Dominic yanked up the neckline of her tee so that it covered her nose and mouth before doing the same for himself. “It’s gonna be fine, baby.” Dammit, he had to get her the fuck out of there. Even with the fire extinguishers, it was going to be hard to put out a fire in a club filled with goddamn alcohol—especially when that fire sprang to life at the bar itself.
The DJ spoke over the mic, urging everyone to follow Harley and Jesse down the hall—Harley would lead some to the side exit, and Jesse would lead the rest to the emergency exit at the rear of the building. The patrons instantly rushed after the pair in a blind panic, unapologetically bashing into each other as they tried shoving their way to the front of the line.
As his pack mates reached Dominic’s side, Taryn growled, “Motherfucking extremists! It’s gotta be them out there!”
Derren slapped Trey’s back. “Call 911 and then get out of here!”
Dante frowned. “You need help—”
“Outside,” finished Derren. “There are God knows how many of them waiting outside, and they’ll be armed to the goddamn teeth, ready to shoot the shit out of anyone who escapes. The firefighters will come, but not the police—this is a shifter club, so they won’t come to anyone’s rescue here. Kill the bastards up there so they can’t trap us down here! And take Ally with you!” When she went to object, Derren kissed her hard. “A lot of people who try to escape are going to need healing if they get shot! Go! I’ll be right behind you!”
Looking tortured, Ally jabbed a finger in her mate’s face and yelled, “You make sure you get out of here alive, Hudson! Alive!”
Trying to protect Mila from the bodies that were shoving and stumbling, Dominic joined the line that headed toward the exits, knowing his pack mates and Ally would follow.
He agreed with Taryn—the people outside had to be the extremists. And they’d no doubt been sent there by Pierson.
Fire seemed to swirl around the room—charring, melting, warping, and blackening whatever it touched. Smoke hazed and tainted the air. His wolf paced, feeling anxious and powerless because this threat wasn’t an enemy he could physically fight.
Dominic lifted his head to see how far he was from the junction that led to the side exit. Not too far. The line had split in two at the junction, and some people were heading for the rear exit. But most, just as he’d suspected, had made the turn that led to the nearby side exit, hoping they’d escape the building faster.
“I called 911 and Tao,” Trey shouted over the sound of the crackling, spitting flames. “The pack will come.”
“What about the rest of the Mercury Pack?” Dominic asked.
“Tao said he’ll give them a heads-up just in case Derren hasn’t had a chance to call them,” replied Trey. “He’ll also call Vinnie, so we’ll have plenty of backup.”
Good, because Dominic was sure they’d need it.
People were hunkering down to avoid the smoke, but it was impossible. It was too thick, too potent. Despite the water coming from the sprinklers and the foam spurting from the extinguishers, the fire continued to hiss and snap as it spread across the club.
Dammit, they should have already been at the damn exit by now. Too slow, he thought. The line was moving too fucking slow. And the fire was moving too fucking fast, fueled by the alcohol.
Dominic had always liked that the club was underground, but not now. If it hadn’t been in a goddamn basement, there would have been large windows that they could have smashed their way through to haul themselves out. Instead they were surrounded by brick walls.
The line abruptly stopped moving, and Dominic frowned as he heard banging and cursing and people demanding to know why the doors weren’t opening. It wasn’t until a deeper panic rippled down the line that he realized the other two exits had also been barricaded shut. They were all trapped down here. Fuck.
His wolf raked at Dominic’s insides, enraged and eager to get his mate to safety.
“They’ve confined us down here?” Taryn demanded, a little hysterical. “They’ve actually fucking locked us in?”
“It would appear so,” said Trey, his voice hard. “Seems that their plan is to burn us alive.”
The plan might just work, Mila mused. She hadn’t thought it was possible to feel cold while surrounded by fire. But even as the heat seared her skin, causing sweat to trickle along her flesh, she felt icy fingers of dread dance along her spine.
The flames seemed to have a damn mind and will of their own. Almost like they were chasing the people who were trying desperately to get out. Cruelly herding them toward exits through which they had no way of escaping.
Cough after couch racked her system. She wasn’t the only one coughing and wheezing. Smoke just kept on thickening the air, burning her nose and throat until they felt raw. God, this was bad. Very, very bad.
Her cat was snarling and lashing out with her claws as everything went to shit around them. Bulbs flickered and shorted out. Glasses and bottles shattered. Tables and chairs creaked. Flames swept up the drapes on the stage. Picture frames clanged to the ground, and the glass inside them splintered.
The line moved forward just a little, but not enough to tell Mila that any of the exits were now open. It was as if people were pushing closer and closer into each other’s personal space, determined to escape the heat and the flames. But there was no escape. And she knew the feeling of being confined would drive everyone’s inner animal insane.
She winced as she felt something wickedly sharp dig into the sole of her shoe. Glass, she thought with a low hiss. Mila would have kicked it aside to spare others the bite of pain, but it was so crowded, she could barely move or—
She jolted as a light fixture up ahead suddenly dropped down, wrenching cries of alarm and pain out of the people in the line, making the tight crowd sway and stagger and jostle each other. If it hadn’t been for Dominic’s body shielding hers, she might have ended up with crushed feet or something else.
“The damn place is falling apart!” Dante shouted. “What the hell are the people at the exits doing? Surely they can force the doors open!”
Hearing a loud squeal, Mila looked to see a female frantically batting at her sleeve, where little sparks had burrowed. “Shit,” Mila muttered, the curse muffled by her tee. “We’ve gotta do something.”
“Yeah, we do.” Dominic coughed, tasting ash, phlegm, and fear for his mate. Dammit, he had to get her out of there. “Fuck the line, let’s move.”
His hand slippery with sweat, he gripped Mila’s, finding it just as clammy. Dominic forced his way through the crowd, not caring who he hurt in the process—his mate came first. He kept Mila close, sensing that Ally and his pack mates were close behind them.
Dominic didn’t make the turn that led to the side exit—the corridor was too slim and too cramped with people. So ignoring the shifters who swore and snapped at him, he kept on shouldering his way through the other line until he finally reached the rear exit.
The flames hadn’t yet gotten this far, but the air was still hazy with smoke. Even so, he could see that Jesse had managed to open the door and was standing in the outside ditch. But the wolf was unable to lift the hatch that would enable them all to get out.
Catching sight of Dominic, Jesse said, “The bastards have blocked it somehow, and I’m guessing they’ve done the same to the side exit, since the lines aren’t moving in either direction. The bastards are actually fucking laughing up there.”