“Get in here,” he commanded. “You need a reminder of why I’m yer number one.”
“I see you’re wearing your bossy boots today,” I purred and he cocked his head, his lips tilting in a psycho’s smile.
He opened his mouth to speak but instead of words, out came a tremendous bang that rattled the walls and my heart along with it.
In the next second Niall was barrelling towards me, and I realised that noise hadn’t come from his mouth at all, it had come from outside.
I wheeled around, panicked for AJ and Mateo as another gunshot cut through the air and the bulletproof window in the lounge took the hit for us, keeping us safe inside.
“Niall – get guns!” Mateo barked as I spotted him running into the lounge.
Jack was right behind him, gazing up the stairs at me, rage coiling through his expression while Brutus barked furiously at the window and the shadows lurking beyond it.
Niall grabbed my arm, yanking me back along the landing into his room, shoving his closet door open and taking out a bag full of stabbys and shooties. He placed a pistol in my grip and a riot helmet on my head which I quickly threw off.
“I can’t see properly through that,” I snapped as Niall cocked a shotgun and slung the bag over his shoulder.
“Would ya ever do as I say?” he growled.
“No,” I hissed.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
A stream of gunfire sounded from downstairs and Jack barked ‘Rook!” the same moment Mateo roared, “Hurry the fuck up, bastardo!”
We ran out of the room together while my thoughts flashed and banged like dynamite.
“Who’s shooting at us?” I asked in confusion as we made it to the stairs.
“Fuck if I know,” Niall growled. “I’ll be sure to ask ‘em when they’re dead though, love.”
He launched the bag of weapons over the bannister and Jack caught it with an oomph leaving his lungs as more gunshots slammed into the windows and walls outside.
Mateo was sheltering under the window in case any cheeky bullets broke through somehow. Jack threw him a rifle and he reared up like a fearless warrior, cracking the window open and taking shots out into the night. I dropped down beside Mateo, aiming my gun out through the window too and pulling the trigger time and again, the recoil making my fingers tingle with the powerful vibrations.
“I’m gonna carve up some enemies real good tonight,” Niall snarled and I glanced back at him, finding him strapping knives and all kinds of bangers and stabbies to his body. The look he and Jack shared told me they were about to do something crazy. And crazy was my forte.
“Wait for me,” I gasped as they ran out of the room and I heard the front door open.
“I can see you behind that tree, ya hairy cunt! Shove this up your arse!” Niall cried then a boom set my teeth locking together.
Mateo lunged forward, shoving my head down as the whole house trembled precariously, but we were safe in here, he didn’t need to worry his nelly about me.
“Bastardo loco,” Mateo hissed in my ear and a wild laugh rolled out of my throat as the tremor tickled my knees.
“You want more, baby?! I’ll give ya more!” Niall cried and another boom split the air apart.
The gunfire had ceased on the house and I had to guess our enemies were on the move, heading to meet Niall as he let his demons loose. Run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t get away from my unhinged man!
“Come on, Dead Man, I don’t wanna miss all the fun.” I wriggled out of his arms and ran for the door, keeping my head low as I went.
“Mi sol,” he growled in a command for me to stop, the heavy sound of his footfalls following me, but I didn’t stop. I skipped and jumped my way along with excitement zinging through my limbs.
Brutus joined me, barking loudly, his eyes bright like he was enjoying the chaos as much as I was.
“Let’s get ‘em, pup!” I whooped as I ran outside, spotting Niall and Jack racing down the drive and firing shots off into the dark. And now it was my turn to play bang-bang.
I raised my gun and hunted for a target, spotting a man taking cover behind a tree near the lake, his arm poking out the side.
I pulled the trigger, boom, boom, boom, the wind whipping my skirt up around me and making me look like some kind of epic supervillain. But that was when I remembered I had no panties on and realised the look was probably more super porn villain than DC Comics.
Brutus took off towards the guy, not a drop of fear in his soul as he charged him down. I kept shooting, making sure he couldn’t take any pot shots at my pooch while he was on his way over there to maul his face, but then a gunshot to my right made me flinch.
Mateo slammed into me, dragging me towards Niall’s cars to take cover.
We hit the ground on our knees and scrambled out of sight, the skin of my legs tearing open in little grazes and making me feel so freaking alive.
Dead Man got up, peering over the car and aiming his rifle across the yard, the bang of his gun and the animal snarl on his lips making me heady as I stared up at him. His powerful body was rock solid, every muscle coiled like a loaded weapon itself.
I peeped under the car to see Brutus collide with the tree man, taking him down and savaging him like a hungry beast.
“Go on Bruty!” I cried just as more gunfire rattled our way and Mateo dropped down beside me, his back to the car as he reloaded his rifle.
Niall and Jack were further down the drive, wrestling with a man by a fancy black sedan parked there. Jack was fully in his angries, swinging bone crunching punches, clearly preferring to kill with his hands. Niall was playing killer with the same man, choking him out with one arm while stabbing with his free hand. Blood was colouring my men red and it set off a beacon of light within me, making me smile from ear to ear.
A bang made the window of the car explode above me and I covered my head as Mateo shoved me forward to get me moving. Two sets of footsteps were following us around the vehicle and Mateo dropped onto his back, shimmying beneath the car beside us.
“Take the first, I’ll take the second,” he whispered, disappearing into the dark with a look that told me to keep moving.
I trusted his ideas, so I crawled around to the back of the car, staying low and raising my gun as the footsteps closed in on us.
“Where’s that big fucker gone?” one man growled.
“He can’t be far,” the other murmured. “Check that way. I’ll look over here.”
The thumping of boots moved closer while another set moved away.
I held my breath.
I was a cobra waiting, ready to strike and sink my fangs in deep. I’d unleash every ounce of venom on our enemy and show them what happened to people who attacked our family. My heart panged as I accepted that that was what we were now. A bonded unit. Dead Man, Hellfire, AJ, Bruty-tooty and little old me. I’d been alone for so long that I’d been waiting for this all to disappear, for me to return to my life on the streets where no one even cared to learn my name. But here, among these beasts of fury, I was somehow at the heart of their wants and desires, and I realised they weren’t going to leave.
I’d die defending them. I’d bleed and rot and turn to dust for them. But not today.