Page 63 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

“Get her to the boat. We’ve got three trucks that smashed through the gate. They’re loaded with firepower. I counted sixteen men, but there could be more.”

Oh my god! Santos had gone to war. Carlos had told me about him, about when he went after someone. He didn’t hold back, and nothing was off the table nor too gruesome. And he’d decided I was too much of a liability to get what he was after.

“I’m on it.” Axel checked the hall outside my room to see if the coast was clear.

“Chase will meet you by the stairs to the basement and provide you with backup.”

“And you?”

“I’ve got to take care of the computers. I can’t allow them to access my security programs. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be two minutes behind you guys. Get the Phoenix out of here now!”

The Phoenix? Did he mean me? Like a military code name? Because I kind of liked it.

“Don’t do anything stupid. See you shortly.” Matteo disconnected the call before Axel could respond.

BOOM!

Oh god. This was really happening. The night had descended to a level of terror my psyche couldn’t even comprehend.

The house rattled with aftershocks from the explosion. The floor beneath us shook, and I wondered if the house would collapse on top of us. But Axel didn’t flinch or show any signs of fear. With a steely glare, he drew his gun out. “Stay behind me. Do as I say. And we’ll get out of this.”

If he wasn’t with me, I’d be amid a panic attack. But he was my anchor in the chaotic storm, and I nodded yes.

Then we moved quickly and quietly in a nightmare landscape I didn’t know if we’d survive. Grenade blasts exploded. The walls of the place I called home these past four years crumbled and fell. We avoided falling debris with the popping boom of gunfire erupting in the background. Were the others all right? Were they fighting for their lives against a stronger force?

Axel’s shoulders were stiff as we navigated the stairs. Because we were exposed here, nothing more than sitting ducks who could easily be picked off. And he knew it. With every step, he swept the area, searching for danger.

We found it. Or it found us.

Two of Santos’s men came around the corner and charged the stairs. But Axel didn’t hesitate. Just lifted his gun, aimed and fired without slowing our descent. He clipped one in the chest and the other right between the eyes. Both toppled to the ground in a spray of blood. Dead before they hit the floor.

And I wished I cared about their lives. But I didn’t have it in me. My husband had beaten that out of me. I was glad they were dead. They had intended to kill us. I didn’t know what that sentiment made me. Nor could I worry about the morally gray area I’d ventured into as we reached the main floor.

My heart hammered in a frantic drumbeat. There was a ton of open space with no place to hide that we had to cross to reach the stairs to the basement.

Chase rounded the stairs. “You get her to the basement. I’ll cover you.”

Axel didn’t argue, just jerked his head in agreement. Then glanced at me. “Can you run?”

Terror was a living entity inside me. Shouts from the invaders were in the ballroom. They had made it into the house. They were here to kill us. If Axel asked me to, I would fly. I trusted him. If I fell, he would catch me.

I nodded and mouthedyes.

“We need to be fast, Angel. Follow me and stay low.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Chase swore. His attention shifted to the men entering the kitchen from the ballroom. They were like ducks in a barrel as he aimed and started picking them off one at a time. “Go. Go now!”

Axel tugged me behind him. I raced with him through the living room, jerking at the gunfire erupting around us. The painkiller kicked into high gear and our mad dash took on a dreamlike quality.

We reached the door to the basement just as it rocketed open, bashing against the wall and shuddering on its hinges.

I screamed, my voice hoarse and painful. But then recognition hit as the man’s face came into view. Gideon.

Oh, thank god!

“Go. Get her to the boat. The three of us will be right behind you. Here comes Mateo. GO!”

I glanced over my shoulder, checking that all my guys were there. And then I screamed. Chase was hit. He stumbled and went down.

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