Page 189 of Three Irish Kings
The guard chokes and claws at his throat, dropping to his knees.
I know it’s deliberate. Dare doesn’t kill, but these guards are unlucky because I bloody well do.
I shoot the third man in the middle of his chest, and he groans as he falls backward down the stairs, tumbling to the bottom floor after an almost hilarious fall.
Dare, chest heaving, holds one hand to his side.
Blood spills over his hand, and new worry stabs at my chest.
“Dare.”
He looks at me and grins.
There’s blood on his teeth.
Panic shoots through me, and I know I should try to stop him, should try to get him back to the SUV.
Dare may be smaller than me, but he’s not small by anyone’s standards, and it’s not like I can carry him to the car. I have multiple wounds too, and though I’m putting on a brave face, I’m also running on fumes. The adrenaline crash alone will drop me. But I’ve still got work to do.
We both do.
I hide behind the office door when Dare opens it wide, and then there’s a muffledpop,and I jump out, my throat tight.
Liam.
Cormac stands behind his desk with his gun drawn, but there’s a red spot on his chest.
The spot grows larger.
He drops the gun with a groan, clutching at the wound.
Isla gasps from behind me, and that seems to break Liam out of his spell, because he leaps up from his chair, running out toward her.
He picks her up in his arms, hugging her tightly, and she chokes out a sob.
Dare stands there, looking at the ground, still holding the gun high.
I slowly walk toward him, the way I would toward a cornered animal, and take the gun, dropping it on the floor.
“Dare…” I keep my voice soft so I won’t spook him.
He looks up at me with wide eyes. “I—I killed him.”
His first confirmed kill.
I remember mine. It was a boy around my age at the time, maybe fourteen. I’d been doing my first job for Ronan, a simplesurveillance job, but he’d come at me, yelling as he tackled me around the waist, and I’d stuck my pocketknife into his throat.
I’ll never forget the gurgling sounds he made and how long it took for him to stop making noises, how long it took for the stillness that followed to swallow me whole.
I feel for Dare, but right now, all we can do is get him to the car.
I have to pull on Liam’s shoulder to get him to let go of Isla, and still, he keeps a tight hold on her hand as I all but carry Dare down the stairs.
Fuck, I just hope I can make it to the SUV. Fuck, if we could leave through the front door, even Liam’s car seems a hundred miles away.
He’s flagging, and I’m worried. The adrenaline has probably kept him going this long same as it is doing with me.
With all the calm in the world, Liam guides us to the front door. He kisses Isla and looks at me and Dare.
