Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BULLETS BLASTED INTO THE cobblestones behind Elliot as he barreled full steam down the street. Chips of plaster flew off houses as shots narrowly missed him.
Fuck, fuck, Christ.
It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
He pushed himself harder toward the stone fountain looming up ahead, skidded behind it, and ducked down low. He counted out bullets and reloaded his pistol.
Footsteps pounded closer. Four, maybe five German soldiers were closing in, hot on his heels. He peeked around the gray stone column and flinched back at a shot that nearly struck him.
On one hand, his brilliant diversion had certainly yielded results.
On the other, he hadn’t expected to get separated from Hoffman in the pursuit.
They’d found the necromancer who kept plaguing the western battlegrounds—Leutnant Alwine Albrecht.
They were supposed to catch her off-guard and capture her alive if possible.
Rumor was, she was working on something that could change the course of the war.
Things had deteriorated rapidly when she’d spotted their approach.
“Captain!” Swift’s voice shouted from his right. Elliot glanced over and saw him crouched behind a house, in an alleyway. Swift leaned out a little further at something behind Elliot, shouting his name, throwing out his shield, palm outstretched for him.
No, no. He’s leaning out too far.
Two loud pistol retorts rang out, one after another, Elliot tensed, expecting one in the back that never came.
He opened his eyes as a third rang out from Swift’s direction, and saw Charbonneau standing there.
It took him a moment to recognize the slumped form at Charbonneau’s feet was Swift, and that Charbonneau had shot the man behind Elliot right after a German had gotten Swift.
His furious gaze met Elliot’s. He shifted his stance, firing at the soldiers pursuing Elliot. Providing cover.
Please let Swift be all right. I told him not to risk himself like that. Not for me, not for anyone. Christing shit.
As he was about to make a mad dash across the street to them, a small hand landed on his shoulder. Bellona’s, he recognized fast enough he hardly jolted. And then Hoffman opened fire, four quick, precise shots, and it was silent save the distant sound of many boots rushing in their direction.
The second Hoffman stopped shooting, Bellona transported them to Swift.
Elliot’s throat clogged. Charbonneau had dropped to his knees, cradling Swift.
Blood seeped darkly from the left side of Swift’s chest. He was struggling to breathe, face pale, eyes hazy and panicked, locked on Charbonneau’s. Elliot’s heart shriveled and sank.
He turned to Bellona, “Get them to the safe house. There are medical supplies there.” The anguished glance she gave him said too many things he didn’t want to believe. “Now. Hoffman and I will make our way to the vehicles and secondary location so we aren’t followed, get us when you can. Go.”
She released him and obeyed orders, leaving behind nothing but a puddle of crimson on brown cobblestones. Elliot couldn’t tear his gaze away.
This is my fault.
“Captain,” Hoffman, shoved at his shoulder, pushing him down the alley. “We need to go before they catch up. He’ll be all right. He has to be.”
Elliot tucked away his pistol, his hands clenching into fists as he staggered into a run alongside Hoffman, fingernails digging painfully into his palms. He swallowed against the lump in his throat, fighting for air.
This is my fault. All my fault.
It was a blur until they were hiding the car among brush and stumbling through dense woods to a small cottage that was hardly standing.
Inside, Elliot slumped onto a rickety chair.
A sudden heaviness weighed him down. He sagged forward, resting his arms on his thighs, hands hanging limply between his parted knees.
His head was too heavy to hold up so it drooped forward as he squeezed his eyes shut.
They aren’t medics. He can’t possibly survive without one. Swift is going to die. He’s going to die, and it’s my fault. Charbonneau’s going to watch him die. Because of me.
Elliot lost track of time, forcing back hot tears.
Neither he nor Hoffman spoke. They simply waited.