Chapter 28 - Siege at the Estate | "Move! Move! Cover the doors!" Marcus roared, drawing his weapon and shoving me behind a heavy stone pillar just as the high-arched glass windows in the library shattered inward.
Gunfire echoed like thunder through the cavernous room. Bullets tore into the antique furniture, raining splinters and feathers down upon us.
"Richard, you fool! They’ll kill you too!" Mara screamed from behind a overturned dining table.
Richard didn't move from his chair. He just sat there, laughing hysterically amidst the chaos, watching his family home get torn apart by heavy fire. "Let it burn! Let it all burn!"
"Claire, keep your head down!" Marcus yelled, firing three rapid shots through the smoke toward the shattered window. "We’re outnumbered! We need to fall back to the safe room in the basement!"
"Does this place have a fallout shelter?" I shouted over the deafening noise, crouching low as drywall dust filled the air.
"Every old money estate has one!" Marcus replied, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward a hidden door disguised as a bookshelf. "Mara, move!"
We scrambled through the narrow passage just as a flashbang grenade exploded in the main hall, filling the air with blinding white light and a ear-splitting screech. Marcus slammed the heavy iron door behind us and threw the deadbolts into place.
The thick steel wall muffled the sound of gunfire outside, leaving us in near-total darkness, breathing heavily.
"Are you hit?" Mara asked, her voice shaking violently as she felt around in the dark for my hands.
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"I'm fine," I panted, wiping dust from my eyes. "Marcus, how long can that door hold?"
"It's solid reinforced steel," Marcus said, clicking on a small tactical flashlight. "It'll hold against small arms. But if they have thermite or explosives, we have about ten minutes."
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