Lachlan responds right away.
On my way.
Tiernan, however, doesn’t respond.
I see Lachlan up ahead, his large frame dwarfing the exit to the dining hall and send him a quick text to tell him where I am. A moment later, he’s joined me on the side of the school, his hands shoved in his pockets to make him appear nonchalant. Anyone who knows him would recognize the tension in his shoulders and the laser focus of his eyes. He’s anything but nonchalant.
The truck opens, and two men in uniforms exit. One has a lawnmower, the other a seeder, and for a moment, they look harmless.
“Man on the right’s packing a semi,” Lachlan says under his breath so only I hear him. “Man on the left’s got explosives in there.”
Fucking brilliant catch.
We’ve no choice but to attack.
“Fucking hell, Tiernan hasn’t responded. We need the bloody protection of the Clan,” Lach mutters.
“We can handle these two.” I’ve handled more than this singlehandedly. “I’ll interrogate. The goal is to incapacitate and bring them back for interrogation.”
“Aye.”
I step out of the bushes into broad daylight, and one of the men looks up.
“Hello,” he says with a smile. For some reason, he looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place him.
“What’s the story? Doing work for the school, then?” The friendly banter will only last seconds. I look up to see Tiernan and Faidha exit the dining hall. He looks at me in surprise. He hasn’t seen the text.
“Who sent you here?” I ask, my question meant to sound benign, but laced with meaning. The man with the seeder smiles.
“Malachy, of course.”
“Is that right?” Lachlan asks. His hands come out of his pockets. “Then why does he say he didn’t?”
They pull their weapons, but they’re slower than we are. In half a second, Lach’s got his gun at the temple of the one closest to him, and I’ve got the second.
“Who are you?”
“Tully, watch out!” Tiernan shouts, when someone else flies out of the truck beside us and attacks. I drop to the ground, bringing him with me, roll, hear the explosion of a gunshot. He takes off.
I wrestle him to the ground, pivot, and shoot the second assailant in the kneecap. He howls, gripping his knee, and screams with pain.
“Tiernan, secure the students!” I yell to him. Lachlan’s got the other man in a headlock, but he still holds his weapon in his hand. He flings his wrist, pulls the trigger, and a woman’s high-pitched scream rents the air.
Faidha.
Lachlan raises his hand and pistol whips the man unconscious, as Tiernan shouts for help.
“She’s shot! She’s bloody shot!”
Jesus.
Lachlan and I quickly secure the men in the back of the truck, using our belts and rope we find tied around equipment.
“Got to see if Faidha’s okay,” Lachlan says. “I’ll alert Sebastian we’re bringing her in. One fucking got away.”
I have to get to McKenna.
We exit the vehicle to find Malachy in the doorway of the dining hall, his face a mask of fury. The guards swarm the hall, and Tiernan’s on the ground beside Faidha.
“I’m fine, Tiernan,” she says, shaking her head. “Bloody nicked my arm is all.” He’s got his own shirt wrapped around her arm. “One got away, boys.”
Bloody hell.
Lachlan kneels on one knee beside her and takes a look. “She’s right, Tiernan. She’ll be fine.”
His eyes are narrowed and furious. “Tell Keenan I’ll help with the bloody interrogation.”
We’ll give him that.
I go to Malachy. “They’re secured in the truck. Not sure who they are but we’re bringing them back for interrogation.”
He nods. “Of course. Is Faidha alright?”
“She’s fine, superficial wound that’ll need attention is all.”
“And McKenna?”
“I’m getting her now.”
I take off at a run. I won’t rest assured that she’s all right until I see her with my own eyes, feel her with my own hands. This was too fucking close for comfort.
There’s no one outside her door.
I look everywhere for her guards, and finally see a few standing paces away from the main entrance.
“I told you to watch her!”
“We did, sir, no one’s entered the building.”
“But you didn’t stay inside the fucking classroom! Someone could’ve entered from outside.”
I tear open the door to her room, and my heart nearly stops when I hear the sound of her crying.
If anyone hurt her… my God, if anyone hurt her—
I wrench the door to the cloakroom open. She’s huddled on the floor, clutching her belly. My heart stutters to a halt at the sight of blood.
“McKenna!”
She lifts her tear-stained face to mine. There’s no evidence of an injury, no assailant that came in. Then why is she bleeding?
“Tully,” she says, her face awash in tears, contorted in pain. “It’s the baby.”
I don’t remember the last time I felt fear. I forgot that it feels like your limbs are frozen in ice, but your nerves are on fire. I’ve interrogated, punished, tortured, and killed. I’ve been beaten and bloodied, threatened and attacked. I’ve seen men I love like my very own flesh and blood murdered before my very eyes. But nothing… nothing’s prepared me for this.