Page 151 of Dagger

My heart sank into my ass. “Fuck,” I said under my breath, placing the girl in my arms gently back on her feet.

Atlas, who stood directly in front of the guy, took a step toward him. “Put the gun down, dude, and I’ll tell my friend standing behind ya not to shoot your head off.”

The Sinner’s mouth stretched into a knowing grin. “Yeah, right. Your invisible friend. The only fucker behind me is our prospect, and he don’t gotta gun.”

“Yo, Titch,” a familiar voice called from the hallway.

Titch craned his neck and visibly gulped. “What the fuck—?”

A loudboomricocheted through the ether, and the Sinner crumpled to the floor.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Atlas boomed, watching Mason stroll into the room. “Are you fuckin’ crazy? Iris is gonna have my goddamned balls for this.”

“Why?” Mase asked, his eyebrows pulling together curiously.

“Err, you just killed a man,” Atlas drawled sarcastically. “She’s gonna think you’ll need a fuckload of therapy for Christ’s sake. Don’t think I’m paying for that shit. Never asked you to blow a hole through some asshole Sinner’s chest.”

“He was gonna shoot ya,” Mason argued.

Atlas sniffed haughtily. “I had it under control.”

I brought a hand up to my mouth, trying to hide my smile, and then my heart kicked into overdrive as I heard distant shouts.

“Let’s fuckin’ go,” Atlas ordered, stepping over the dead Sinner and making for the door. “Get these poor bitches outta here before the others come for us.”

The women followed, and we all headed toward the front door.

“We’re coming back to kill ‘em,” I told my bud determinedly.

“Yip,” he replied. “But we can’t do what we need to do and look after the girls. Let’s get ‘em to Abe before we use the Sinners as target practice.”

We burst out the door and bellowed for everyone to run. Taking the girl’s hand, we sprinted toward the courtyard. Shouts went up from behind us, and I craned my neck to see three Sinners standing at the door, raising their weapons.

I dropped Eva’s hand and yelled for her to keep going while I came to a stop and twisted my body. Raising my gun in both hands, I aimed for the enemy and fired. My chest contracted as one of them hit the floor.

More shouts filled the air.

I looked around to see Sinners coming toward me, and a bad feeling slid through my gut. Still, I turned toward the one closest to me and fired my gun again, ducking as a bullet whizzed past my head.

“Bowie!” Atlas bellowed. “Get down! Prez is pickin’ ‘em off!”

My eyes widened as I watched a Sinner hit the deck, followed by one standing next to him. They were dropping like flies, but it didn’t mean I could stop firing on them.

I sank to the ground and twisted my body toward the outbuilding we’d just run from. I aimed and fired, watching one of the dudes sink to his knees, holding his chest. More gunfire rang out, and I craned my neck to see Atlas shooting at more Sinners who were approaching.

Hearing more yells, I almost cried out in relief as I watched my brothers take up their positions. Another man went down from a silent shot—probably my pop—while an all-out gunfight began.

“Run, Bo!” Atlas ordered. “We’ll cover you.”

I got to my feet, bent double, and sprinted for the nearest cover, which happened to be an old, abandoned car sitting about thirty feet away. Bullets pinged off the ground by my feet, and I cursed out loud, my heart hammering so hard I thought it’d explode inside my chest.

I’d had experience with a GSW, and it wasn’t something I wanted to go through again, purely because it hurt like a bitch. Also, Doe would kick my ass, and my Sunshine would be on me twenty-four seven. I loved my girl, but she was a lot.

The car got ever closer, and a tiny part of me started to believe I’d actually get out of this shit show in one piece until I approached the old Ford. My throat clenched as a guy in a Sinners cut stood from behind the car, pointing a weapon at me.

My heart burned in my chest, and my steps faltered while my life flashed before my eyes at an alarming rate. My stare fell on the trigger of the guy's Colt, and I watched him begin to squeeze slowly.

As I looked up, my gaze caught on the hill where Dad was sniping from. A tiny flash caught my eye, and the Sinner about to kill me sank down behind the car.

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