Page 129 of Titan

“Get her under control,” she ground out.

The guy put his hand on Theia’s shoulder and pulled her upright. My girl gave me a smile as her face came into view. The guy glared at Theia, but she merely turned her head up towards him. Before he could react, she swung her arm up and stabbed him in the chest with the knife she’d retrieved him from under the armchair. He let out a loud grunt of pain, which Theia used to launch herself at him. She grabbed a hold of his gun, trying to get it out of his hand. When that failed, she wrapped her own hand around his, spun around, took aim, and forced him to fire. The gun going off echoed around the room.

The other men looked stunned as Pippa dropped to the floor. Red blood seeped out of her back into the white fabric of her dress.

“Duck.”

Edric and I dropped behind the sofa in front of us before any of them could register what had happened.

“What the fuck?” Edric hissed as he glanced at me.

I was busy with my hand under the sofa, reaching for one of the knives.

“Stay down until I tell you to move.”

Pulling out the knife, I peered over the top of the sofa. Theia was still grappling with the man she’d stabbed. The other men were trying to aim at her, but there was no clear shot. I didn’t want to give any of them the opportunity to take her out. My hand raised, and I threw the knife at one of them. It embedded itself in his back, making him yelp and drop to the floor. The noise distracted the others.

“What the fuck? Hey, he’s got—”

I slid the knife from my boot and threw it at the one who was talking. It hit him square in the chest. He stared down at it. I didn’t stop, moving further along the sofa to grab another knife. That one sailed through the air and hit the third man in the back.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” the only uninjured one barked, turning his gun on us.

Edric and I ducked back down behind the sofa.

“What now?” he hissed.

The sound of a gun going off had me flinching. I peered over the sofa, finding the man Theia had been grappling with slumped over the armchair while she’d disappeared. Assuming she was hiding behind it, I checked on the other four men. Their attention was on the guy she’d killed.

“There’s a gun in the top drawer of the kitchen island,” I whispered to Edric. “If you can get that, we can get out of this. Go now while they’re distracted.”

He didn’t hesitate, shifting to the edge of the sofa, checking the coast was clear before he squat ran and slid behind the island.

“HEY!”

I grabbed a large candle in a glass off the table next to the sofa and threw it at the guy who’d shouted. His attention was on where Edric was, so didn’t see me. The candle sailed through the air and smacked him on the side of his head. He cursed and staggered back.

“Get them,” the one with the knife in his back shouted.

He was too late. Edric stood up from behind the counter, gun in hand, and fired. The guy with the head injury went down first. The other one was turning as the second man went down. Edric fired another shot to take down the last guy. Then he looked over at me and winked.

I stood up, watching the last one collapse before I vaulted over the sofa.

“Theia!”

My girl peered out from behind the armchair, her blue-grey eyes widening at the sight of the bodies. She stood up, holding the gun she’d stolen from the man she’d killed in her hands. There was a noise behind me as I moved toward her.

“Get down,” she screamed.

I didn’t hesitate, dropping to my knees as she raised the gun and fired. My head turned to find a man behind me with his arm raised, clutching a knife in his hand. He stared down at the blood pooling on his clothes before Theia fired again. This time, the bullet embedded itself in his skull. His eyes went dead, and he fell to the floor.

It was the first guy who’d gone down when I’d thrown a knife into him. I wondered when he got back up, but it didn’t matter because Theia was scrambling out from behind the armchair and running towards me. She slammed down on her knees when she got to me, letting go of the gun which clanked as it met the floor.

“Gil.”

I reached out, grabbed a hold of her and pulled her to my chest. Theia let out a sob, burying her face in my neck as her arms went around me.

“It’s okay, I’m right here,” I whispered into her hair, “I’ve got you. We’re okay. It’s over. I promise.”

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