“Move, Ariana!” Cole’s voice snapped through the air like a gunshot.
For a split second, I couldn’t move. My body just refused. The lights outside the windows flickered, flashing across the marble floor like strobes at a nightclub. Then—pop. Pop. Two quick, muffled bursts. Not fireworks.
Gunshots.
Reality slammed back in.
Cole was already at my side, hand on my arm, dragging me down the hall. “Basement. Now.”
“What—how are they inside?” I gasped.
“They breached the gate. Security’s down.”
I stumbled after him, heart hammering so fast it hurt. “Down? How can the security be down? This place is a fortress!”
“Someone on the inside,” he muttered. “No time. Keep low.”
We reached the grand staircase just as a pane of glass shattered somewhere behind us. The sound was sharp, too close.
