Chapter 44

Alicia.”

“Yes?”

“Is there any way—”

A booming sound cut off his words. A second later, the walls shook violently, and Brian sensed the incoming pressure before he heard the whistle. Then an explosion shook him to his core, even while he reached for Alicia and hauled her toward him. More explosions came, each one louder than the last until he could see nothing but darkness as the ceiling and walls crumbled around him. But his shield was there to cocoon him and his sister, preventing them from getting crushed to death.

The last explosion was the loudest, buzzing in his ears. Silence followed, prominent and eerie. Alicia coughed.

“Are you okay?”

“If okay means alive, then sure. You?”

“Same.” He scanned the darkness, trying to find cracks in the debris. “We need to get out of here.”

“Let me take care of that.”

Frost hit him in the back, then the soles of his feet. It coated his shield and formed a thick, solid block of ice, matching the shield’s shape so as not to disturb it. He felt Alic