Shattered (The Protectors 11)

“You have to go,” Silver said as he shoved the diaper bag and toy into my hands.

“Who are they?” I said, though I was pretty sure I already knew.

“Ivan’s men.”

I automatically reached for my gun at my back, but as soon as Silver saw it, he frantically shook his head. “No! You have to go! You have to get Willa out of here!”

I’d dropped the diaper bag, so Silver snatched it up and then handed it to Caleb. He kissed the now sleeping baby’s forehead and carefully tucked the toy into the folds of her blanket.

“Stay here until they’re gone,” Silver said.

My brain finally seemed to kick in and I caught up to him just as he reached the door. “Wait, no,” I said. “Stay here, I’ll go.”

“No!” I heard Caleb call, then he was at my side.

“No,” Silver said. “There’s too many of them. I don’t care how good you are with that thing” – he motioned to the gun – “you won’t be able to stop them. And if they find Willa, your sister will have died for nothing.”

“You can’t go out there!” I bit out. “They’ll kill you!”

“No, they won’t,” he declared. “Ivan will never let that happen.”

“Why not?” I asked, but Silver ignored me.

“Take care of her,” he said to Caleb. He grabbed the door handle, but I slammed my hand against it to stop him from opening it.

“I can’t let you go out there,” I ground out.

“I know you don’t feel it yet, Jace,” Silver said softly as he turned to face me. “But you will.” His eyes shifted to Willa. “You’ll love her because your sister loved her and she’s proof of how strong your sister was. There will be a day you won’t see her as the reason your sister is dead and you’ll be glad you let this happen. Take her home, Jace. Take Willa home where she belongs.”

The fact that he’d known exactly what I was thinking had me stepping back.

“I’ll be okay,” Silver repeated. “Promise.”

I knew he was lying. I could see it in his pretty eyes. But when I shifted my gaze to the baby in Caleb’s arms, I knew it wasn’t a choice. I dropped my hand from the door and Silver took off out of it like a shot. I hurried to the window, making sure to stay out of view. I had no idea what the young man’s plan was, but my question was answered about a minute later when Silver rounded the corner from the alley. His hands were in his pockets and he began casually walking along the sidewalk away from the men, like he hadn’t even noticed them.

I heard one of the men call out to him in German and Silver looked over his shoulder. He pretended to be surprised, then he took off running. I expected some of the men to stay behind and search the building, but to my surprise, they all jumped into their cars and took off after Silver. I could only assume that by him using the alley to get to the street, instead of the front door, the men hadn’t realized he’d been in this particular building.

Either way, I didn’t care.

The coast was clear.

“Let’s go,” I said as I grabbed Caleb’s arm.

I took the diaper bag from him and led him from the building. I took us out the very door we’d used to enter the building, but led Caleb toward the opposite street. It took just minutes to find a taxi, but I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until we were a good mile from the area.

I looked over at Caleb, who looked pale. His eyes met mine and I could see the same question in them that kept repeating on a loop in my head.

Now what?

Chapter 18

Caleb

I found him standing over the baby’s crib. I’d left one of the smaller lamps in the living room on, since I hadn’t been sure if the baby would be okay with sleeping in total darkness, so I could see the outline of Jace’s body as I approached him.

His back was to me. I could tell he had his arms crossed, and his stance looked rigid.

It was well past midnight. I was surprised I’d even managed to fall asleep, but between the lack of sleep while flying to Germany and the events of the day, I’d reached my breaking point. I had no doubt Jace had, too.

After getting into the taxi, Jace had spoken to the driver, but I hadn’t understood what he’d said. He’d revealed to me that he’d asked the driver to take us to one of the nicer hotels in the city. I hadn’t understood why he’d made the request until we’d reached the hotel. They’d spoken English so I’d heard all the requests Jace had made.