Page 103 of Trapped Truth

“I thought everyone left is loyal to you?”

“I thought so too.”

Inertia makes my belly backflip as we take off from Sabre’s lit landing pad, easing into the winter air. It’s controlled, precise. I’d expect nothing less from the darker half of the Knight brothers.

We’re carried into the thick cloud coverage and over London’s sprawling expanse, peppered with bright lights, flashing beacons and more helipads attached to skyscrapers that kiss the heavens.

“What are we walking into?” Gunnar questions, seated closest to the window.

“Possible attack,” Blaine mutters. “It wasn’t clear.”

“Well, a little mystery keeps things interesting.”

“Interesting?” Kyle lobs the word like it personally offends him.

When his eyes lift to connect with mine, I can’t help but stare into the bloodshot depths. He’s lost weight. His cheeks appear a little sunken, while the smudges under his eyes are disturbingly dark.

I’m not about to back down or look away first. What happened to Josh during the rescue op to retrieve my brother haunts me on a regular basis. But I wasn’t the one who took his life from him.

Eventually, Kyle turns his head to stare out the window at the capital crawling by like an ants’ nest below us. I hope he can’t see how quickly I expel a held breath once I’ve been disregarded.

“Six minutes out,” Hudson announces. “Be ready.”

Blaine’s hand captures mine, squeezing my bones in a tight clamp. His blank expression is a mask of pure calm. Only I can see how lines bracket his mouth and the edges of his scar pucker with tension.

As I open my mouth to offer some kind of assurance, our open line crackles with a sudden curse.

“I’m seeing smoke ahead.” Hudson keeps it brief.

“Smoke?” Blaine straightens.

“Appears to be a large industrial fire. I mean… very large. We’re still a couple miles out.”

Through the small side window, it doesn’t take long for his meaning to become clear. The clouded sky grows hazy, thick with caustic shadows. Particles permeate the air, and as we sail closer, those floating specks set alight to become burning embers.

“Oh my God.” Tendrils of fear threaten to wrap around my lungs.

Belching out from somewhere below us, the plume of noxious black fumes create a deathly parade across the skies. As we near, Hudson circles the site, cussing up a storm.

“This is going to be a rough landing!”

“Oh hell,” Archer mutters.

The impenetrable smoke engulfing our chopper turns fire-flecked, whirling into a destructive tornado that sucks us into the unknown. Through the murk, I can parse the outline of what looks like a burning building, but it’s concealed by hellfire raging in all directions.

“Raye.” I can barely hear Blaine’s pained murmur over the sound of my pulse, slamming against my eardrums. “Fuck… Fuck!”

“Maybe she made it out.”

“Half our entire inventory is here… and almost everyone left loyal to me.” The pallor of his skin turns a shade paler, almost translucent.

“We’ll get them out, Blaine. Just breathe.”

“I left them unprotected.”

“You’ve done your best. This is bigger than all of us.”

At last, Hudson must spy a safe landing spot far enough from the flames to offer protection. The chopper touches down with a sudden swoop, smacking into the earth hard enough to clack my teeth together.