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Before I could say anything, a loud gunshot permeated the air.
Not an ordinary gunshot, though.
It was the sound of a shotgun.
Coming from the direction of the main house.
Gage took off out the door with Happy running after him.
“Nash?” Everett called from the top of the stairs. I darted up them and grabbed his arm. I herded him into the bedroom and went to my bag.
“I called 911. What’s happening?” Everett asked, completely terrified.
“I need to go help Gage,” I said as a weird calm settled over my body. I pulled the small revolver I normally wore around my ankle out of my bag and handed it to Everett. “I need you to stay here and bar the door with something. If anyone comes in that isn’t me or Gage, you start firing and you don’t stop until the gun is empty, do you hear me?”
Despite the stark terror in his eyes, Everett recovered quickly and nodded. “Yes.”
“I need you to stay here, Everett,” I repeated.
I knew he had to have had a million things he wanted to say to me in that moment, but he knew there was no time. “Go,” was all he said.
“Bar the door,” I reminded him, then I was out the door as another shotgun blast rocketed through the air. As I tore down the stairs and out of the house, the calm I needed so desperately spread throughout my body and my focus shifted until there was just one thought in mind.
Protect your family.
Chapter 33
Everett
I had no clue how I managed to even understand any of Nash’s instructions, let alone carry them out. The instinct to follow him was strong, but I knew if I did, I’d just be giving him one more thing to focus on besides whatever was happening in the other house. I was beyond terrified for my son, the little girl I was coming to love like she was my own, the man who’d become a father to me, and the two men who’d become my entire world, but I pushed the fear away and focused on the task at hand.
The gun felt heavy in my hand as I rushed to the dresser, which was by the window overlooking the back yard. I was in the process of reaching for the heavy piece of furniture when a flash of white caught my eye through the window. It took me a second to figure out what it was and the second I did, Nash’s order to stay put went flying out the window.
Because right behind the flash of white was a dark shadow.
I sent Nash a silent apology as I rushed from the room. I nearly tripped over a body at the foot of the stairs, but the second I realized that it wasn’t Gage or Nash, I was running again. I tore out the back door and began running toward the small shed closest to the house – the one where the donkey named Persephone lived. I could hear a range of noises coming from the house, including crashing sounds and the occasional gunshot, but I couldn’t dwell on any of that. I’d managed to put on sleep pants and a T-shirt right after I’d been woken up by the commotion, but there’d been no time for shoes. I ignored the pain of twigs and thorns digging into my feet and scratching my arms as I cut through the garden to reach the shed.
I scanned the area around me to make sure there wasn’t a second intruder, but saw nothing. The motion-activated light by the shed was on, as was the one above the back deck, but the house was dark. I knew Gage and his family had an alarm, but it wasn’t going off, so I had to assume whoever the people attacking us were, they’d cut the power and somehow managed to disable the security system. Fortunately, the motion lights were solar powered, so they were still working.
As I reached the shed, I heard someone say, “Come here!”
I could hear soft growls coming from inside the shed and I instinctively knew they were coming from Medusa. I stepped into the small space in time to hear Charlie scream and then the guy cursed. A yelp followed and then I saw a small flash of white go flying and hit the wall just feet from me.
“Got you!” the guy shouted victoriously. Charlie began screaming as she fought the guy, who’d managed to grab her ankle. The little girl had crawled into the tiny gap between the wooden grain bin and Persephone’s stall. There was no way the man could have followed her into the space, but there was also no way for the little girl to escape his reach, either.
As he began dragging Charlie out, Persephone reached through the slats of her stall and bit the guy on the arm. The guy let out a howl of pain and lurched backward. I used that moment to aim the gun at him. I’d never shot a gun in my entire life, but pulling the trigger was the easiest thing I’d ever done.
