The door shut behind Mercer.
Anton exhaled slowly. It wasn’t the revenge he’d wanted.
But it would have to do.
* * *
“TINA!”
Drew wiped the blood from his eye as he leaped to his feet. His clothes were singed, blisters covered his arms and— Where was Tina?
She’d been in front of him before the last detonation. He’d tried to reach for her, but the blast had torn her away from him.
His gaze searched to the left. The right. Smoke billowed all around him. Tina couldn’t stay in this smoke. It would hurt her.
Maybe that’s why she wasn’t calling back to him. Maybe she was having another attack. The smoke had set it off before, on that runway, and maybe—
“D-Drew...” Just a whisper; a strangled gasp that he heard above the flames.
That gasp was the sweetest sound to his ears. It meant that she was alive.
He ran to her, following that gasp. She was on the ground, struggling to sit up. He shoved his hand into the hidden pocket on his vest and pulled out her inhaler. “Easy, Doc, I’ve got you.”
Always.
She took the inhaler. Her lashes lifted so that her eyes met his.
The fire was still spreading, surging higher and higher. Sirens wailed in the distance.
“I have to get you out of here.” He scooped her up into his arms. It wasn’t about a mission or priorities. He didn’t think it ever had been. It was only about her.
Now, she truly was the only good thing left in his life.
He looked up. The other agent was there—the man who’d come up behind the building and taken out most of Devast’s men. Cooper Marshall. Drew knew the guy by reputation, but had never worked with him. Cooper’s blond hair stuck to his temples, slick with sweat. He had a gun in his left hand. “Get her out,” Cooper barked. “I’ll make sure we’re clear.”
And that no more of Devast’s men had survived to attack again.
Drew held tight to Tina as he raced away from the scene. He’d gotten her out of that inferno. She was in his arms. Safe.
When he’d learned about his sisters—
No.
Drew immediately slammed the door on that thought. Not now. Can’t think of them now. He was barely holding together as it was.
He had to protect Tina first.
Tina, then—
Paige had wanted to stay with me.
His back teeth ground together. His eyes burned.
His arms clung even harder to Tina. He kept running with her cradled against him. The smoke was so thick that he could barely see as he rushed forward.
She had her medicine. She was safe. Alive.
His sisters...