Page 53 of Providence

Then I shut the door and tried to pretend I couldn’t hear their tears. I took a couple of deep, calming breaths, swiping at the tears on my own cheeks. I had to find Marco.

They were here for me. For Madoc. But I’d be damned if I’d let these fuckers anywhere near my kids.

I tried to push the story of Laura and her baby from my mind. That wasn’t going to be us. I was not so easy to kill and I had everything to protect. I took the stairs two at a time, peering around the corner into the hall. It was empty, so I stepped out, silently closing the door and sprinting toward the back of the house. Men in black tactical gear crept across the back lawn, crouched low to the ground. They didn’t look like Cartel. Thugs with guns. These guys looked like the military. Where the hell was Marco? Bear and Goose? I crept back down the hall, up the stairs to Goliath’s room. That's where the gun safe was. He’d given up all his wardrobe space just to have his walk-in closet converted into a munitions cabinet. I sent up a small thanks for the fact he was a gun-toting lunatic. From the landing, I could see boots stepping onto the front porch, and I breathed shallowly through my nose as I moved softly toward G’s room.

I put the code into the door of the gun safe, and it swung open, revealing floor to ceiling weapons. Bless his fucking violent heart. I was going to kiss his goddamn feet when I saw him. I pulled out two small handguns. I didn’t know what kind. I stuffed a couple of extra clips into my back pockets. It would have to do.

I looked out Goliath’s window at the men creeping toward the lower story windows. Fuck, we were surrounded. This wasn’t the Cartel. A shadow at the base of the building had me leaning forward, and I stifled the cry that threatened to tear apart my chest. Marco.

A black clad soldier stopped near Marco’s prone body, kicking him a little.No, no, no. Marco get up.

The soldier raised his gun to put a bullet in Marco’s head, and I snapped out of my shock. I aimed my gun, shattering the glass and nailing the soldier in the cheek. More dumb luck or divine intervention, because the next two shots went wide. Not wide enough to hit Marco though. I had to get down there.

The soldier lifted his gun, firing shots into the window as he moved for cover. That was good. It was away from Marco.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I slammed the door to the gun safe shut again and raced out of G’s room. They’d know I was on this floor now. Hopefully they’d go up, and not down to the basement. I had to lure them away from the kids. I hid behind the partition wall near the stairs. Two more soldiers on the ground floor. They were all wearing Kevlar, and my aim wasn’t good enough to nail them in their weak spots. Still, I fired and prayed that I got them. There was a return of fire, and heavy boots near the stairs.

That’s it, you fucks. Let’s go up. Don’t worry about the basement. I ran to the end of the hall, and the window that led to the front of the house. I could climb out of there, maybe slide down the porch roof. As I reached the window, bullets started to fly around.

“Stop shooting you dumb fuck. They want her alive,” one guy in black tactical gear shouted, but I didn’t wait around to hear the conversation. I slid out onto the tiled roof, sliding down them until I was near the guttering. Fuck, it was still so far from the damn ground.

“She’s on the roof, front of house,” the guys behind me signaled, and more soldiers quickly appeared on the front lawn. The guys who were behind me were out on the roof too now, and I shot wildly behind me, hoping to fucking hit one of them in the face as I ran across the roof.

I slid around precariously close to the edge, banking on the fact they didn’t want to kill me, otherwise I was sitting up here like a duck at the shooting gallery. My only thought was to lead them away from the kids, away from Marco. I just had to wait until the cavalry arrived. I just needed a few more minutes.

I sobbed a little as I realized that Solomon had said they would be here minutes ago, but it had been too long. What if something had happened to them. What if they they were fucking dead?

A cry left me as I hit the gutter wrong, my ankle buckling under me, then I was falling to the side, my eyes latching on the gate that was empty of bikes and saviors. I hit the ground with a painful thud, hearing the crack of bones as my head slammed into the drive.

Lights out.

I came-tozip tied to a chair in my kitchen. I moaned as the pain in my arm made struggling agonizing. My eyes whipped around, searching for the kids, for Madoc, but they weren't in the kitchen. I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse. What if they’d found them while I was out?

What if they’d taken them already?

I felt like I was choking on my panic. I tugged at my good hand, but I was securely fastened. A man in a black suit stood at my island counter, drinking my fucking juice. “Ah, you’re awake. I was worried you’d done yourself some serious damage in your fall. The men tell me it was quite nasty.”

I gritted my teeth, but didn’t acknowledge him. I looked at my arm. It was broken alright; it jutted out at an odd angle. They must have had to straighten it a little to even strap me in this fucking chair.

It wouldn’t kill me. Nothing would. I could compartmentalize the pain.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Scott. Scott Burns. Head of Acquisitions for Tenebrae.”

I shiver rolled down my spine at his pleasant tone and dead eyes. Tenebrae. I knew they were here for me, for Madoc. This was worse than the Cartel. Worse than gangbangers with a vendetta.

Still, I held my tongue. I had nothing to give this man. “In case you are wondering, we are just waiting for our explosives expert to get here and unlock your panic rooms. You see, you have something that belongs to us. My scout says it's quite extraordinary. Wings,” he whispered. “A child with wings. He will be our messiah. We will raise an army around him. Leashed Divinity. Its fucking beautiful.”

I spat at him, and I must have knocked out a tooth, because it was pink. Burns looked down at the pink stain on his shirt and grimaced. “And you? A broodmare who can produce angelic children? You are worth more than you can even comprehend. How much would you pay to have your very own angel child? Wars will be waged over your offspring. I even have a sire lined up, nicely broken. Not as good as an Archangel, but he will suffice.”

Ice ran through my veins. I’d never let that happen. Never.

My teeth chattered, and my eyes caught on a dark shadow slinking through the living room. I wanted to cry. Was that a mongoose? Fucking Goose.

I worked hard to keep the relief off my face, to keep my eyes off him. I gritted my teeth at Burns. “Fuck you. I will never be you fucking breeder. I’d never godownwithout a fight.” I emphasized down and prayed Goose got it. He was strong and ferocious, but Bear was the thinker between them.

My eyes flicked to the living room, but Goose was gone.Please, please let them be okay.Scott Burns laughed in my face. “Oh bitch, you think you have a choice? Our leader let a few little details slip about you. I know just how much you can take.”

He grabbed my broken arm, snapping it again like it was a glow stick. I screamed as fire-like pain shot up my arm. I gritted my teeth even as my eyes watered. “You think I’m impressed. You don’t know the things I’ve endured, asshole.”

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