Inferno by Rachel Grant

Author:Rachel Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781944571245
Publisher: Janus Publishing

8

Kaylea saw the small rocket the moment before it was fired at the Jeep, and turned to run away as the boom sounded. The noise and wave of heat were enough to make her stumble, but she managed to stay on her feet, her hearing only slightly muted by the blast.

Beside her, Carlos also kept his feet. He took her hand and pulled her forward, urging her to run faster. She did, running flat out over the open terrain, running away from the Jeep, away from the palace. Their only hope was to run and hide and hope the blast had been noticed and help would come.

But it wasn’t like the blast in Djibouti City that had been massive and heard for miles. This rocket had been much smaller. More of a bang than a boom. Plus the house was alone on a peninsula on the coast. For all she knew, there’d been blasting during construction of the palace and no one would bat an eye at the noise today. They couldn’t count on any sort of cavalry. They were on their own.

She ran, her lungs aching as she pushed herself to run even faster, saving nothing for later. But the ground and her boots weren’t made for this kind of running, and she rolled her ankle on a rock and stumbled. Carlos was there to pull her to her feet, and she ran again, ignoring the pain.

She wasn’t as trained as Carlos—few were—but she was trained. She would do this. She could do this. She didn’t want to be the reason he was captured. He could run faster. He was holding back for her. “Go! Don’t wait for me!” She yelled the words, but they were muted to her own ears and strangled by her panting breath.

He ignored her plea and stayed by her side.

She ran with no destination in mind. They were just trying to get away. Away from the man with the shoulder-fired rocket launcher. Away from the house.

But it was no use. A vehicle came barreling toward them. This one a modern, short-wheel-based Land Rover. More men with guns pointed at her and Carlos. Bullets hit the ground in front and behind her—the sharp crack of sound barely penetrating her blast-fogged ears. These weren’t the lousy shots of poorly trained soldiers. They were warning shots. A command to stop.

These men wanted to take them alive. If they wanted to kill her or Carlos, they’d be dead already. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill them. Just that they didn’t want to. Not yet, anyway.

She had no choice and collapsed on the ground. Unable to breathe. Unable to think. Unable to hear. Carlos was beside her, pulling her into his arms. “She’s injured!” he shouted in English, his accent thick. Fully in character, even now.

Into her ear, he whispered, “Play along.” She could just make out the words above her panting breath and the ringing in her ears.

She gave a slight nod. She couldn’t draw attention to her boots—she wanted to keep them on—so she gripped her arm.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.