore and Rita on the loose.
“Okay, we need a vehicle though,” I replied, just as a van came barrelling down the road to us. It stopped just shy of Tegan. Ira sat in the driver’s seat with Delilah beside him.
“Get in,” Delilah called, and I ushered everyone in the back.
We drove by Crimson, which was nothing but a pile of burning rubble now. Cristescu emerged from the wreckage carrying a limp body in his arms. I knew it was Lucas when I heard Amanda let out a whimper of relief. Cristescu silently slid into the car with his unconscious friend in his arms, and Ira started the engine back up.