Page 79 of Sanctuary

“I know what he said. Go downstairs, sweetheart.”

His voice is different. I can hear it even through the din of gunfire beside and below us. “What are you going to do, Aidan?”

“I’m going to help him, but you need to get out of here first.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue. We don’t have time.”

“But if you help him, you’ll be the one who dies!” All my sobs for Cole and Del have frozen in my throat. Instead, I’m hit with a wave of frozen despair.

Because I knew this was coming. Iknewit.

I saw it in Aidan’s face last night. And again this morning.

I somehow knew it would come to this.

“But you’ll live.” Aidan still has his right hand around the pillar, shooting without aiming to provide any sort of cover for Cole he can. But he touches my face with his left hand. “Cole will live, and that matters to you. Andyou’lllive. That’s what matters to me.”

“You can’t—”

“This is my final answer, love. The good ones get to survive. I’m going to make it true.”

The echo of Mark’s words earlier shakes me. Rocks me. I can’t make my voice work. I can’t do anything at all.

When Aidan gives me a little shove toward the stairs, I go. Crouching low, I stumble toward the stairway, glancing back to see Aidan straighten up, leaning partway behind the pillar so he can fire more effectively.

So he can cover me. So that I can get away.

I’m halfway down the stairs when I look up again.

Cole has gotten out from behind the table. He’s ducking his head and running toward the stairs. Aidan has stepped all the way out from behind the pillar, making himself the only target.

The only target.

His body jerks once, but he keeps firing with both of his guns.

Someone shoots the gun out of his left hand, so he keeps shooting with the other. Then another bullet hits, and he falls.

He falls.

He’s killed a lot of them now. There are only two guys left on their feet. They finally come out of the hallway, and both Cole and I rush them in wordless agreement.

We each kill one, so our advance is over in a few seconds.

But it doesn’t matter anymore.

Aidan is already down.

12

As soon asit’s safe, I try to run to Aidan, but a few men are coming up the grand staircase after us, so Cole and I have to fight again.

The battle below us isn’t over. As soon as we get past the guys on the steps, we go down to help. It’s loud and messy and chaotic for several minutes until the front doors burst open. A group of about ten, led by that freckled guy named Ham, rush in from outside, where they were making safe the perimeter.

That’s enough reinforcements to shift the balance to our side, and in about five more minutes it’s all over.

The floor is littered with bodies. A few of the bad guys surrender like the ones on the upper floors, but most of them are dead or too injured to put up any more fight. I can’t help but notice that some are women.

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