Declan hit the floor and stayed there.
Soren moved immediately, pressing his back against the nearest column and sweeping the room in both directions. Smoke still hung at chest height from the grenade. The dance floor was a wreck of overturned furniture, broken glass, and bodies. Nothing moved.
He looked across to where Cody had slid down against the base of his column, one hand pressed flat against his chest plate, breathing in controlled, deliberate pulls.
"You good?"
"I'm good." Cody pushed himself upright, jaw set, color returning. "Magazine."
He reached for his MP5, dropped to one knee behind the column, and began the reload. Soren covered the room while he worked, watching the doorways, the shadows at the edges of the space. When Cody slapped the fresh magazine home and raised t
