Page 70 of Twilight of Embers
The man hollowed in pain, his hold on me loosening a fraction. I didn’t wait. I ran. But the two other men were waiting.
“I don’t think so, bitch,” the taller one snarled.
But his words were cut off as a blade sliced across his throat from behind.
And I did the only thing I could. I screamed.
35
HAYDEN
The man crumpled to the floor in front of me, revealing Cáel, fury streaking across his face. I didn’t know whether to run toward him or away. But I didn’t have a chance to make up my mind.
The second man lunged for me, knocking me into a wall so hard I saw stars. I struggled against his hold as Cáel shouted something. The man’s fist connected with my face, and my vision went blurry.
Everything was so hazy that I couldn’t see who had ripped me from my attacker’s arms. I writhed and fought with what little strength I had. “Easy, Little One. It’s me.”
The scent of snow and campfire filled my nose, and I slumped against Cáel.
“I’ve got you. Just hold on.”
Sounds of fighting filled the hallway. My vision slowly cleared just as Cillian punched out with some unseen blade. The man who’d punched me gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth as he crumpled to the floor.
Cillian wiped his hand on the man’s shirt and then spat on him, uttering something in a foreign language.
Maddox shouted something as he fought with my first attacker, and Cillian joined him in the fray. Within a matter of seconds, that man was on the floor, bleeding out, too.
Cillian turned to us before that man had even taken his last breath. “We need to move. They’ll have called for reinforcements.”
Cáel jerked his head in a nod, striding toward the back door. “Close your eyes, Little One. You don’t need to see them.”
But I couldn’t make myself. Three bodies. So much blood.
Images of my mother’s fallen form filled my head. I shook violently against Cáel, and he cursed.
Then we were outside, the cold air wrapping around us. Cáel jogged toward a blacked-out SUV as Cillian beeped the locks, and we were inside.
Cáel held me as Maddox’s hands moved gently over my face.
“Where does it hurt, Mo Ghràidh?” Concern and maybe pain twisted his features.
My teeth chattered violently, and I couldn’t get any words out.
“He hit her,” Cáel growled.
I could feel the fury coming off him in waves. Felt the ragged, quick breaths beneath me. I knew that he was seconds away from losing it.
I couldn’t speak, but I nuzzled into Cáel’s neck, trying to reassure him I was all right.
A rumbling sound that was a lot like a roar emanated from Cáel’s chest.
Maddox’s eyes flashed to him. “Hold it together. We need to get her to safety.”
The tires of the SUV squealed as if to punctuate the point.
“We’ve got backup in the air and on the ground,” Cillian clipped. “But I want to know how the hell they got in.”
“Traitor,” Cáel gritted out.
