Page 103 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“The girls are in a safe room,” he said, his eyes still on the disaster in front of us.

“The moment they get around this vehicle, we’re fucked.”

He grinned at me. “So, let’s take them out before they can.”

Hunter ran ahead of me, but I checked the vehicles as I ran past them, pulling the trigger on anyone that was still moving. As I ran past one of the vehicles, I glanced over to where Knight had been. He was no longer there, but the number of bodies on the ground was twice what it had been when I headed this way.

I heard a whistle come from behind me and spun around to see Chase motioning to the side of the house. He ran toward the house, butting up against it as I took off in that direction. The closer I got, I saw the men swarming in through a side gate. The vehicles had been a distraction for what was really going on. There had to be at least twenty men running full speed for the house.

There was no way Chase and I could take all of them on, but I wouldn’t allow them near my wife. I ducked down behind a tree and ejected the magazine from the rifle. I didn’t have many bullets left, so my best bet would be to spray and pray. I might be able to take out more of them faster if I laid out one long line of fire than if I tried to be methodical. I couldn’t wait for help to arrive. I wasn’t sure anyone would be coming.

I signaled to Chase with my intentions and he nodded, his own gun in a firm grip in his hands as he waited for me to get into position. I moved forward quickly, then turned and fired round after round at the men approaching the house. They instantly started to fall, not prepared for the attack. When the magazine was empty, I tossed aside the gun and pulled the pistol from the small of my back and fired off a single shot at a time, lining up my targets with precision.

One by one they fell, but this wouldn’t do us any good if we didn’t know who they were or why they were attacking. I turned to Chase and shouted, “Cover me!”

He nodded as I bolted from my cover and ran across the yard toward the trees. Bullets whizzed by me, but I wasn’t worried with Chase at my back. I ran straight at the man in front leading the pack. He turned suddenly, his gun pointed directly at me, but I shoved my hand out and caught his arm, pushing it toward the sky. The gun went off just a second later, barely missing its intended target. I wrenched his hand to the side, forcing him to drop his weapon. Then I snapped his hand backward, breaking it instantly. He cried out and slammed his other fist into my side, but I didn’t yield. With his hand wrenched back, I slammed my fist into his kidney at an unrelenting pace until he fell to his knees as pain gripped him.

I jerked his arm behind him, then grabbed his other arm and quickly yanked it behind his back. He fell forward with his face smashed into the ground as Chase came running up, tossing me a zip tie. Once he was trussed up, I kicked him over and stared down at the fucker who came at me.

“Who the fuck are you?”

He glared at me, refusing to give in despite the pain etched on his face.

I slammed my foot into his stomach, but all he did was breathe through the pain and stare at me even harder. He wasn’t going to talk any time soon.

“I’ll check the others,” Chase said, leaving me as I grabbed the fucker up by the wrists and hauled him to his feet. He stumbled the first few steps, almost as if he was trying to fall to his knees.

I whipped out my knife and slammed it into his side. He grunted in pain, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. “Nice try, fucker.”

Blood dripped from his side as he breathed heavily through the pain. He glanced over his shoulder at me, a permanent scowl on his face as he stared at me through dark eyes. I wanted so desperately to get answers from this fucker, but that would have to wait until we got him back to the compound.

Ambrose met us outside the house as we approached, his face narrowed on the man I was guiding to my vehicle.

“I’ll take it from here.” He snapped his fingers at his guards, who immediately moved in on me.

With my knife already in hand, I pressed it to the man’s throat and narrowed my eyes on the guards, who were now staring at Ambrose in question.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll take it from here.”

Ambrose’s eyes gleamed with hatred, but he nodded, sparing only a glance for the man in my clutches. Something was going on here, and I was about to find out exactly what that was.

“Chase,” I said over my shoulder, knowing he was behind me. “Secure the prisoner in the trunk. I’m going to get Jade.”

“Right, boss,” he said, grabbing the hand from my clutches. I started to walk past Ambrose, but then stopped right beside him, lowering my voice. “You and I are going to have a talk about where the fuck your guards were when the attack happened.”

He stiffened beside me, but said nothing as I walked inside to get my wife.

39

JADE

I paced the small room, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to calm my racing heart and mind. I was back in my father’s house, just like before.

This isn’t a cell.

But no matter how much I told myself that, my brain wouldn’t listen. I couldn’t help but go back to those long days in the dark cell with no escape. I might not be cuffed this time, but I had no way of getting out.

“Jade? Are you alright?” Kate asked.

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