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I let out a scream.
The man on top of me jumps up just as the whizzing sound comes again. I roll over as I count the muzzled gun shots.
One shot, two shots, three shots.
The guard has foolishly stuck only his head out of the doorway, trying to find the source of the shots. The three shots kill the guard before he can even swing his gun around to protect himself. He grunts as he is hit, then falls down, dead as a doornail.
Then I hear the most amazing sound of my entire life. A thick Scottish burr, so recognizable that it slices right through the men yelling and the sound of the men’s dress shoes on the hard cement floor.
“Send the girl out!” Hades shouts from the staircase. “I’ll give ye no more trouble after that.”
Silence reigns. The younger man who tackled me scowls and jerks his head toward the back of the room. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I raise my head, screaming his name. “Hades!”
The man starts toward me. In a split second, I look at the guard slumped on the floor in the doorway. Without fully thinking it out, I dart toward him, my eyes focused on his weapon.
Several things happen at once.
I reach the doorway. Hades spots me as he lands on the bottom step. He points two heavy black guns with matching silencers straight at me, his eyes gleaming with malice.
“Get down,” he says.
I duck, covering my head and weaving toward one wall. Hades opens fire, raining down death upon everyone left in the black leather basement. Bullets whiz so softly that were it not for the grunts and cries of the men behind me, I would have thought that Hades missed.
My pulse pounds. I’m trembling all over; my right hand is stained with blood. I can barely see now because at some point in all of this mess, I started to cry.
Hades snakes an arm out, gripping me. I look up at him, my breath stopping. His eyes bore into mine, his expression unspeakably intense.
“You came,” I find myself saying.
“Aye, lass.” He pulls me close, ever so briefly kissing my lips. The sizzling press of his lips against mine sears me through and through.
But he releases me quickly, spinning me around. I look at the basement room, swallowing a big lump.
The bodies of the men are there, spilled across the floor. All dead, all staring blankly, their expressions contorted.
Acting on instinct, I turn my face away, a sob escaping my chest.
I raise my eyes to Hades, a question on my lips. “Why?”
“Ye need to see for yourself,” he answers. He cups my cheek briefly, gripping my face. “Those men will never hurt ye again. I’ve made sure of it, Persephone.”
I nod quickly, pressing myself against the shelter of his body. He kisses the top of my head, then barks an order at me.
“Upstairs. Let’s go, lass.”
“Wait.” I pull at Hades’ hands. “Am I… am I going to see my mother’s body upstairs?”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t kill them. I don’t know how we are going to live in the same world as them, though. They seem determined to keep coming after ye.”
“What if…” I blush. “What if we just lay low for a while? We can go to your castle and prepare for the baby.”
“Too many people know about the castle. But ye are right, we should go underground somewhere until the baby is born. Maybe we can come up with a plan then.”
My heart squeezes and I nod.
“Thank you, Hades.”
