Tall, Dark & Lonely (Pyte/Sentinel #1)(115)

Ephraim walked over to the men. “Let’s get this over with. I want you all out of my house.”

The men looked at him nervously, but no one moved. Ephraim started with the one at the far left, the one covering Eleanor and Chris. He needed to be taken out first. He had to move quickly.

“Put down your weapon. I’m not having you accidentally shoot while we do this.”

The man nodded and put the gun in his holster. The other men watched anxiously. Ephraim stepped up to the man. He took the man’s head firmly in his hands. “Are you ready?” he asked loudly.

The man nodded, but it wasn’t him that Ephraim was asking. Madison watched as Chris reached down and pulled out two guns. With his left elbow he shoved Eleanor down, causing her to fall backwards. With his left leg he knocked Joshua and Jill down. It was easy with the way they were sitting. They all fell at once. Chris took aim as Madison covered the kids with her body.

“Now!” Ephraim yelled as Caroline screamed in pain. Madison looked over at the woman as she dropped to the ground. Her body convulsed as smoke rose from her skin. The men shouted orders as Chris began shooting.

Ephraim snapped the man’s neck. He lunged at the next man. A bullet hit him in the side of his leg. “Don’t stop no matter what!” he yelled at Chris. Another bullet tore through his right bicep, but he didn't let the pain slow him down.

Madison looked over at Chris as he fired his guns. His left hand wasn’t as fast as the right one but he seemed in control. She heard more shots fired behind her. They had to take the men out before one of them got killed.

Ephraim moved towards the last man standing. The man was already hit several times, but wouldn’t stop firing. Chris cried out in pain the same time as the man fired another round before Ephraim could grab him. He took out the man with a quick snap of his neck.

“Chris!” Madison screamed.

“Oh f**k,” Chris muttered. He was hit in the same shoulder again as well as the stomach. The gun in his left hand dropped to the ground. He kept the right one pointed at the slump bodies on the floor even as it shook. He was going to pass out soon and he was fighting it. She could see from his face that he wasn’t quite there anymore.

“Chris!” Joshua screamed.

Madison turned to see Caroline sitting on the ground. Heavy white smoke rose from her body. Some of the smoke cleared from her hands with a quick movement. Madison saw the gun too late.

Chris slowly swung his hand around. He muttered a curse and flung himself in front of the kids, taking her down to the floor and out of the line of fire. Several things seemed to happen at once. Ephraim roared in anger, continuous gunshot echoed throughout the room, Chris’s body went limp and then jumped several times as if it had been struck violently. The last thing to occur was the front door slamming open.

Ephraim jumped over the small group, taking a bullet from Caroline’s gun in his leg before it could hit its intended mark. Caroline screamed in pain as she turned to face the intruders.

Eric stormed in, aiming a crossbow at Caroline. He pulled the trigger, sending the arrow flying through the air. It hit her in the heart, slamming her backwards, but not before she managed to pull the trigger one last time. Ephraim dove over her falling body, taking the bullet in his chest that was meant for Eric.

He saw Eric flinch as he expected the shot to complete its aim into his head.

“Fuck,” Eric muttered unsteadily, taking in the scene. Men and women stormed the house as Eric helped Ephraim to his feet.

“It’s Chris.” Ephraim ran half stumbled back to the group. Eleanor was fussing over Chris’s body. He could already see that Chris was unconscious and loosing far too much blood.

Eric dropped by Chris' side. “I need a medic!” he yelled.

Another man dropped next to Chris. He opened a backpack and began securing the wounds. “Two in the shoulder, one in the back, one in the stomach, one in the leg and the last one on the side of his neck.

Madison reached up and took Ephraim’s hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and sighed with relief that he couldn’t smell her blood. Chris had saved their baby.

Ephraim watched helplessly as the boy who'd become his son lay dying on the ground. There was nothing he could do to save him. “Joshua’s been shot!” Jill’s voice broke through his pain.

He reached out and yanked a very pale Joshua from the middle of the chaos. He was covered in blood, from the smell of it Chris’s blood. His eyes ran over the frightened little boy. “Where?”

“My tummy hurts,” he cried. “Is Chris going to be okay?” His chin wobbled.

“I hope so.” Ephraim yanked the vest off the little boy and sighed with relief. Joshua had a hell of a purple bruise on his stomach, but no penetration.

“Looks like the vest saved him,” Eric mumbled as he poked his finger into the vest where the bullet entered. “He needs to go to the hospital as well.”

“Chopper’s here.”

“That was quick,” Madison said through sobs.

“When two Sentinels are in danger we don’t play around. I’m just sorry it took so long to get here. We had a false alarm in Boston. We were halfway there when your calls for help came through. We double checked the situation in Boston by phone and found out that it was bogus.”

“A trick to divert you,” Eleanor guessed.