Switched by Helenkay Dimon

Author:Helenkay Dimon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Published: 2012-11-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Aaron sensed the danger before he actually felt it. Having survived earthquakes, he knew the ground prepared to rattle.

When it bounced beneath his feet, Aaron dove for Risa. He caught her in the side, plowing her to the floor and twisting to take the brunt of the bone-shaking fall. His arms wrapped around her as he folded her underneath him and rolled. He kept going until his body hit a table in the open entry and knocked it over on top of them.

The air whooshed over their heads with a giant sucking sound. The thundering roar of a bang came next. Glass shattered all around them as the windows caved in and the walls shook.

With a crack, a piece of the far wall broke off. It smashed against the floor, breaking into tiny pieces.

Above them, the impressive lobby windows splintered and rained pieces down on them. They would have been sliced and mutilated if the safety glass hadn’t exploded into tiny cubes. The tiny pelts clicked against the floor and covered his body.

Screaming and yelling sounded all around him. He couldn’t process the noise or figure out where it was coming from or how so few people could be so loud. Ironically, the wailing alarm had shut off, but the building was anything but silent. The crackle of a fire consumed the reception desk. A series of loud crashes echoed around the room as paintings and furniture fell.

A rumble from the floor above made it sound as if the walls were about to collapse around them. Loud bangs above them indicated debris falling on upper floors. He realized that the internal structure, like plumbing and electric, was being shredded and ripped apart from the force of the blow.

Somewhere off to the right, water ran. It skated across the floor, but the origin was hard to trace.

Aaron looked up to find them lying amidst piles of debris as papers and chunks of plaster blew around them. It had the feel of a postapocalyptic nightmare with everything covered in a cloud of white dust and a haze filtering the stale air.

It was no earthquake. A bomb had gone off. It destroyed the walls and everything else in its path at the once-pristine new conference center. So much for a soft opening.

When the ceiling above him creaked and groaned, he glanced up. A hole more than fifteen feet wide had been blown through the building. He mentally calculated the placement of the blast and came up with the party room. He heard jingling right before the half-burned Christmas tree fell through the hole and crashed on the marble floor a few feet away.

Just when the clanking stopped, a new round started. The bar above dropped bottles and glasses. One by one they shattered on the floor. Liquid splashed and more glass flew into the air.

The sound had him jumping and Risa moaning beneath him. He lifted his weight and turned her over with as little shaking and jerking as possible. If she’d been injured further, he didn’t want to risk increasing the damage.

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