This Life II

by Dee, Cara

  Adrenaline began coursing through me in a sluggish stream, slowly picking up pace as the seconds ticked by.

  I rolled my shoulders and—shite. We heard that. A sharp blast followed by a slow-sounding crack. It had to be a windshield breaking.

  “They’re opening fire?” Kellan growled.

  “Fuck!” Liam yelled. “Floor it,” he told Seán, I assumed. “Finn, wait with the shredders until the first two are through. Lach and Flanagan won’t get three, and youse can’t take all of them.”

  “We only got one!” we heard Flanagan shout. “More gobshites comin’ in! Lachlan, nine o’clock!”

  I cursed and got into position, outstretched arms on top of the roof of the car, Glock ready. “Quick shots, Ford.” It was time to let his trigger-happy fingers get some action.

  The area around us flashed from the approach of the headlights of Liam’s car. My pulse went through the roof, and then we heard a car swerve. Any second now, they’d come around the bend.

  “You’ll see us soon,” I told Liam. “We’re right around the corner.”

  Gunfire was suddenly raining down in the distance.

  Seán and Liam rounded the bend and kicked up dust. I quickly registered the sound of roaring engines and more gunfire; there was no time to think about anything else. Kellan was ready with the shredders. I took aim at the first sedan that came into view, and I fired three rapid shots at the tires. The sound exploded in my ears. I didn’t even get to see if I’d blown out any of the tires, because the next sedan screeched around the corner, and I fired again—

  “Motherfucking cunt!” I shouted as pain blasted through my thigh. Throwing a quick glare toward the disappearing vehicles, I saw one man withdrawing his rifle from the window. Holy fuck, that hurt. “Now,” I growled to Kellan.

  He threw out the strip of shredders across the road, and I gritted my teeth against the searing pain. Jesus Christ, I’d never taken a bullet before that wasn’t just a flesh wound.

  “They’re losing speed behind us,” Liam said, out of breath. “We’re out. Mundy! Cover us. We’ll pick shit up, Finn.”

  “Two cars passed,” I spoke through clenched teeth and aimed at a straggler approaching. “This one’s mine.” I fired over and over as Kellan got into position with his own gun, and I blew out both front tires. “At least two more incoming. Lachlan, status!”

  “Three!” he barked. “I don’t even know where they’re coming from at this point—it’s a goddamn infestation!”

  I let the rage take hold of me as the car closest to us hit the ditch on the other side of the road.

  “Cover for me,” I ordered Kellan. Then I grabbed the short-barrel rifle at my calf and fired at the windshield. Damn, more of a recoil on this baby. It packed a heavy punch, and though the ammo didn’t pierce the bulletproof glass, it created a spider web of a crack. Good enough.

  I crossed the road.

  A man scrambled out from the passenger’s seat, and I didn’t hesitate. I lifted my rifle and fired. He landed on the ground with a slug in his head. Two more doors opened, and I took aim again. Kellan shot one while I shot the other.

  “We’re gonna need the mother of all cleaners out here,” I said hoarsely.

  “We can worry about that later, mate,” Kellan replied urgently. “What do you see?”

  The car was empty. I lifted my gaze to the road and limped across the dirt again. “Two more cars coming in fast.”

  Kellan frowned at my leg. “You okay?”

  I nodded with a dip of my chin. “This will get me out of a fight with the wife later.”

  He snorted, and we got ready once more.

  Lachlan reported in, saying two more had just managed to drive past them with blown tires. The way it looked now, they were the last. I’d lost count on the Avellino scum.

  “Check in, Liam,” I said and leaned against the car.

  “Wee bit busy here,” Liam snapped. Kellan and I flinched at the sound of gunfire. “Mack, behind ye! Oi!”

  We were out of time again. A car came around the bend, and we unloaded our mags on the tires, all while doing our best to stay low. This motherfucker had all windows down, and two men in the back seat were firing back.

  “Jesus!” I hissed, and I took cover as I reached for my rifle. “Keep unloading!”

  The car’s tires were shredded by the spikes on the road, and we picked up an earful of cursing in Italian. Kellan ducked down to reload, and I took out the car’s side mirrors and the guy in the passenger’s seat.

  Every fiber of my being blazed with fiery pain. My focus was slipping. Gnashing my teeth, I emptied my rifle and reached for a new mag for my Glock. At the same time, the other car screeched with a swerve to avoid colliding with the first sedan. They had their windows open too, and we were taking too much fire.

  “Fuck!” Kellan choked out. It took all my willpower not to turn to him, but he coughed out “vest,” and that reassured me. I was quickly running out of steam and patience, not to mention ammunition. It was no longer about ensuring they didn’t reach the ranch. It was about our survival right here. Fire—that’s what I—shit. That was it. I retrieved my lighter from my pocket and told Kellan to suck it up and cover for me. Next, I pinched the fuse on my Zippo and drew it out a bit.

  Once it was lit, I ducked low and peered around the taillights before throwing the lighter as carefully as I could toward the sedan. Just as a guy opened the door, I aimed at the lighter and fired. Thank God for Emilia. She kept my Zippos filled properly. There was no grand Hollywood explosion, but the fire spread to the interior of the car and provided one hell of a distraction.

  The Italians yelled and rushed out of the car, one of the guys beating glowing embers along his pant leg.

  I shot him in the head.

  Then his friend got two rounds in his chest and neck.

  Kellan cleared the first car, which was blocking the road. That worked for us. The last two cars would be here any second, hopefully with Lachlan and Flanagan in tow. So far, I hadn’t heard of any injuries.

  “You’re losing a shitload of blood.” Kellan hurried over to where I leaned against the car. I had one more shot to take.

  “The driver’s alive,” I muttered. “He’s on the other side.”

  “What’s your status over there, lads?” Liam barked out. “We’re good here. You musta picked up a lotta slack.”

  “Finn’s been shot in his upper thigh,” Kellan reported back. “We could—what was that?”

  I’d heard it too. Gunfire in the direction of the ranch.

  Liam cursed.

  There was rapid shouting in the background, none of which I could focus on. Partly because we had company, and partly because I was losing it. My hearing was shot, the pain was all-consuming, and my vision was growing blurry.

  Kellan and I were running on fumes but did all we could to take out the next vehicle. This rat had another strategy; he tore his own tires on the shredder and floored it, and he mangled the side of his car as he forced his way past the burning car in the road.

  “You got one coming, Liam!” Kellan yelled.

  I blinked in an attempt to clear my vision, and I leaned heavily on our car as I fired both my Sig and my Glock at the last sedan. Lachlan panted out that he and Flanagan were on their way, but it would be a few seconds. Flanagan had taken a bullet.

  The white-hot fire flamed its way up my leg and spread to my chest. My forehead felt damp with cold sweat. My breathing was coming out ragged.

  “Finn, sit the fuck down,” Kellan demanded. “I got this.”

  I muttered some incoherent nonsense, because fuck—no, I was good. But I wasn’t. I unloaded my guns and saw one bastard fall to the ground.

  And then I followed. I slid down against the side of the car until my ass hit the gravel, and I gusted out a breath.

  Liam’s voice was the last thing I heard as a blanket of darkness, then spiked with panic, overtook me.

  “Explosion at the ranch!”

&nbs
p; 5

  Emilia O’Shea

  “I can help!” Alec argued angrily.

  “Yes, you can,” I snapped, “by doing what you’re told and taking care of your sister and Autumn.” I pointed down the hall. “Go back to the sleeping quarters, Alec. Don’t push me—not today, not on this. We’re not playing a game.”

  I received the murderous glare of a twelve-year-old who was weeks away from becoming a teenager—and approximately one minute away from acting like someone twice his age. I was fucking terrified as it was. I didn’t need to triple all my worries by having him run out there. We didn’t know what the hell was going on. What we did know was that our guys were okay, which was the only thing that prevented me from a full-blown panic attack. Nevertheless, Alec was staying put. Someway, somehow, the Italians had found us and gotten past my husband’s roadblocks, and now they were trying to enter Liam’s property.

  I swallowed hard and let out an unsteady breath as Alec disappeared into the sleeping quarters and slammed the door shut. I’d already heard that both Autumn and Nessa were upset, and I breathed a sigh of relief when Viv offered to comfort them.

  I would’ve done it, but… Fuck. If anyone was leaving this basement, it was me.

  Terror gripped me every time I heard a gunshot, and I fucking hated that I didn’t know what was happening out there. Colm had run out after the first shot, and that was it. We had Sullivan, Timmy, Jack, and Colm against…how many?

  “How can you be so calm?” Sarah shook her head at me, baffled.

  “I look calm to you?” I asked incredulously. If anyone was calm, it was her. She was just sitting there on the couch with a damn book. Not that she’d been reading since we were told to get down here, but whatever. I wasn’t calm.

  “Maybe not, but you accept this,” she stated. “I’ve watched you all summer. In Washington—you just went with it.”

  Was she honestly doing this here? Now? She was out of her mind. Thing was, I’d been watching her too. And I wasn’t gonna argue with her. I ignored her instead and walked over to the door.

  I put a hand to my chest, feeling my heart hammering. Then I gasped and recoiled at the sound of an explosion. My eyes went wide. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Nausea crept up my throat, and I left the little entryway where the door was. Right around the corner, Sarah was sharing my wide-eyed expression.

  “What the fuck was that?” she asked shakily.

  As if on cue, Luna came out from one of the rooms. “Was that…?”

  “I—I…” I didn’t know what to say.

  “It sounded like an explosion,” Luna said and walked closer. Despite the evident fear in her eyes, she was holding herself together. “We can’t stay here. We should help the boys.”

  She was right. I knew it—felt it—the instant those words left her mouth. It was as if I’d needed a nudge, and now I’d received it. We couldn’t stay here and do nothing.

  “There’s gear in the closet next to the control room,” I told her and stalked down the hall. My heart pounded faster than before, and yet, a calm washed over me. Determination, and yes, acceptance. Perhaps it was temporary, my brain’s way of coping or whatever, but right now, I only saw what I had to do. I could freak out later.

  I’d seen Luna fire a gun in Washington more times than I could count. While I had been swept off my feet with exhilaration the first time Finn had put a gun in my hands, Luna had been busy taking down moving targets with her own Glock.

  I had shit aim, but I grabbed one of the handguns from the closet anyway. Then I went for the knives. Only three throwing knives, gleaming in the low light, and a bunch of combat blades.

  Luna was all business, which helped me center myself. She pulled on a bulletproof vest over her sweatshirt and then gathered her hair in a short ponytail.

  “Are you two serious?” Sarah asked in disbelief. I only cast her a brief glance. She stood at the end of the hallway with her hands on her hips. “You’re actually heading out there?”

  “Yes,” Luna replied.

  I fastened the Velcro straps of my bulletproof vest and accepted an extra magazine for my gun.

  “I’ll help you reload if you need it,” she said.

  I nodded and swallowed all my fears. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  This was actually happening to me. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t fucking believe it.

  What if my classmates back in my old town saw me now?

  Rapid gunfire and barking dogs brought back my focus, and we hurried over to the door. I went first, and I opened it carefully. The stairs were empty. The house, for that matter, seemed to be empty. All the lights were off, but the moon cast a faint glow through the windows. No, the noise came from outdoors.

  The light from outside danced on the walls, and I realized it wasn’t only the moon. Something was on fire.

  Luna and I darted up the stairs before we glued ourselves to the wall in the hallway. I gestured for her to stay back while I peered through the small window in the door.

  All I could hear at that second was the drum of my heart and the pulse in my ears.

  I knitted my brows together as I spotted someone on the lawn. It was Colm, and he was aiming a shotgun skyward.

  The roof of the barn…? No, not the right angle.

  “What’s he doing?” I whispered to myself.

  Jesus. The whole gate was burning.

  Yet, still standing. The vines that decorated the wrought-iron gate were going up in flames. And some patches of grass nearby. Okay, some bushes too. We should probably put it out before it spread to the hedge. An electric fence was hidden inside of it.

  “What do you see?” Luna asked in a hushed tone.

  “Just Colm,” I murmured. Then I heard someone. Colm was talking to—Sullivan? I couldn’t see who it was or hear the other voice.

  “Two more!” Colm yelled. He fired his shotgun shortly after, and that was when I saw it. Crashing to the ground.

  “Holy shit,” I gasped. It was a drone. A fucking drone! “He’s not taking cover, so maybe they can’t attack or whatever…?”

  Luna didn’t know what I was talking about, and I didn’t take the time to explain. Instead, I ripped the door open and stepped outside.

  “Colm, we’re helping,” I said hurriedly under my breath.

  He threw me a quick look, not the friendliest one, then returned his attention to the night sky. “Finn’s gonna kill me. Ye stay on the porch, Em. I swear to Christ. You wanna help? Fire at the goddamn drones, but you don’t come out here.”

  I accepted that, knowing an argument would only distract him.

  Luna and I stayed under the roof that covered the porch, and we scanned the starry sky for flying little shits.

  When we heard Sullivan, we understood he was up on the roof. “You sure you saw one more, mate?”

  “Aye, I’m feckin’ sure,” Colm griped.

  “Colm, where are Timmy and Jack?” Luna asked.

  I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. I sucked in a breath and swung my gun that way, and it was—it was one of them! There was a tiny green light in the middle of the shell. “Colm! Straight up, behind you!” I pulled the trigger three times in quick succession, followed by a louder shot pummeling through the air from Colm’s shotgun.

  A steady beeping sound flooded my ears as I watched the gadget fall to the ground.

  I screwed my eyes shut and rubbed my ear.

  “Boys comin’ back,” Sullivan said in a rush. “Liam, Mundy, Seán, Mack. Almost at the gate. I’ll call the boss for a new status report.”

  Hope leaped up in my throat.

  “I’ll run in and get the fire extinguisher,” Luna told us.

  “There’s no way to know if there’s more.” Colm kicked the destroyed drone on the ground. It looked like it’d had four sets of propellers. “What a shitshow.” With the fire as background, I couldn’t see more than his silhouette as he lifted his chin. “Em, you should get back inside. Finn’s gonna be back any moment, an
d we’re probably heading out right away.”

  “Head—what? We’re leaving? Right now?”

  “Aye,” Sullivan answered somewhere above me. “They know where we are now.”

  “Oi!” That was Liam. We all turned toward the burning gate. “Youse okay in there?”

  I was about to confirm when Colm spoke up.

  “We lost Jack and Timmy.”

  One of my hands flew to my mouth. Oh my God. A blaze of fury pumped its way through my bloodstream, a contrast to the crippling grief I’d felt when we’d lost Grace and Ian. But I was just fucking fed up with losing people. I hadn’t known Jack and Timmy well, but they’d been funny and sweet when coming up to the house for food. Timmy had been young, too, only a year or so older than me.

  They were more than names in the paper. They’d had families, cocky grins, foul mouths, and sharp wits. Jack had told me of his sister going to college on the West Coast, and Timmy made funny faces with Autumn.

  They’d been real.

  A flurry of activity happened around me while I tried to digest everything going on. Sullivan joined us on the ground again, Luna came out with the fire extinguisher, there was a status report…and one sentence pushed through the fog.

  We have three gunshot wounds to tend to.

  I snapped my head up at that, and I found myself jogging down the steps and crossing the lawn.

  “Who’s been injured?” I demanded.

  Colm and Sullivan were almost done putting out enough of the fire so they could push open the gate. But I was more focused on Liam. He had the answers.

  “Answer me, Liam,” I told him. “Who’s been injured?”

  He inhaled from his smoke, gaze never leaving me, and I just fucking knew. Dread crept up my spine, and my heart squeezed.

  “He’ll be fine, darlin’.”

  I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. “Finnegan’s been shot, hasn’t he?”

  He inclined his head. It wasn’t until then that I noticed the blood on his arms and cheek. His hair was disheveled, and it looked like he’d been cut with a knife across his chest. His shirt was torn, and the shoulder strap of his bulletproof vest had come off.