Page 93 of The Fallen One


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The door flew open, and one of his teammates—Oliver?—warned, “We’re outnumbered and surrounded. No idea where they came from, but they’re seconds from breaching.” He removed a rifle slung across his body and offered it to Carter.

I jerked against the chair, trying to free my hands, shocked at how I’d gone from having an intimate moment with Carter to placing him in danger, distracting him.

“Is there a safe room here?” Carter asked him, somehow keeping calm as he swapped his Glock for the rifle.

“No,” Oliver said, and I flinched at the explosive pops of sound coming from just beyond the exterior walls.

“Anyone hurt yet?” Carter asked, continuing to remain calm, cool, and collected. Just how he needed to be, I supposed.

In my head, though, that “yet” was floundering around, terrifying me. Someone could get hurt, and it’d be because they were protecting me.

“No, they’re on comms with Gray. You don’t have your earpiece in, though.” Oliver dug into his pocket for something as Carter slung the rifle across his body.

Placing the object Oliver gave him in his ear, he ordered, “Go, help the others. I’ve got her.”

Oliver nodded, then took off, closing the door.

Carter locked it and hurried back toward me. “I’m sorry,” he said while tapping his ear, then he dropped to his knees at my side and began untying my wrists. “How many tangos do we have?” Carter asked, presumably to someone over his earpiece as he quickly freed my hands. “That’s too many. How far out is Bravo? Can we hold them off until they arrive?” He started freeing my ankles, war continuing to blast all around the building, sending my pulse thundering into my ears.

How in the world had I allowed myself to be wrapped up in such a false sense of security up until now? I’d thought everything would be fine, because the good guys were always supposed to win. I let myself get carried away with emotions when the dangerous facts had been staring me in the face. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Carter shook his head as if telling me not to apologize, then finished freeing my legs as he told someone over his comm, “We have no choice, then. Get Teddy and the others here. Yeah, Alyona and her people, too.” A pause before he went on, “If she wants to save her ass from the blackmailer, she’ll help.”

“Alyona? Are you sure we can trust her?” My timid voice managed to break through what sounded like a machine gun outside.

“There are at least twenty heavily armed men. Jesse, Griffin, and Mason can’t hold them off much longer. They’re going to get inside, and we need to survive until Easton and the others can get here.” He helped me to my feet, unholstered his sidearm and positioned it in my palm. “Tell me your father taught you how to shoot.”

“You’re letting me help?” I asked in surprise.

“I’d prefer you not kill people, but better them die than you, don’t you think?” Locking eyes with me, he tapped his ear for a moment, which I was now confident meant he’d muted his teammates. “Yes or no, can you accurately shoot?”

“Yes. And not just stationary targets. Dad taught me to shoot moving ones too,” I confirmed. “My glasses would be helpful, though.”

Without missing a beat, he picked them up, cleaned them with his shirt, then slipped them onto my face.

“The safety,” he reminded me.

I fumbled with the weapon, nearly dropping it, my nerves besting me at a time when I had to pull off calm and steady.

Taking hold of my face between his big hands, he reassured me, “Hey, you got this.”

Ignoring the terrifying noises swarming all around us, I managed to nod and meet his eyes.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. Tell me you hear me. Tell me you understand.”

“I—I do.”

He leaned closer, still holding me. “Say it like you mean it. Say you’re going to be okay. Believe it.”

“I’m safe with you, that’s all I know,” I confessed.

He brought his lips to my forehead and kissed me there. Freeing his hold of me, he dropped his focus to my hands and shifted them a touch. “Don’t teacup it. More like butterfly wings.”

Right, Dad taught me something similar.

“If you need to use this, there’s an optic mounted. Your target won’t see the red light, but you’ll be able to. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it.” Not really.

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