Ignited (Titanium Security Series) (31 page)

“You need to be able to defend yourself if I’m taken down.”

Oh, shit. At his shove she careened into the bathroom and climbed into the tub, pressing herself up against the side of it to leave room for him. Except he didn’t join her. “What—”

“Just stay down and keep quiet.” He flipped off the bathroom light and strode over to the window to steal another peek outside. When he turned back, she saw him still and lift his head, staring toward the hotel room’s door. As she watched him, frozen, she noticed the first telltale wisps of gray smoke curling through the air.

Hunter cursed under his breath and hurried toward her, pausing only to close and lock the bathroom door. This time he climbed over the lip of the tub and stretched out next to her. “Keep your head down and stay still, understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered, automatically curling her hands into his shirt and burying her face against his chest. His heart was racing, which scared her even more.

The shooters opened fire again, just outside in the hallway. More screaming. Khalia’s muscles tensed. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Seconds later, shots exploded outside their room.

“
Fuck
.” Hunter instantly rolled her beneath him and pinned her to the bottom of the fiberglass tub. A heartbeat later, bullets slammed through the wall above them and buried themselves in the one across the room. Glass and stone rained down around them as the full length mirror and granite vanity shattered under the assault.

Khalia bit off a scream and hung on. The rounds peppered the room as the shooters sprayed fire back and forth before moving on to the next room. Then suddenly, inexplicably, the shooting stopped. Men were shouting to each other in the hallway. She heard the pounding of their footsteps over the wail of the fire alarm as they ran away.

She was shaking all over, gasping for air when Hunter put his mouth to her ear. “You all right?” he whispered. He ran his hands over her, presumably checking for blood. All she could manage was a nod. “Stay right here. I’m just gonna—”

She clutched at his shoulders. “
No
.” The shooters might come back.

“Khalia.” Hunter spoke right against her ear. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

She swallowed a cry of protest and shut her eyes as Hunter eased off her and slid over the lip of the tub. Glass and other debris crunched under his boots as he opened the door and left the bathroom. Less than a minute passed before he came back. She opened her eyes in the dim light coming from the bedroom to find him dragging down towels from the rack above the toilet. He closed the bathroom door, climbed back in the tub and handed her one.

“Are they gone?” Her voice sounded like she’d swallowed sandpaper, but her throat was so tight it was a miracle she could talk at all.

“Looks like for now, anyway.”

“Did you get cut?”

“A few nicks, but I’m okay.” He started to towel off his hair when suddenly the sprinklers stopped working and the lights went out, plunging them into near darkness, the only light now spilling in between the gap in the curtains at the front window. She barely made out the way Hunter’s hand froze on the top of his head.

Khalia whispered to him. “What’s going on?”

“Either they’ve cut the water supply, or the fire’s already destroyed the system.”

Her stomach took a nosedive. Already the smoke was thickening. It floated in a shroud near the ceiling, strong enough that she could smell the acrid tang of it. “How close do you think the fire is?”

“No idea, but I’m guessing fairly close.” They lapsed into silence, her mind racing frantically. He was motionless and tense beside her, and she desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. Out in the hall she could hear people beginning to move out of their rooms and into the corridor. They were shouting, coughing, some of them crying. Khalia shuddered. The smoke was getting worse, the air hazy with it. She couldn’t draw a breath without pulling it into her lungs. Hunter still hadn’t moved and she knew in her gut that he was keeping something from her.

“Shouldn’t we go?” she asked.

A tight shake of his head. “They’re waiting for us.”

“Where?”

“They obviously knew which floor we were on, but not which room. The fire’s a distraction, to force us out into the hallway because they know our only way out is through one of the stairwells at the ends. They’ll be waiting when we do.”

She hadn’t thought it possible to get any colder, but at his words her blood iced up.

Hunter exhaled and slid an arm around her waist. “Smoke’s getting bad enough out there that they won’t be coming back in for another sweep. Not without gas masks, anyway. I texted Gage and Tom to update them. The police and fire department will be here soon.” He stroked a hand over the back of her wet hair. “We’ll wait until they clear the building before we leave the room.”

She nodded, unable to think of a single thing to say. The turn of events left her feeling like she had whiplash. Mere hours ago she’d stood under the spray of the shower in this very same bathroom while Hunter pleasured her with his mouth and his body, and now they were hunkered in the tub for protection from another militant attack. She bit her lip and concentrated on taking small breaths, wondering how long the air would stay breathable at their level.

Hunter’s phone chimed a few minutes later and he checked the lit up display. “It’s Gage. He and the others are on their way. They’ll update us about the situation as soon as they can.” He typed something back and lowered his arm across her waist again. “Bet you can’t wait to get out of Pakistan, huh?”

A hysterical laugh bubbled up and she choked it back. “You have no idea. I’d say I wish I’d never come here, but I know I would have been ashamed of myself if I hadn’t. And…I would never have met you.”

He pressed a firm kiss to the middle of her forehead. “Some consolation I’ve turned out to be, huh?”

Khalia wet her lips. “If I have to be shot at and trapped in a burning building with someone, I want it to be you.”

His shoulders shook in a silent laugh, though nothing about this was even remotely funny. “Well, that’s good then.”

The wobbly smile on her lips vanished when he gathered her close and tucked her face into the broad expanse of his chest, the fabric of his T-shirt damp against her cheek.

Please let us out of here. Please let us live.
Khalia squeezed her eyes shut and turned more fully into him.

Precious minutes ticked past while they waited for word from the others. Hunter held Khalia the whole time, using her as a distraction from the reminder that this was eerily similar to the night when Scottie died. The fire, the gunmen hunting them.

No matter how hard he tried to block them, the demons of his nightmares snapped their jaws at the edge of his consciousness. Khalia was silent and her initial trembling had stopped, but the way her hands were still bunched in the back of his shirt told him just how terrified she was. He wracked his brains for something to say to lighten the tension again, and came up blank. Giving her useless platitudes right now would be beyond shitty. They had only two options at this point, and both of them sucked ass.

Smoke continued to collect in the bathroom despite the closed door, seeping beneath the lower edge in a toxic veil. They were on the fifth floor. It would take some time for any first responders to reach them. They wouldn’t have much longer before the smoke became lethal, but staying put for the moment was a calculated risk they had to take.

Khalia stirred against him and let out a little cough. “Smoke’s getting bad.” He could feel her heart racing, the panic building inside her.

“Hang on.” He got up and snagged some wet towels, shoved them under the crack at the bottom of the door to buy them a bit more time. Even close to the floor it was hard to get a good breath and he coughed at the irritation in his lungs. Khalia made room for him again when he came back to the tub.

“I’m really sorry you got caught up in all this,” she whispered.

Hunter shook his head. “My choice to take the job, sweetheart. And it’s not like you asked for any of this.”

She ran a hand over the length of his back, taking a slight edge off his anxiety. “No. My life is usually much quieter. Downright boring, actually. I miss boring.”

Ha.
“I’m looking forward to a little boring after this myself.”

She tilted her head back. “I’d say you’ve earned it. Along with a giant raise.”

He grunted. “Tell that to Tom later.”

“Oh, I will.” Her voice was tight, her tenuous hold on her bravery slipping.

No sound now except the fire alarm blaring away, fed by some unknown power source. He was good under pressure, and his mental toughness was what had earned him a spot in the Teams in the first place, but at that moment he had to work hard to block out the incessant screech of that fucking alarm.

He was relieved when his phone vibrated again. Gage, thank God. “What’s the story?”

“What’s your status?” Gage countered.

“We’re in the bathtub with a wet towel stuffed under the door to keep the worst of the smoke out. It’s getting bad in here though.”

“Fire department and SWAT team are here, but that’s one big fucking fire. It’s on your floor, and it’s already spread above and below you. I can see flames pouring out of the windows in some of the rooms.”

Fuck. “What about the ends by the stairwells?”

“Can’t tell, but if the fire’s not there yet, it will be shortly.”

Those stairs were their only way out, whether they took the ones up to a higher floor or down toward the lobby. “What about the shooters?”

“Still inside. Parking lot’s a fucking nightmare right now. People are running around in hysterics. SWAT hasn’t even entered the building yet because of the fire. Firemen are just hooking up the hoses now, but I doubt they’ll let them start with the shooters there.”

Hunter’s muscles were drawing tighter by the second. He could tell from how still Khalia was that she’d heard every word of what Gage said. “What about Tom?”

“He’s working on getting the Paks to agree to a military takedown.”

They’d never pull that off in time to save everyone trapped in the hotel. “Where are you?”

“I’m on foot at the north side of the building. Police aren’t letting anyone in, not even me. You’re gonna have to get outta there right fucking now, Hunt.”

The words he’d been dreading. “Copy that.” They had to somehow make it out of the room and down the hall to an exit through the suffocating smoke, then descend five flights of stairs with nothing but a single pistol for each of them, not knowing where the flames or militants were. He wished he’d brought more weapons up when they’d checked in last night, but he’d never dreamed they’d have to fight their way out of the hotel like this. “Get Tom here and station somebody at each entrance. I don’t know which one’ll be viable.”

“Roger that. See you on the ground floor, brother.”

They both knew he and Khalia had barely a chance in hell of making it out of the hotel alive. He hoped she didn’t realize it too. “Yeah.” Hunter hung up and shoved the phone into his back pocket before turning his attention to Khalia. Inside the closed up bathroom it was pitch black, and the smoke already stung his eyes and throat. “You got your shoes on, right?”

“Yes.” She grasped his shoulder to pull herself up and he helped her to her knees. Probably for the best that he couldn’t see her expression. This was going to be hard enough without seeing the undiluted terror in her eyes.

“Here.” Reaching over the side of the tub, he shook out a soaked washcloth to make sure there were no bits of glass in it and handed it to her. “Put this over your nose and mouth, it’ll help filter the smoke out.” In theory.