Page 44 of Now Until Forever
His face reddened, then twisted in pain. A low moan emerged from his lips, and it seemed like he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. Heat wafted off his body in waves, and his skin started to peel. First small flakes, then bigger pieces, leaving behind a red glow as if he had magma under his skin.
Eliana gasped and got two lungfuls of the scent of burning flesh. She must’ve started toward him, because Tony grabbed her.
“There’s nothing you can do,” he said.
More and more of the guy’s flesh peeled off as he burned from the inside out. By the time he fell to the floor, he was a husk of what he had been, just the charred remains of a person that hit the tiles and broke apart into what looked like charcoal.
“Take cover.” Tony shoved her back and raced to the wall beside the vault.
Eliana didn’t know what to do.
Miles lifted his gun, and she realized what was happening. He swung it over to where Tony flattened himself out of sight, to the right of the door, near a panel on the wall.
She raced to the back corner and ducked behind a crate, crouching out of sight.
Bang.
A bullet pinged off the metal cabinet behind her, ricocheting in a different direction. She didn’t know where the bullet ended up. She just ducked and covered her head with her arms while more gunfire echoed through the vault.
Bang. Bang.
The young woman told Miles, “Cut it out,” and he quit shooting.
Eliana peered around the crate and saw Tony ease toward the panel. He reached out and hit a button on the wall.
A metal door slid across the entrance, cutting off Miles and his crew.
Shutting them in here.
Eliana could only hear her own breathing, a rush in her ears. It was like being shut in a vacuum. “What’s going on?”
Tony turned to her. “You agreed. Just like I did. Not to let anyone else in the vault.”
Eliana shook her head. “I have no idea what’s going on!” She gasped. “Did you just lock us in here?”
He stalked across the room toward her.
Eliana tried to talk, but all she could do was whimper. Was this about the needle mark again? What was he going to do to her now?
He crouched, and she flinched. But the glassiness was gone from his gaze. He hadn’t been slurring just now. Seemed more in control of himself than he had before. “Eliana?—”
She cut him off. “I don’t know what’s happening!”
For the first time since she had arrived in Chicago, she didn’t want to be in this vault.
She wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
He held out his hand. “Come on.”
Chapter Sixteen
Four hours later, Eliana sat on the passenger seat of Carlos’s truck with Tony behind the wheel, heading for the hospital. She bent her knees and pulled her feet close so she could hug her knees. It didn’t feel great while wearing a seatbelt, but she didn’t care.
Chicago high-rise buildings passed her window, encased in shadows, above them just cloudy sky. Beside them, people huddled in doorways, and others walked down the street with their heads ducked.
She glanced at Tony. “I don’t think he’ll be happy it was you who drove.”
“As if you’re in any condition.” Tony muscled the wheel around, and they turned a corner. “He needs to get picked up. And this way, you can pretend you’re fine.”
