Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,144
to get her out of here now.
Where the fuck is King? “If you see your brother, tell me,” I call right into her ear, making her nod as I feel her tears dripping off her chin and landing on my shoulder.
The loud crack sounds through the room again, this time coming with the sound of live electricity. The lights in the room flicker, and with the fires taking over the roof, it sends long, creepy shadows soaring across the ballroom.
“WINTER. FUCK.”
I stop. “CRUZ?” I yell, desperately searching around, the panic rising high in my chest. I don’t want to die here today. I can’t. “WHERE ARE YOU?”
The crack continues, getting louder and pounding against my aching head.
“FUCK, WINTER. MOVE.”
Two strong arms collide around me and throw me and Caitlin across the dance floor. She screams in my ear as we crash to the ground. The arms wrap around us, protecting Caitlin’s head as we hit the dance floor hard.
“KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN,” Cruz yells in my ear just as the massive chandelier above the dance floor breaks free from its hinges and crashes to the ground, sending sharp glass shards flying through the room like a wave of destruction.
People scream as I feel the exposed skin of my back being blasted with glass, but for the most part, Cruz covers me, doing his best to protect us both as our weight pressing down on Caitlin only makes her scream louder.
Cruz quickly gets off us, his eyes scanning over me with a deep relief, but he doesn’t waste a single second and looks down at Caitlin, the recognition instantly flashing in his eyes.
Without hesitation, he takes Caitlin from me, scooping her off the ground and holding her with ease. “Fuck, her leg’s broken,” he curses as I get up beside him.
“I know,” I say, scanning my gaze over her beautiful little face and meeting her eyes that are so much like her brother’s. “Be careful. I think her hand is crushed too.”
“Fuck.”
Cruz instantly pulls me along, gripping me tightly and moving fast as we race through the bodies. “Where’s Ember?” I call as I notice more people laying on the ground, covered in blood, some of them not moving at all. I look back at Cruz and instantly get an elbow to the side of my face. “Are the guys okay? Fuck, Cruz, tell me they’re okay. Carver … he was right beside me. I haven’t seen him.”
“Fine. Ember’s fucking terrified, but she’s helping someone. She isn’t cut out for this though. The smoke is getting to her.”
Dread sinks heavily into my gut, but I can’t get caught on little details. I need the whole picture. “The guys?” I ask as I notice people trying to scale the walls to get up to the mezzanine level that leads to the only exit, only half of them drop and crash to the ground with a sickening thud.
“Grayson is hurt, but he’s been through worse,” he tells me, instantly making my chest ache. “They’re all helping to put the fires out, but if we don’t get them out soon, there are going to be more dead than survivors in here. There are too many people, all fucking terrified. My little fucking brothers are in here somewhere.”
“Shit. Okay, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
Cruz just nods as he brings me to a stop near a table that has a whole bunch of injured children crowded around it. “Stay with them,” he yells back at me, already a few feet away.
I nod, watching him go and anxiously looking around at the destruction as Caitlin grips onto my hand so tight that it hurts. I watch Cruz go and as he runs to help, I finally catch sight of the boys.
Carver stands dangerously close to the flames as they wrap around the white and gold trimmed drapes. He pulls on them, bringing them closer and putting himself in more danger as he tries to contain the fire and minimize its spread.
Grayson stands just by him with a pained expression on his face and a bad limp. He holds a fire extinguisher up to the flames, and while it’s helping over here, the flames are spreading throughout the whole room. But at least the injured people who occupy this corner of the room are just that bit safer.
King though, he stands with Cruz, both of them looking back at the little girl who grips my hand. Cruz says something, and within a heartbeat,