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The men dropped, their ruptured skulls splattering my room. Nausea churned through me, clenching my gut, and making me gag. The smell was vile. The sight was haunting.
But my body was numb.
More men continued to pour in as though there were a never-ending supply on the roof. How had we not heard them?
I let myself be hauled from the room purely out of shock. It was only when Darren dragged me down the hall and toward the staircase that panic set in.
“Don’t leave Eli!” My voice sounded strange to my ears. Far away…like I was underwater. Perhaps it was the effect of rapid gunfire—not all of the guns had suppressors—or maybe it was the adrenaline.
“He’ll be fine. I need to get you out of here,” Darren gritted out, turning when we came to the top of the stairs to use his back as a shield for me. I struggled against him.
“Let me go, I can fight!”
Three people ran down the hall toward me, pistols raised. Before I had time to shriek, Darren spun us yet again, popping off three shots in the time it took for me to take a breath.
Down below, Kieran, Aaron, and Rafael were locked in hand-to-hand combat with six of the masked people. Aaron bled from a cut on his forehead and Kieran’s crisp white dress shirt was sprayed in crimson, though I had no idea if it was his or someone else’s.
Darren threw the next guy that charged at him over the side of the railing with one arm.
We made it down the stairs. Flecks of warm fluid dotted my face, but I didn’t want to touch it and find out exactly what it was.
Aaron and Kieran were closest to us, creating a wall that kept the assailants in one area. Darren pushed me toward the door, tossing me the keys. “Get into the car. Aaron and Kieran will be right behind you.”
I ran for the foyer. Spying a blur of black coming around the corner, I lifted my foot and landed a solid kick to the man’s torso. It only managed to knock him back a few steps. As he lifted a gun to my forehead, I dropped, hearing the pop of the suppressed firearm discharged.
A roar of pain sounded from behind me. I looked up, keys clutched in my fist as I punched the guy as hard as I could between his legs. He bellowed incoherent words, falling to the floor. My middle finger cracked with the force of the hit, but I sprang to my feet and raced for the door.
More shouts filled the cacophony within the house. I sprinted into the darkness for the shiny, dark Camaro in the driveway that clicked open when I jammed the unlock button. Footsteps thundered on the porch behind me, making me run harder. There was no time to look for more attackers; I had to believe they’d all gone inside the house.
A muted bang came from somewhere behind me, then the pavement near my feet exploded like a crater.
With a choked scream, I yanked the car door open and dove inside, slamming it shut behind me. Aaron and Kieran made it to the car a second before I went to lock the doors. Kieran held his arm, blood soaking the fabric beneath his fingers. My stomach dropped. He’d been shot.
Aaron flung the driver side door open, a gun raised to the house behind me. “Move!” he ordered without looking my way.
I scurried into the back seat just as the two men got in. Their doors were barely shut when the engine rumbled, and the vehicle was tearing down the street. Kieran grunted in the passenger’s seat, causing Aaron to glance his way.
“Julietta, there’s a first aid box under my seat, reach down and grab it please.”
My hands shook as I did what he asked. Kieran undid his shirt buttons, slid one arm out, then, slowly, peeled the sleeve down to reveal the wound. It appeared to have taken a chunk out of his arm and I swore I saw the white of bone, but there was too much blood to be sure.
Aaron noticed it dripping onto the leather seat and groaned.
“Are we being followed?” Kieran gritted out.
Aaron’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, then his jaw clenched. “Yes.”
My heart shot up into my throat. “We are?” I gasped.
Aaron nodded subtly. “We’ll lose them on the interstate.”
Kieran held out his other hand for the kit and I gave it to him, frowning. “Where are we going?”
“Safe house,” Aaron answered.
Kieran struggled with a bottle of peroxide until I reached around him and snagged it out of his hands. I bunched what I could of his shirt below the injury. When I cast him a questioning look, he nodded.
I poured the clear fluid onto the gaping hole. Kieran ground his teeth together, breathing out a string of curses.
