46. Chapter Fourty-Six
Chapter Fourty-Six
I woke to the sound of a snarl, and an loud alarm going off. Bolting upright, I found Theo already on his feet beside the bed, reaching for his glasses on the nightstand. He moved with surprising speed for someone so methodical, pulling on his pants in one fluid motion.
"What's happening?" I asked, clutching the blankets to my chest as the alarm continued its shrill warning.
"Security breach," Theo explained tersely, his analytical mind clearly shifting into crisis mode. "Stay here."
Before I could protest, the bedroom door burst open, and Dakota filled the doorframe, his massive form silhouetted against the hallway light. His eyes took in the scene—me in the nest, Theo half-dressed—but his expression remained focused on the immediate threat.
"Perimeter alarm. East side of the property," he reported, his deep voice cutting through the noise. "Gabriel and Lucas are already moving to intercept."
Theo nodded, buttoning his shirt with efficient movements. "Probability of direct threat?"
"High," Dakota answered, his gaze shifting to me. "Someone cut the fence. Get dressed. We need to move you to the safe room."
My heart pounded as I scrambled out of the nest, grabbing clothes with trembling hands. The alarm continued its relentless wailing as I quickly dressed, Theo already typing something on his phone—likely accessing the security system remotely.
"Surveillance cameras on the east perimeter are disabled," he reported, his voice clipped and analytical despite the crisis. "Consistent with professional infiltration techniques."
Dakota moved into the room, positioning himself between me and the windows. "How long until you're ready?" he asked, his dark eyes continually scanning for threats.
"I'm ready," I said, pulling on shoes with shaking hands. "What's the safe room?"
"Reinforced panic room in the basement," Dakota explained, crossing to me in three long strides. "Designed to withstand almost anything." His hand settled at the small of my back, guiding me toward the door where Theo was already waiting, his expression tense but controlled.
"Move quickly, stay between us," Theo instructed, his analytical mind clearly calculating the safest route through the house. "Follow our directions precisely."
As we stepped into the hallway, the alarm suddenly cut off, plunging the house into an eerie silence that felt more threatening than the noise had been. Dakota and Theo exchanged a quick glance, their bodies tensing further.
"Someone's overridden the system," Theo said, his voice low and controlled despite the gravity of his words. "We need to move. Now."
Dakota took the lead, his massive frame moving with surprising stealth as he guided us toward the stairs. Theo stayed close behind me, his body practically touching mine as we moved through the darkened hallway. The house felt different now—no longer a sanctuary but a potential trap, shadows transforming from cozy to threatening in an instant.
"Stay low," Dakota whispered as we reached the top of the stairs. "If you hear shooting, drop to the floor immediately."
My pulse thundered in my ears as we began our descent, Dakota taking each step with cautious precision, his body poised to react to any threat. Halfway down, a crash sounded from somewhere in the house—glass breaking, followed by a muffled shout that might have been Gabriel or Lucas.
Dakota froze, his arm extending to stop our progress. For several tense seconds, we remained motionless on the stairs, listening intently. Then, a flash of movement at the bottom—a shadow passing quickly across the foyer Dakota reacted instantly, pushing me back up the stairs with one powerful arm while drawing a weapon from beneath his jacket with the other. Theo's hand clamped around my upper arm, pulling me back up toward the second floor.
"Change of plans," he whispered, his voice calm despite the tension thrumming through his body. "Safe room compromised. Secondary extraction route."
He guided me quickly down the hallway, away from the stairs, Dakota following behind us, weapon raised and ready. My heart hammered against my ribs as Theo led us toward what appeared to be a dead end—until he pressed his palm against a seemingly ordinary section of wall. A panel slid open, revealing a narrow passageway.
"Service corridor," Theo explained, ushering me inside. "Connects to the garage through a maintenance access. Stay between us."
The passage was suffocatingly narrow, lined with steel-gray walls that gleamed under thin emergency lights tracing along the floor. Every footstep sounded too loud, every breath too sharp. The cold, recycled air tasted metallic against my tongue. Theo's hand stayed firm between my shoulder blades, steadying me, urging me forward at a brisk but careful pace. I clung to that point of contact like it was the only solid thing in the world right now.
Ahead, Dakota moved with fluid, silent efficiency, his broad shoulders cutting through the dark. His weapon swept every shadow, every corner, each movement precise and predatory.
"Almost there," Theo murmured low against my ear, the calmness in his voice barely masking the underlying tension that thrummed through his whole body.
We rounded a corner—and chaos erupted. A figure sprang from a side door, low and fast, the gleam of a weapon flashing under the emergency lights. Everything blurred into instinct.
Dakota reacted before I could even scream. He twisted sideways, one powerful arm slamming into my chest, pinning me and Theo hard against the wall. A gunshot cracked the narrow space. Sparks exploded from the baseboards inches from my hip, the sharp tang of burning wood and scorched metal rushing into my nose. Theo moved like a striking snake. One second his hand was braced against me—the next he had his sidearm up and fired two sharp, controlled shots.
The first bullet hit the wall, sending shards of plaster raining down. The second found its mark. The intruder stumbled back with a strangled grunt, clutching his upper arm where blood bloomed dark and wet across black fabric.
"Move!" Dakota barked, voice razor-sharp. No time to think—only obey. Dakota grabbed my wrist, yanking me forward as Theo maintained cover, his gun still trained on the wounded attacker, calculating every twitch and movement with ruthless precision.
We sprinted down the corridor, my heart slamming so hard against my ribs it hurt. I barely noticed the pain in my bare feet, the cold floor biting into my skin. Ahead, another panel in the wall slid open with a hiss, revealing the dark maw of the garage beyond. The hulking shape of the SUV loomed like a lifeline under the flickering emergency lights. Lucas sat behind the wheel, blood smudged across his jawline, his mouth tight with focus.
"Get in!" he shouted the second he spotted us. Theo shoved me forward, already snapping out quick commands to Dakota behind us. I stumbled across the threshold—and that’s when a second intruder lunged out from behind a column.
Another gun. Another flash of metal. I barely had time to flinch before everything happened at once. Dakota dropped into a crouch between me and the assailant, weapon raised, teeth bared in a snarl. Theo pivoted smoothly, gun tracking the threat. But the voice that cracked through the chaos was unmistakable.
"Down!" Gabriel’s roar split the air like a thunderclap. Out of the shadows, Gabriel emerged—wild and furious, blood slicking down the side of his face from a cut on his temple. His body moved with a raw, brutal force, slamming into the gunman at full speed.
They hit the concrete floor with a heavy, echoing thud. The intruder fought back, but Gabriel was relentless. He drove his knee into the man’s spine, pinning him face-first against the cold floor, wrenching the weapon from his hand and tossing it across the room where it skittered uselessly into a corner.
"Weapon secure!" Lucas barked from the driver’s seat, his gun trained steadily on the scuffle. His voice was so cold it didn’t even sound human. Gabriel jerked the man’s arms behind his back with brutal efficiency, snapping zip ties around his wrists tight enough to make the man grunt in pain. The intruder thrashed, cursing, but Gabriel leaned in low, his mouth near the man’s ear, his voice a lethal whisper I barely caught.
"You picked the wrong house." Dakota never wavered. He stayed rooted between me and the chaos, his gun still up until Gabriel lifted his free hand in a quick, sharp signal— clear.
Only then did Dakota lower his weapon and grab my shoulders again, firm but careful. "In the car. Now," he said, his tone brooking no argument.
I scrambled into the back seat, my legs shaking so violently it felt like they might give out underneath me. Theo climbed in after me, pulling the door shut with a sharp thud that felt like it sealed us off from the world. As Lucas peeled the SUV out of the garage with a squeal of tires, I twisted in my seat to watch through the rear window.
Gabriel stood over the bound intruder, a dark, imposing figure. Even from a distance, the fury pouring off him was palpable, crackling in the air like a thunderstorm about to break.
He said something into his radio—short, clipped words that sounded like another language in my panic-numbed brain. More shadows moved around the perimeter—backup, probably, sweeping the grounds.
The attacker wasn't getting away.
Not this time.
Lucas drove fast but smoothly, navigating away from the house with expert precision, cutting down dark backroads I barely recognized. Beside me, Theo buckled his seatbelt, then reached across the seat to find my hand. His palm was warm, steady—my anchor in a night that had spun utterly out of my control. I clutched his hand with both of mine, squeezing until my knuckles ached, and tried to steady my breathing.
We were alive. Gabriel and Lucas had stopped them. But deep inside, a dark, gnawing fear whispered:
This wasn't over.