here. She’s parked past the tree line.” I’m too far inside my head, inside the despair clouding me to understand his words or the full weight of their meaning. Tobias walks over to the bedroom door, takes one last look at me before he disappears out of sight. Sometime soon, in the future, I know the damage from his words is going to be caustic, but all I can do is gaze back down at Dominic before I carefully clean the blood away from his lips.
More gunfire sounds around us in all directions, just as Tyler’s voice booms from beneath my balcony. “Sean! All clear!”
Sean’s eyes dart to mine from where he stands next to the French doors firing twice into the yard. “Cecelia, we have to go.”
Shaking my head, I grip Dominic to me. “He’s still warm.”
Sean kneels before me a second later as I stroke Dom’s cheek.
“We have to go, Cecelia.” He gently lifts Dominic from my lap, and I cup his head, tenderly resting it on the carpet before pressing my lips to his. A sob erupts from me as Sean pulls me from him. And then we’re on the balcony, dawn threatening on the horizon while I study my blood-covered hands.
Sean lifts and lowers me over my balcony as far as he can to drop me to where Tyler waits, catching me easily, just as gunshots ricochet near the side of the house. Tyler springs into action, pinning me against the brick behind him while lifting twin Glocks and pointing them in all directions. When another raven appears, Tyler looks back, scanning my clothes, and me, a question in his eyes.
“Dominic,” I sob out in reply. His face falls, and he swallows, eyes gleaming just before they clear.
“How many?” Sean asks, drop-landing next to us with my purse and one of my sundresses spilling out of the top of it.
“I counted ten cars when we rolled up,” Tyler says, nodding toward the tree line as more brothers emerge, running toward the house.
“No one leaves breathing,” Sean repeats Tobias’s orders, and Tyler nods in understanding.
I turn to Sean. “Sean, where is Roman?”
“He’s not here. He’s safe.”
“But they said his car is here.”
“He’s safe,” he assures, stepping up to me and handing me my purse before he turns to Tyler.
“Get her out of here. She’s parked past the tree line.”
Sean looks over to me, hazel eyes flitting with emotion a second before he thrusts me in Tyler’s arms. “Go,” he whispers hoarsely, and with that, he stalks toward the house. “No, not like this, please,” I call after him. “Sean!” I scream, my heart disintegrating, fear consuming me that this may be the last time I see him—that I see any of them. He ignores my plea, and the second he enters through the back door, a shot sounds out, ringing in my ears. Tyler muffles my scream while gripping me firmly around the waist before dragging me away.
“Please, Cee, please, we have to go,” he shouts as I crane my head in the direction of the house. He stops, cupping my shoulders and shaking me, drawing my eyes to his. “I need you to soldier up, right fucking now.”
I immediately stop my fight, swallow hard and nod. He grips my jaw to keep me focused on him as more gunfire sounds just inside the house, drawing closer.
“I need five minutes,” Tyler pleads. “Give me five minutes. You can do this.” I nod just before he grips me by the arm and takes off at a dead run. I follow, letting the adrenaline take over as we zigzag on the outskirts of the large yard until we reach the trees. A few more ravens emerge racing past us, not sparing us a glance as we sprint in the opposite direction just as the morning sun breaks through the base of the pines. Tyler scans the woods. His head cocked, his posture rigid, his military training appears to take over as he keeps me quiet and plastered to his side.
Safely, he navigates us to a break in the trees and roadside as we collectively catch our breath. My Jeep is parked at the side of the road, and behind it sits Dominic’s Camaro.
Tyler pulls the dress from my purse and turns facing the woods, keeping guard as I peel the blood-soaked clothes from me. When I’m redressed, he gathers my clothes and turns to me, slapping a wad of cash into my hand. “Cash only until you reach home.