Midnight Kiss (Men of Midnight #7) - Lisa Marie Rice Page 0,93

really a waste, was it? It will probably save our lives.”

She was babbling through chattering teeth as she tried in vain to find something else to use as a pressure bandage because her sweat suit jacket was sodden with blood. She had on a soft tee, the only soft thing inside this gun locker which had enough weaponry neatly aligned along the walls on special hooks and foam cutouts to start a war. Against the far wall was even an array of knives, the blades a dull black but which looked wicked sharp. Guns, machine guns, other guns that looked like they belonged to Men in Black, ropes with hooks, neatly stacked boxes of what she could only presume was ammunition other things she had no name for …

Everything except something that could work as a pressure bandage. She whipped off the tee, folded it and untied the sleeves of the jacket behind Luke’s back. He was barely conscious and she had to gently bend him forward to get at the sleeves.

Peeling off the jacket, she winced at the wound, at the broken flesh. God he needed medical care! Placing the folded material over the wound and pressing, she retied the jacket over it. He grunted when she pressed against the wound and opened his eyes. He tried to smile when he saw her in only a sports bra.

“Pretty,” he slurred, and closed his eyes again.

In the movies you weren’t supposed to sleep. That might be only for concussions — but maybe it applied to bullet wounds, too.

“Hey, hey Luke!” she shook his unwounded shoulder, just enough to keep him awake. His eyes popped open. “There’s a really weird smell in here.”

“Hoppes,” he said, closing his eyes, and smiled again.

“Hops? Like what you make beer with?”

“No,” he said. He was slurring his words a little. “Hoppes, gun solvent.”

Who the hell cared? It could be Chanel N° 5 for all she cared. She just wanted to keep Luke talking.

“Let me have your cell.” He held it out without opening his eyes. “Luke, look at me. Hand me your cell.” His eyes were slitted, he was having problems keeping them open. To her horror, blood was seeping out again from under the makeshift bandage. She couldn’t remember how much blood the human body held but he had lost a good chunk of it.

The cell was open. The security app was easy to figure out but showed nothing. Security cams existed only at the front and back doors and they were free. However, the front door security cam showed an unusually bright light. The augmented fire in the fireplace. God, please don’t set the entire house on fire! Was the gun locker fireproofed? If not they had the pleasant option of being suffocated or burnt to death. After which, the bullets would start cooking off and riddle their burnt-to-a-crisp bodies with bullet holes.

They were a coroner’s nightmare in waiting.

Muffled sounds of gunfire damage. The drone was hitting another part of the house. Presumably soon someone would report something to the police.

“Call the good guys, find out where they are.” She held the cell flat in her hand so Luke could touch the screen with a trembling finger.

“Hey Luke, five mikes out,” a deep voice announced.

“Five minutes,” Luke slurred.

That was good news, though a lot could happen in five minutes.

A faint tinkling sound. The drone had targeted the area where the gun locker was. It was bulletproof though maybe not fireproof. Like a video game where you were under attack by the dragon, the wizard and the evil king’s minions.

And your sword was broken.

Her personal sword was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

Not too many cards left to play.

“Hey Luke. Luke!” She shook him again, gently. He struggled to sit up straighter. “Is this gun locker fireproof?”

That shocked him into awareness. “It won’t catch fire, but it probably doesn’t have a separate air system.”

Which meant they could be smoked out if the house caught fire.

“Has the fire spread?” The words were slurred but still comprehensible.

“Dunno.” She held up his phone with the security apps program running. “No security cams in the house, just at the front and back entrances. But one of the security cams is picking up a big source of light. I could write a little algo comparing the lumens to known sources of heat and extrapolate but it would be pointless. What?”

He’d made a snorting sound. “Nothing.”

“Do you want me to call our guys again? Because they’d feel pretty bad if