Page 101 of Master of Chaos

I spun around, and saw a helicopter, hovering about thirty yards away. Shane lay inside the open door behind a rifle stand. Poised to shoot again.

Oh God. If he killed Halliwell, Jana’s bomb would go off, and take the helicopter right along with it. Oh, no, no, no. I lurched over and put myself between Shane and Halliwell, who had fallen to his knees. Shane gestured fiercely at me to get out of the way. I shook my head, mouthing the word with as much exaggeration as I could. Waving my arms, a go-away gesture. Repeating the word, over and over.

Bomb. Bomb. Bomb.

CHAPTER29

Shane

What the fuck? Why was she shooing me away? Blocking my fucking shot? Was she was actually protecting that son-of-a-bitch? I looked through the rifle sight at Red’s face, which was chalky white, her pale lips repeating that word, shaking her head, violently. If the helicopter moved, she shifted too, always blocking my shot. What the hell was she saying? It looked like ‘mom.’ The hell?

Then she crawled up onto the wide balustrade and stood there, teetering, wobbling. That splotch of red from Halliwell’s bullet was dark on her shoulder and spreading. She looked up at me, still desperately waving her hands, shooing me away. I focused on her lips, her desperate eyes, her go-away gestures. Her hands were bloody. She was forming the same word, over and over. What the hell? Mom, mom, mom?

It hit me like a brick.Bomb.

Then she pitched herself off the balustrade and fell.Fuck!

“Bomb! Bomb! Get away from here, quick!” I bellowed into the mic.

Amos instantly did as I asked, swerving the chopper away as my eyes followed her down, down, down… three seconds… four… and a white parachute flowered open.

Oh, Jesus. My heart had almost stopped in my chest.

“Follow her!” I bellowed into the mic. “She’s landing in the water!”

The wind had caught the chute and filled it, carrying her out over the heaving waves.

Boom.

The blast wave was huge, buffeting us. We looked up. The entire fucking complex was expanding out into a huge fireball. Red had warned us away just in time.

Amos swept us away from it, following that white parachute as it floated out over the water. Jesus, that was a tight jump. I’d done plenty of parachuting in my day, but never from a fucking cliff. Base jumping was not my jam. I didn’t crave adrenaline that much. On the contrary, I was sick to death of it. That woman had a set of brass gonads on her. Or else she was out of her fucking gourd. Or maybe both.

Remy and Ethan both helped me secure the rope in the helicopter as we descended closer to the water, knotting it around me. We had no safety harnesses, so we’d just have to wing it. Red had hit the water. The chute was billowing out like an enormous jellyfish, parts of it sinking fast. Red’s head was nowhere to be seen.

They let the rope out and lowered me down. I fought panic. Had to stay cool, methodical, as I swayed over the soggy fabric billowing in the water, searching… searching… and then her dark head popped up, hair over her eyes, gasping for air.Yes.

The helicopter shifted. They let my rope down further.

My feet hit the water. I seized her under the arms, pulled her up. Undid the snap buckles, pulled the harness off her shoulders. I wrapped myself around her and hung on for dear life as my people pulled us back up into the sky.

I was never letting go of her again.

CHAPTER30

Cass

Thoughts fought for space in my head.Don’t look down, don’t look down. He came for me, he came for me, he came for me.

I was alive. Halliwell was gone. Shane was here.

Jana.The thought of her clutched my heart, but it was too much to process right now. I would have to mourn Jana later.

I would be grateful to her forever. I owed her everything.

Many hands pulled us into the helicopter. There was a confusion of pain and cold and noise, being shoved around, strapped in. My scream as someone applied pressure to the bullet wound was lost in the roar of the machine.

I looked over at Shane. Placed my hand on his chest. My bluish hand. He was still covered with knotted, sodden ropes.Reggie?I mouthed.