Then I spun toward the doorway. We had to make sure the way was clear.
Well,Ihad to. Despite all our training, Griffin wasn’t much of a fighter.
We charged up the last flight of stairs to the landing up top and slowed to slip out through the main door into the night. The cool, fresh air washed over us.
Griffin dragged in a deep breath and grinned. “No one nearby,” he said, meaning no guardians whose emotions he would have picked up on.
Just in case, I scanned our surroundings, taking in the parking lot, the fields, the fence, and the forest beyond.
Everything was still. Peaceful, even, as ridiculous as that seemed.
Stars twinkled overhead. A piney scent laced the breeze. I wanted to gulp it down like lemonade after a long, sweaty workout.
Right now, the guys would be hurrying up the stairs to join us. Andreas had used his charm and his talent with memories to learn how to hotwire a car. Zian’s X-ray vision had given us the code for the gate.
Everything was in place. Nothing could stop us now.
A grin crossed my face with a burst of pure joy. I caught Griffin’s eyes, and the matching excitement shining from his face turned him so gorgeous the sight took my breath away.
This time, when a familiar impulse gripped me, I didn’t will it away like I had every time before. I let the wave of elation propel me toward him, slipped my hand around the back of his neck, and pressed my lips to his.
An eager sound reverberated from Griffin’s chest as he kissed me back. I could have gotten lost in him right then, forgotten everything but the feel of his body against mine.
Nothing had ever tasted sweeter than the collision of our mouths. It was like the perfect swell of melody in a song, resonating through every particle of my body and leaving me tingling.
This was what we could be. This was what we couldhave, once we were only ourselves, not anyone’s belongings.
With the rush of giddiness came a starker, needier sensation clawing up through my chest. More. I wanted so much more than this.
But I hadn’t completely lost my grip on reality. We weren’t safe yet.
I forced myself to pull back, my gaze flicking over the terrain around us again—
And a boom echoed through the night.
Griffin’s body spasmed, a dark splotch blooming on his chest alongside a puff of black smoke. As a cry I couldn’t contain burst from my lips, his bright eyes glazed. His knees buckled.
I leapt to catch him before he could hit the ground. His body felt so limp and weak that a scream bubbled up from my lungs.
More blood gushed over my hands with the beating of his heart, alongside the dark mist that escaped our veins when we bled. I didn’t know how to stop it.
Where was Dom? Where was—
The roar of engines rattled my eardrums, and my head whipped up, tears blurring my vision. Vehicles tore across the landscape all around me, sniper guns poking from windows and roofs.
I sprang up, claws slicing through the air, muscles braced. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I’d fight to the death to defend whatever life might be left in the boy at my feet.
Another shot rang out. Pain tore through my shoulder, slamming me backward.
Then a sharp zap of electricity blasted me. My nerves crackled and hissed like live wires; my mind reeled.
Footsteps thundered all around me. I lashed out with every ounce of strength I had left. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and the metallic flavor of my own blood seeped into my mouth from where I’d bitten my lip.
My fists and feet struck one form and then another—but another zap shocked me, shattering my control over my limbs. As I slumped over, the world beyond me hazed.
A horrible shout penetrated my growing stupor. “The others are secured!”
Rough hands grasped my arms and legs.