Revelation (The Protectors 7)

No!

I managed to keep the protest to myself, but panic had me running as fast as I could. Vincent took off ahead of me, but I managed to keep up enough that I never lost sight of him…that or he went slow enough so he’d have eyes on me the entire time. I wasn’t sure and it didn’t matter.

I was breathing hard by the time we reached a small shed just beyond the house. Vincent motioned to me and I followed his line of sight to see Cain’s rental car in front of the house. There were two more cars right next to it.

So Eric had brought help and he hadn’t bothered trying to hide it.

Another gunshot sounded. I felt around the gun I was holding and flicked the safety switch to the off position.

“Stay behind me,” Vincent ordered.

I nodded, but wasn’t sure if he saw the acknowledgement because he was jogging across the yard. My lungs were burning from the stress and exertion and I kept expecting someone to jump out at us, gun drawn. More shots were volleyed and I looked up at the house long enough to see the muzzle flashes through the second-floor windows.

I sent up a silent thank you because I had to believe that every shot fired meant Cain was likely still alive.

But as we reached the front door, the shots stopped. I wanted to rush past Vincent and get into the house to find Cain, but I managed to stay in control. I would be no good to Cain dead.

My eyes had adjusted pretty well to the dark so I was able to see Vincent’s hand gestures as he silently communicated with me. I stayed behind him as we entered the house. I nearly jumped when a flash of light appeared in front of us, but I realized it was coming from Vincent’s flashlight. The light showed that the front door opened into a living room. There was furniture, but it looked old. The house smelled of mold and there was a layer of dust on everything. It was like the place had been forgotten in time.

Vincent’s light fell on a body lying on the living room floor. I could see blood on the guy’s head where he’d been struck with something and more blood was coming from both knees. I swallowed hard as I realized he’d been shot in both of them. To my amazement, I saw the man’s chest rise and fall. Vincent stooped to grab the guy’s gun which was more than a foot away from the man’s empty hand. He tucked it into his waistband and then continued moving forward. We swept the entire first floor quickly, encountering another body in the kitchen. He too was still alive and had exactly the same injuries as the first man.

As we made our way to the second floor, I could hear what sounded like flesh striking flesh.

Relief flooded my system. I wanted to rush past Vincent to get to Cain, but the man in front of me was methodical about checking our surroundings before moving forward. By the time we reached the room where the fighting seemed to be happening, we’d encountered three more bodies, each still alive and sporting the same wounds as the men downstairs. Vincent had eventually given up on collecting all their guns and merely kicked them far enough away that the men wouldn’t be able to easily reach them if they woke up.

“Do it!” I heard Eric shout as we reached the last room on the second floor. “Because that’s the only way he’ll ever be safe from me!”

“Cain, we’re coming in,” Vincent said before he pushed the door open. He flipped the light switch on. I was shocked there was even power, but my surprise was short-lived when I saw the sight that greeted me.

Cain was standing over Eric who was sprawled on the floor. His gun was pointed at Eric and I could see he had a small flashlight attached to the gun, presumably so he could see in the dark.

I wondered how Eric had even managed to speak because his face looked like hamburger. There was blood coming from his mouth as well as several cuts. If I hadn’t heard his voice, I wouldn’t have known it was him.

Cain sported a few cuts himself, but they were minor. His knuckles were covered in blood.

“You shouldn’t have come, Ethan,” I heard him say softly, though his eyes stayed on Eric.

“You shouldn’t have walked out on me,” I murmured. I slowly made my way to Cain until I was standing just a couple feet from him. “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “We have the video.”

The brittleness in Cain’s eyes made me nervous. Not that he would hurt me, but that I might not be able to reach him.