Page 70 of Ruthless Commander

BOOM!

I was lifted into the air and slammed backwards as the command center hallway exploded…destroying the entire communications base on the island.

29

Xael

“Hurry!”Rhys roared, his voice fighting the wind as we tore out from the corner of the building and raced for the dock. “We get on a boat and we’re out of here.”

BOOM!

Orange flames exploded into the air ahead of us. Black smoke followed, and the closer we came to the dock, I saw what it was...or what it had been. Our way out of here.

"Fuck!" Rhys yelled, racing forward to skid to a stop halfway between the buildings and the water. He stumbled under the brutal gust of the cyclonic wind.

Gunshots cracked out, fighting the roar in my ears. I jerked my gaze over my shoulder, finding a man dressed in black racing from the corner of the building and lifting his gaze to me, and then his gun.

I lifted mine, took aim, and squeezed the trigger, feeling the weapon kick in my grasp. But the winds were too strong and my shot missed its mark.

"Rhys!" I screamed as more of them came from everywhere. I squeezed off shot after shot, fighting the wind as Rhys rushed back toward me.

He began firing as they came from around the building in front of us. Their shots narrowly missed me, hitting the wall inches from my face.

"We have to take cover!"he roared.

Plumes of black smoke engulfed the island from the burning boats. I glanced around as the gunmen came toward me.

Hide, but where?

We were outnumbered by at least three to one. Rhys squeezed off a shot, hitting one of the gunmen. Screams fought the roar of the wind as he went down hard.

"Xael!"

I spun at the sound of my name, finding Damien. Confusion flared inside me as he stepped forward, lifting his gun as more shots cracked out.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" he roared, and glanced toward Rhys, then the burning mess of what was left of the boats on the water.

"They exploded before we could get to them." Rhys called.

Damien nodded, turning his gaze toward us. "Come on." He motioned us forward. "I have somewhere you can hide."

Hide? I looked to Rhys as he squeezed off a shot, taking down another one of the gunmen, watching as they scurried toward the corner of the building once more.

But I didn’t want to hide...I wanted to find Mateo. I shook my head. "I can't!"

"What do you mean, you can't?" he barked, shaking his head.

"Move, Xael!" Rhys drove me forward.

I was running before I knew it, following Damien as he led us around the side of a building and raced through the towering palms of a garden before tearing out the other side.

"They've headed toward the other side of the island."Damien roared, and lifted his phone.

I remember the cameras, the same link Mateo had on his phone. I lifted my gaze, catching the CCTV camera above as I ducked under the palms and raced after him.

Where the hell are you, Mateo?

The icy grip of fear coursed through me. It was more than the attack, more than the boats. It was something else…an emptiness resounded inside me, one that whispered things I didn’t want to know. I swallowed and glanced at the phone in Damien’s hand. It was more than the need to survive that drove me forward to follow him.