My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,104
little prick came through.”
From across the room, he could hear the team’s calls of clear! echoing through the house. Lamar’s radio sputtered, and Devlin listened as he got an update from Reggie. The house was clear, Manny’s men dead or captured.
But Manny himself was gone.
“This building is ancient. He’s got a thieves hole somewhere,” Devlin said. A tunnel that would see him clear of the property or a hiding place where he could stay until they cleared out. They’d find him, though. Devlin knew his team wouldn’t stop until they did.
“Brandy?” he asked as Ronan stood.
“Woozy. She’s lost a lot of blood, and we’ll get her checked out, but I bandaged the wound and she’s going to be fine. Come on, now,” Ronan said to her, his voice more gentle than Devlin had ever heard. “Put your arms around my neck.”
“I’m okay,” Brandy said. “Just feel lightheaded.”
“I’ve got you.”
“Thank you for coming,” she said, her eyelids sagging. “I really, really didn’t want to die.”
“No,” Ronan said. “That would have been bad.” He shot Devlin and Lamar a look that spoke volumes. Joy that they’d been rescued. Sadness at what they’d endured, especially Brandy.
“Let’s go,” Devlin said. “The rest of the team can finish the sweep.”
Ronan led the way to a stone corridor, a few shafts of light cutting into the dark from holes in a rickety wooden door. Lamar pushed it open, and Ronan went first, cradling Brandy. Devlin fell in step behind them, and Lamar followed, checking their perimeter as they moved into the open.
And then Devlin looked up and to the left, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
Ellie.
She met his eyes, and for that singular moment, all was right in the world. Then she turned around, and, to Devlin’s horror, he saw Manny on that same hilltop. And then, oh God, Manny raising a gun.
A blur of motion and then the sharp report of the weapon.
Devlin thought his heart would explode, then reality set in.
Ellie was still alive.
That blur he’d seen was Christopher—he’d taken the bullet meant for Ellie.
But Ellie was still up there, and so was Manny, and oh, Christ, the bastard had rushed forward and grabbed Ellie, and now he—
“Here!”
Devlin turned to find Lamar tossing him a gun. It wasn’t his piece. He didn’t know its accuracy.
But there wasn’t another choice and there wasn’t any time.
There was only one way out, and all Devlin could do was pray that when the dust settled, Ellie would be back in his arms.
Chapter Forty-One
I’m shaking.
Damn me, Christopher’s fallen at my feet, and I’m actually shaking and I hate myself for it. But I’m terrified. Really and truly terrified. Not of dying—that hasn’t scared me for a long, long time. But of not seeing Devlin again. Of losing this chance—having it ripped away from us—especially when he’s so damn close.
“You fucking little bitch,” the attacker snarls. “So you’re the sweet little cunt he’s taken a fancy to.”
I react from reflex, intending to run, but he lunges and grabs me, then yanks me to him. I stumble over Christopher, and my captor makes a show of sniffing my hair, then licks my cheek. “Smell good. Taste good. I see why he likes you. I’m sure he’s going to miss you.”
He starts to lift his gun and terror slashes through me again because I know damn well I only have seconds to live. Fear and loss and Devlin—Oh, God, Devlin.
Crack!
I feel the wet blood. The tissue. The sharp bits of bone.
I sway, disoriented. Confused.
But still alive.
Alive?
I reach up to feel my head. There’s slime in my hair and on my skin, but my head’s intact. Slowly, I look down. And then, damn me, I vomit all over the corpse of the baby-faced man who’d held me hostage.
There’s a hole in his eye, and the back of his skull has been ripped away. A hollow point bullet.
How?
My mind isn’t functioning, and I sink to my knees
It’s only then as I’m sitting there between two corpses that I realize what happened. I crawl to the edge of the cliff and look down into the valley. I’m searching for Devlin, but he’s not there.
He’s not there?
I start to climb up on my knees, and then I freeze. I hear limbs snapping and feet pounding, and I start to shrink away, searching for a hiding place, only to see the foliage shoved aside and Devlin burst into my line of sight.