Chapter 14
“No need for alarm!” Stefano’s voice strengthened as the crowd’s agitated mur muring swelled.
A burst of gunfire cut off his words, and th e room erupted.
Pandemonium.
Shit. Some crazy fuckheads he couldn’t see were shooting into the densel y packed crowd.
Screams. Falling bodies. The crowd surged toward the exits. Noah fought his way toward the front, channeling his panic into a brief burst of electromagnetic power, enough to blow the lights out.
The screa ming redoubled.
There was still a sickly green glow from the emergency lights, but it was dim enough now to keep him from being shot for a minute or two. The dimness also made the sigs glow brighter, and he needed every advantag e he could get.
Lella swayed on the dais, his face shiny. Everyone else who’d been up there had bolted except for Stefano, still yelling orders no one could hear over the noise from the frantic guests bottlenecked at the two exits.
Stefano yelled angrily in Lella’s direction but the man just stared into space, positioning himself exactly where his explosive-packed vest would do maximum damage and kill nearly everyone ther e when it blew.
Lella’s mouth hung open, eyes unfocused. He pushed open his suit jacket, slowly lifting up his hand in a jerky, robotic gesture. He made a clumsy stabbing gesture with his finger toward a cord dangling from his shirt. He missed it. Fumbled. Tried again. Kept on missing it. He stretched out his hand after each attempt, away from his body, as if trying to remember how it worked.
The cord had to be the detonator. One pull and they and the whole building would be blasted t o kingdom come.
One pull.
One chance.
Noah still had Vilardi’s knife. He threw it. It flashed through the air… thunk.
Lella’s hand twitched convulsively, pinned to the black panel behind him. Blood welled around the hal f-buried blade.
Lella gasped hard, like a man waking from dreadful nightmare. He twisted to stare at the knife piercing his pinned hand, blood dripping onto his h ead from above.
He started to scream. Colors surged violently in his sig. The black hole flickered and wavered, growing smaller as the man struggled to retake control o f his own will.
Then his free hand once more began its jerky, stabbing movements toward his detonator cord. The black hole was growing again.
Lella fought hard, but he was going to lose. All of t hem would lose.
Noah leaped onto the dais an d dove for him.