Page 28 of Guarding Salvation

The sound of a dog barking caught his attention as Lotus came down the stairs and he felt Aoife’s hand tighten on his belt. Glancing at her, he headed toward the office at the end of the garden, the barking getting louder. He indicated Aoife should wait with Lotus who understood that they could be about to find a dead body and he didn’t want Aoife to see that.

Reluctantly she let go of him and he pushed open the door. The room was large and warm with a pale green couch, a coffee table, and a glass desk in the corner. As he stepped inside, a white fur ball attacked his leg, the tiny thing holding on to his trousers with its razor-sharp little teeth. He could shake it off, but he didn’t want to hurt the little guy. He kept moving towards the desk, where he could see a woman’s foot, dread filling his belly that he was about to find the dead body of his girl’s friend.

He gritted his jaw at the first sight of Peyton. She was lying on the floor on her back, black and blue, and covered in so much blood it was hard to make out her features. As he crouched to feel for a pulse he realised she was breathing.

“Lotus, get in here.”

He knelt beside the injured woman, trying to find the source of the blood, but it was tricky with so much of it coating her body. She was unconscious, probably from blood loss and pain, but he was glad to find her pulse was strong.

“Peyton.”

He heard Aoife scream as she dropped down next to him, her hand reaching for her friend as the furball finally let go and moved to Peyton, licking her face in between licking Aoife’s hand.

“We need a medic and fast.”

“She needs a hospital,” Aoife cried and Bram took her hand in his and pulled her away as Lotus took over Peyton’s care.

Her eyes kept darting back to her friend who was injured and bleeding, and he could see the guilt and worry etched on her face.

“She needs an ambulance.”

Her tear-filled eyes begged him, but he took her face in his hands and made her look at him. “Listen to me, Irish. If we take her to a hospital, your dad will find you. He’ll have men at the emergency department waiting to grab you. Why do you think he left her alive?”

“But she’s hurt.”

Tears fell down her cheeks and he felt his heart break a little for her pain. He hated seeing her like this, seeing the spark he knew burned inside her so frail. “I know and we’re going to get her some help, but we can’t go through traditional methods. Peyton is hurt but there aren’t knife or bullet wounds.”

“But there might be internal bleeding or broken bones. Believe me, my father doesn’t hold back.”

Bram’s jaw tightened, knowing the reasons she knew this was because she’d been on the receiving end so many times. If he ever got in a room with that man, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. “I know. Do you trust me?”

Aoife nodded without question. “Yes.”

“Let me make a call, okay?”

“Okay.”

He pushed her gently back to her friend’s side and called Bás, who picked up on the first ring. “Peyton is injured. They got to her before we did. My guess is they’re waiting to grab Aoife at the hospital.”

“Fuck. Okay, I’m going to call Jack and have him send Waggs to your location, or do you want to take her there?”

“We’ll take her to him. We’re sitting ducks here and I don’t like it.”

“Fine, I’ll let Jack know your ETA.”

“Yeah, tell him twenty minutes.”

Bram hung up and moved quickly to Peyton who was moaning in pain even though she was still barely conscious.

“We need to move. Grab the car and park it across the gate so I can slide Peyton straight in the back. Waggs is waiting at Eidolon.”

Lotus ran off and Aoife bit her thumb nail as he gently eased his arms underneath Peyton’s broken body. A whimper of pain made him wince as he transferred her into a fireman’s hold, so he had a free hand to hold his gun. Violence against women was one thing he couldn’t tolerate, and this fucker was going to pay.

“Aoife, can you grab the furball?”

She nodded and he knew having something to do and concentrate on would keep her from falling apart until he could hold her in his arms and allow her the safety and freedom to do so. She grabbed the dog under the belly and followed him out of the office. As he was halfway across the lawn, the first crack of gunfire hit the ground in front of him.

“Get down.” He dropped to the ground, with Peyton in his arms and used his free hand to fire in the direction the shot had come from. Glancing back, he could see Aoife was pinned down in the hedge that ran the left side of the property.