as we hit the second step, I finally find them—King, Cruz, and Grayson.
They stand beside Ember who looks flawless in a deep red, satin gown that sits just off her shoulders with a short train that would have her non-stop gushing. I hope the guys told her how beautiful she looks tonight because I’ve never seen her look so amazing.
She looks up at me with a proud smile on her lips and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “You look beautiful,” she mouths, making a big, cheesy smile stretch across my face.
But the guys.
My mouth instantly waters and I suck in a breath. They look like the best kind of nightmare.
My gaze travels over King first, scanning over his sharp jaw and dark messy hair, that for once isn’t hanging forward into his ocean blue eyes. He wears a four-piece grey suit that fits his strong body perfectly, and I know that when I get to the bottom of the stairs, I’ll probably find each of them in designer suits that I won’t be able to pronounce.
Seeing that I have his attention, King smirks, and I have no choice but to shift my gaze toward Cruz before I become a fumbling mess for the whole organization to see, but I’m lost for words. Cruz looks like my next meal. His suit is a softer shade of grey than King’s but looks just as good. He went without the vest, leaving the top button of his white dress shirt open and hinting at the deliciousness hidden below.
He licks his lips and I just about die.
These boys better be meeting me in my room after the party, still wearing these suits. I think I just got a whole new fantasy that’s going to get played out before the night is over.
A small smile pulls at my lips, and as I turn to Grayson, I find his stormy eyes already on mine. They seem to smile up at me despite the hard set of his strong jaw, trying to appear as though he isn’t having the time of his life.
His suit is as black as night, just like Carver’s, and he somehow looks like the sharpest one in the room. It matches his personality perfectly, and I find myself desperate to tear it off him. He’s dressed a lot simpler than Cruz and King, yet it makes him seem so much more unapproachable, but now I know better.
Carver and I get just over halfway when King’s head whips up and I look back at him, watching as he scans the upper mezzanine level of the ballroom with his brows furrowed. “What’s going on?” I murmur as Carver clutches my hand tighter.
He shakes his head ever so slightly. “I don’t—”
King’s loud, booming tone tears through the ballroom as his panicked gaze cuts back to me. “GET DOWN,” he roars just as he reaches for Ember and throws her to the ground.
Carver launches himself at me. His body crashes against mine and as we fall down the stairs with the eyes of the whole organization on us, a deafening, burning explosion tears through the ballroom, throwing Carver and I clear across the room.
BOOM!
CHAPTER 34
Screams tear through the ballroom and my head spins as I fade in and out of consciousness, but as the seconds tick by, the screams only get louder.
My brows furrow as I try to push myself up and have to blink a few times to really see anything that’s going on around me. As I put weight down on my arm a sharp sting cuts through me. I suck in a pained gasp, falling to my other side and glancing down at my arm to find a deep cut just above my elbow.
“Fuck,” I grunt, sucking in a breath through my teeth and rolling over debris until I’m on my back. I push up on my good hand and finally get a look around me.
People are running around as the stairs that I was just standing on with Carver are completely destroyed. The room spins and I blink a few more times, pressing my hand to my head and trying to will the dizziness away.
I look through the screaming people, ignoring the smoke and flames that tear through the room, licking up the walls and catching onto the white decorative drapes hanging from the roof.
I have to find the boys and Ember. Where the hell are they?
“WINTER?”
I hear my name and desperately try to search around but can’t find any of them.