“I thought he was supposed to stay on the fucking porch,” Dresden growls. “Patrol stays on the porch. And where the fuck is his vest?”
I look down into my friend's eyes as his mouth opens and closes. “I don’t know, Dres. Fuck. We need to get him inside.”
A distant round of clicking draws our attention. From the tree line, the moon catches off several weapons, glittering like stars as a line of shadows moves toward us.
Oh, fuck.
“Get him in the house, now,” I growl taking Dresden’s rifle. “Go!”
He and Samuel hoist Jameson up and move as the muzzle flashes light from the line of fire. Ducking bullets and moving as fast as we can, I return fire, trying to block the boys. We make it to the edge of the porch and Samuel falls forward, slamming face down on the porch.
“Go, Dresden!”
He drags Jameson inside. I kneel beside Samuel and roll him over. His eyes are open, staring lifelessly at the sky, a single bullet hole in his head.
“Fuck!”
Bullets ricochet off the house, the muzzle flashes getting brighter the closer they get. My insides run cold. Using all my strength, I wedge my arms under Samuel’s upper body and drag him to the front door. Opening it, Dresden is at my side helping me.
“Shit,” he hisses.
“Lock the fucking door.”
I gently lay Samuel on the floor inside the door.
“Mom, what happened?” Sorina’s voice makes me cringe.
“Blake, get her out of here, now.”
“No, Mom, what happened? Where’s Sam?”
I stand and her eyes dart around me, widening and filling with tears as she takes in Samuel’s body. I move for her, but she screams and darts to him, falling to the floor and covering his chest with hers, sobbing.
“Sori—”
“Let her be, Shannon. Nothing will help. Just let her get it out.”
The house is deadly quiet except for the bullets bouncing off the exterior and Sorina’s sobs.
“Here,” Vlad says holding out a piece of paper smeared with blood. “I don’t know the language.”
I scan the paper, my gut heaving. Something isn’t right. The bullets outside have stopped, but my head hurts so badly I barely notice.
“Where’s Jameson?”
“He didn’t make it, Viper.”
His words hit me like ice water. “I still want to see him.”
Vlad leads me around the corner with Sammi following us. Jameson is lying there, his eyes closed, blood pooling around him on the floor. I kneel next to him and run my fingers through his hair, tears slipping down my face. This is my fault. I’m the one who scheduled the patrols and because of it, we’ve lost two amazing agents . . . and friends, tonight.
“Lily, this isn’t your fault,” Hyde says from behind me.
“He knew better than to go off the porch,” I say quietly as someone lays there hand on my shoulder. I look up, my eyes meeting Sammi’s. “Why would he do something that stupid without coming in and getting back-up first?”
“I don’t know, mate. This doesn’t make sense.” She shakes her head with tears in her eyes.
“Contact Samuel’s family. I’ll call Jameson’s mother in the morning.”