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“Dr. Carmichael, take them to the basement. I’ll hold them off as long as possible for Augustus to arrive.” My words felt rushed, almost manic. They were the only thing I could get out right before the front door kicked open as a swarm of black cladded men came in. The doctor didn’t hesitate, shoving the women toward the back. Using my handgun, I quickly fired off as many shots as I could while they approached me, giving the others cover.
Some fell to the ground in a heap of pain while others I had silenced permanently, but three were able to bypass my strategy. The closest one went to pull out his own gun, but I managed to round a kick toward him for it to fall from his grasp. The second I began hand to hand combat, he was more than ready to brawl with me.
Fighting felt like a sixth sense in a way, but it had been a trained one. I didn't know how to describe it to other people, so I kept it to myself after learning every intricate detail combating consisted of. My body felt alive and hummed with a new burning energy pumping through my veins. Having to be slightly careful with the wound in the crevice of my neck and shoulder, I didn't have time as I began swinging back at the perpetrator.
His friends were more than willing to join as they fought me, one versus three. Their fists pounded against my flesh as I wrapped my hands around one of their necks, quickly snapping it before he could continue. His friend jumped on my back like he could take me down with his force, but he forgot to compare our sizes. I hadn't become a big man by simply sitting on a couch, try so I ripped him by the back of a shirt and flung him over my shoulder to crash into the tipped over coffee table we had been using for protection. Because of the sharper angle of the edge, I could hear his back snap right below me. He didn’t move because I got his spinal cord. Their friend tried to join as I rushed to handle him next. He dove for the fallen gun, trying to aim it at me, but I managed to kick it out of his hand as he laid below me on the ground. My eyes grew venomous as I sauntered over him, placing my foot on his throat.
“How many more of you are there?” My sneer sent all my burning rage into him. His fear heightened, knowing I'd either make his death painless or painful, depending what he gave me.
“We were the first crew sent, but there's more coming for you guys. You only have a small window for it to be clear before more arrive.”
Nodding my head, I knew he spoke the truth, so I placed my foot on his cheek and hurried and snapped it down toward the ground. In doing so, I ended his life, but it gave mine a few more minutes to spare. Turning around, I found Millie standing in the kitchen with her head poking around the corner. My heart lurched into my throat as my stomach dropped because I hadn't been prepared for her to see the beast I truly could be.
Just when I thought she'd run away from me, she held out her hand and nodded for me to join her. “You heard him. We only have a few minutes to get that stitched up.”
The others hadn't gone to the basement like I planned, so I found them standing in the kitchen, waiting for me to join them. Millie let her hands fall in the drawers as she found some thread and needle in an old sewing kit her father had. It had been placed in a junk drawer with the rest of the first aid kit, telling me they didn't plan for emergencies very often. Sterilizing everything, she came before me and began holding the needle over the graze I got from earlier.
Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths before she finally plunged the needle into my skin with the alcohol pouring over the wound. Tears brimmed her eyes like she had to keep containing them, and guilt ate at me for it. Shaking her head, her lip kept quivering as she quickly sealed my skin shut. Even though she hadn't been used to this life, her survival skills kicked in when it became necessary. She puked the second she tied off my stitches, heaving over the sink we stood by and getting some on the floor. We were all a little roughed up from what just happened, but before we could discuss it more, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Just as it did, we heard a crash in the backyard like the fence had been bulldozed. Sure enough, Augustus sent a message that he had just arrived, so I knew exactly where he chose to park our getaway car.
eighty-three
Millie
Being herded toward the van that drove through the fence to gather our wounded horde, I didn't know who these men were. The driver got out and immediately moved to Costas, speaking to him in Italian. By their body language, they appeared to be friends. Another vehicle pulled up for us to get into as well, being a small car, but I didn't know where we were supposed to go, or if they were friendly after so much open fire.
Once Costas finished speaking, the man with long, black hair in spiral curls stuck out his left hand to me. He gave my boulder of a man a run for his money. "Ciao, Millie. I'm Augustus, friend of your men."
Now that I could place his name to him, I recognized his importance because Costas had me shoot him that ping of our location with the phone call. The others trusted him enough for us to get us out, and I couldn't deny his prompt arrival after I sent him our spot. To further add to his loyalty, his men got out and surrounded us, opening fire on those who gave chase to our run. No longer feeling like the mouse, we had a spring trap ready.
"Thank you for coming." Shaking his hand, he probably felt the quake within it.
"Tony and Draven just landed and will be joining our train back to the compound. I believe Dominic and Mortimer are attacking because someone alerted them of their sons getting here sooner than planned. My orders are to take you in a separate vehicle than the others to make sure you're not followed." Ah, his sedan made more sense.
"But I should be with everyone else," I argued.
"Millie," Costas called to me. Seeing his hurting body, I knew he'd need months to recover because of my existence in their life. His eyes pleaded for me to listen, yearning for me to agree for him to stress less during whatever war he was about to stand against. "Go."
Before I could even respond with my own need to defend them, a warm hand clasped mine at my side. Kasey gave a curt nod to Costas. They shared a conversation with their eyes before she let the rest of us in on their secret.
"I'm going with her," Kasey declared, hooking her thumb my way. Even though she'd been broken, her resilient form stood next to me because it had become her mechanism for her own survival.
"Fine, but we need to move now." Augustus waved for me to follow him. Costas and I didn't get to share a passionate moment, but we spoke with our eyes for the privacy we desired. Like last night, he'd become my home, so he needed to live. He pled that to me, so I returned it.
The others loaded into a van, my father guiding Costas in with his hand protecting the wound I recently stitched back together. I'd have puke to clean when we returned, but he'd live another minute. That's all I could ask for now that we separated for survival. Being pushed into the back seat of the car, Augustus laid a tarp over our horizontal bodies, making it look like only one passenger sat inside the car.
Holding my breath, Kasey wrapped her arms around me to hold me into her chest. Always being the strong one between us, I didn't want her to feel like she had to carry the full burden. Time felt like it passed differently as we rode away in the back of a sedan. Kasey and I just clung to each other, braving this journey for one another. It felt odd being the only two in this car, but I rather liked the idea of my dad having Costas with him.
Before we could get any further, I heard the tailing sound of a vehicle’s tires squealing right as Augustus began to curse under his breath. Before I could even try sitting up, a crash happened from the driver’s side, but we hit something on our own side right after. Being the smaller one of the two, Kasey took the brunt force against her head as her body cradled over mine in protection. Through the loud haze of the horn, I tried to piece together what happened so rapidly as my life flashed before my eyes. In the single second it took for that hit to happen, I felt like my heart stopped with it only to begin beating again once everything stopped moving.
Trying not to feel so shaken up, I groaned when I attempted to unravel my limbs from Kasey. She didn't move, so I quickly looked over her body to make sure my friend still lived. The rise and fall of her chest promised life, but she was knocked out cold. My eyes quickly darted to the front seat in order to take in Augustus with his head hanging to the side. Again, I saw enough minor movement to know he lived, but I didn't know what condition either would be in or how long they had to stay stable.
Before I could do damage control, the door opened at my feet on the driver’s side as someone began pulling me from the car. Screaming, my body already felt like it had cement running through my veins. I kept kicking my wobbly legs like it could free me, but they had overpowered me. Someone wanted me personally, and I had a short list to know who it might be.
Being shoved to the ground once I was out, I fell on my hands and knees against the pavement. Looking up through the pain in my neck, I saw Giorgia standing over me. She felt rather proud of herself for putting me in the predicament with my head bowing at her feet. Pressing her foot forward, she dug the heel of her stiletto into my shoulder and pushed me back to follow my ass.
“You silly, wretched little girl, I told you I am the queen.” My ears heard her over the noise of the horn that kept sounding endlessly because of the crash just as my eyes took in their larger SUV that had impaled our car from the side and wrapped it around their front with a brush guard on it. They came prepared to pulverize our vehicle.
