Chapter 5 - Shattered Glass
Dante threw himself backward off the bed, clutching Clara tight against his chest just as the floor-to-ceiling glass doors shattered into a million singing shards.
The high-caliber sniper round tore through the mattress where Clara had been lying a second earlier, chewing through the down feathers and bursting out the wooden frame with a deafening crack. Dante hit the hardwood floor, shielding the girl’s body with his own as two more rounds punched through the drywall above his head, raining plaster and splinters upon them.
""Elena! Crawl into the closet! Stay down!"" Dante roared over the concussive snaps of suppressed gunfire.
Clara whimpered against his throat, her tiny hands clutching his lapel. Her heart was beating like a trapped sparrow, dangerously erratic. He couldn't administer the antidote here; he needed darkness, cover, and an exit.
From the hallway outside, the rhythmic, synchronized thud of tactical boots echoed against the marble. At least six men, moving in wedge formation. They were not the city police. The footsteps were too light, too fast. Corporate clean-up squads.
Dante drew his Walther PPK with his free hand. He clicked the selector to single-action, his night-vision adjusted to the dim moonlight leaking through the shattered balcony.
The nursery door swung open without a squeak. A silhouette materialized in the threshold, wearing a night-vision visor and holding an MPX submachine gun raised to eye level.
Dante didn't wait. He fired twice through the base of the door frame.
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The rounds found meat. The operative gasped, crumpling backward into the corridor with a heavy thud. Dante surged forward, carrying Clara in his left arm, rolling through the doorway into the smoke-choked hallway. He snatched the fallen soldier's tactical belt, ripping a flashlight and two flash-bang grenades from the harness.
As he rose, another operative rounded the corner at the end of the hall. But instead of raising a weapon, the intruder reached out with lightning speed and clamped a gloved hand around Clara’s ankle, yanking her violently from Dante’s grip.
