Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

coughed and worried about staining their dresses.
A small smile curled his lips because he knew what was
happening and I followed suit, smirking back.
The smoke consumed the entire room, like a cigarette in a
jar, breezing between us, and suddenly, everyone moved,
heading for the doors and running to get away from the
polluted, closed space.
But just then, I lurched forward, someone crashing into
Winter who fell into me, and I whipped around, seeing her fall
to the ground, lost in the smoke.
Shooting down, I reached for her and pulled her back up as
someone ran past, their knee knocking her in the head.
“You okay?” I put her on her feet and held her face.
She nodded, a little shaken. “Yeah.”
I looked around the room, trying to see if Will and
everyone got to the guards and if Lev was still covering the
door, but I couldn’t see shit.
I turned back to my father, but it was suddenly empty air.
He was gone.
Taking Winter’s hand, I moved us through the crowd,
finding Lev still positioned at the door as everyone poured out.
He lifted his mask up halfway. “He didn’t come through,”
he told me.
I spun around, heading for the rear exit, but I heard a clank
above me, and I peered up the narrow, spiral staircase and saw
two men dressed in black climbing the stairs.
“He’s going up the stairs,” I shouted back to Lev. “Stay
there!”
Heading toward the staircase, I put Winter’s hand on the
rail. “Lots of steep steps.”
She gripped the rail and found the first step. “I got it.”
“You sure?”
“GGo!” she barked.