There was the sound of more glass breaking and Logan shook his head at me. “Go, Solange! I’m not asking.”
I took a breath and ran down the hall to the server room, fingers shaking as I unlocked the door. I went inside and closed and locked the door behind me. I looked around wildly, unsure what to do. My phone buzzed in my hand and I saw a text from Jonas.
JONAS: What’s happening?!
SOLANGE: I don’t know! Logan told me to lock myself in the server room. He said there’s been a break-in.
JONAS: We’re on the way—stay where you are!
I couldn’t move but I jumped when the sound of gunshots reverberated through the room.
SOLANGE: They’re shooting!
JONAS: Three minutes—almost there!
I pressed my forehead against the door, my heart still slamming uncontrollably as I listened. There were more shots and then my phone buzzed again.
LOGAN: I’m hit. Wait five seconds and then open the door for me.
My hands shook even harder as I counted to five and then slowly opened the door. I spotted Logan crawling across the floor, a blood trail behind him. There was shouting in the background but he was badly hurt and wasn’t going to make it to me before they got to him. Impulsively, I ran out of the room and grabbed him, pulling him as he half-walked, half-crawled into the server room. Then I slammed and locked the door again. This had been set up as a mini safe room, with state-of-the-art locks and a metal door that wouldn’t easily be breached, but I had no idea who was here, what they were after, or how much firepower they had.
My bigger concern was Logan. He’d collapsed the moment I shut the door and there was blood pooling around him.
“Oh my god,” I whispered in Limaji, my English going out the window. “Where are you hit?”
“Where aren’t I?” he answered in English, giving me a wry smile despite the pain in his eyes.
I had nothing with me, not even my purse, and I yanked off my blouse, ripping it in half as I pressed one piece against a gaping wound in his chest.
“Hold that,” I whispered.
I took the rest of my blouse and tried to tie it around his thigh to create a tourniquet, but my shirt was small and his thighs were fairly muscular.
“I’ve been hit four or five times,” he rasped in a shaky voice. “I’m bleeding out. Listen to me, if they get in…can you use a gun?”
“I never have,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes as blood continued to pool on the floor around us.
There were footsteps and shouts just outside the door and Logan held out the gun.
“Safety is off. Just point…and shoot. Even if you miss, they won’t know you’ve never shot before.”
“I can’t!” I cried, tears slipping down my cheeks.
“You can and you will.” He put the gun in my hand and closed my fingers around it. “Just pull the trigger if they get in.”
“Help is coming,” I said, swallowing as I watched him slump down.
“Put me in front of you,” he whispered.
“What?”
“I’m not…going…to…make it,” he rasped, his voice growing shallow. “Put me in front of you as a shield. It will…buy…you time.”
I was full-blown crying as I moved him between my legs, so my back rested against the wall and his back was against my front. He lifted the hand the gun was in and wrapped his hands around mine, aiming at the door.
“We got this,” he said. “Just do me a favor… Make sure…Erik takes care of…my sister…” His head lolled to one side and I used my free hand to squeeze one of his biceps.
“They’ll be here any second. Wake up!” I was being harsh, hoping it would keep him conscious. I didn’t know what else to do.
There was more shooting, followed by an eerie silence.
“Logan! Solange!” I recognized Sandor’s voice and then heard the lock being turned.
“Logan’s hit!” Sandor spoke into his earpiece the minute he saw us. “He needs help now!”
Jonas and Sandor lifted him, and Sandor threw him over his shoulder as he hurried toward the exit. I assumed they were heading to the SUV, but I was still too shell-shocked to move, covered in Logan’s blood, gun still in my hand. I hadn’t realized I was still holding it up until Xander squatted beside me and gently took it from me.
He reached out to touch my cheek. “You okay? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, no.
“Come on, sweetie, can you get up?”
I nodded, my body moving on autopilot.
Xander took off his shoulder holster and then pulled off his T-shirt, handing it to me. “Why don’t you cover up?”
I looked down and the fact that I was in my bra barely registered beneath the coat of blood that was starting to dry on my skin. My chest and bra were both completely covered and I looked up shakily. “Is he going to die?”
“I don’t know.” He nudged the T-shirt into my hand. “Come on, put this on.”
I did as I was told, my legs wooden as he led me out to where the others were. Jonas glanced in my direction and gave me a nod.
“You protected the entire system by shutting it down when I told you to,” he said softly. “They were the ones causing all the bugs. If you’d fucked around and not done it when I told you to, they would have been able to get into our files once they were inside.”
“Instead they shot Logan,” I whispered harshly.
“They were going to have to shoot him to get to the computers anyway,” Xander said. “This isn’t your fault. You did exactly what you were supposed to and protected the identities and information of all the students. If that had been taken, we wouldn’t be able to open the school.”
I nodded but my heart was heavy. Once again, I’d hidden in another room while someone else had gotten hurt. Why did this always happen to me and why was I never prepared to help?
“Sandor’s on the way to the hospital and a palace guard is coming to pick you up,” Xander said. “We’ll clean up the mess here.”
I hadn’t even noticed the dead bodies littering the floor and I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at the people who’d hurt Logan. He’d become my friend the last two weeks and because of them, now he might die.
“Why did they want the information?” I asked after a moment.
“Kidnapping opportunities. Some of the most important kids in Europe will be attending, children of the rich and powerful, and by knowing who’s here and all the details about them, it’s that much easier for them to attempt something like that. Or worse.”
“Sonofa-motherfucking-bitch!” Jonas looked at something on his phone and then threw it across the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked in alarm.
He met my gaze sadly. “Logan’s gone.”
34
Axel
The death toll in Braksa was heartbreaking. The entire town had been burned to the ground. Every shop, apartment building and factory within the city limits had been trashed. Though most people had gotten out, quite a few hadn’t, so there were body bags on the streets as firemen from Ferdinbrag came to help with the chaos.