“I think he was brave,” Cassie says wisely. Her hand strokes softly through my hair and I close my eyes for a second reveling in her touch. “It takes a lot of courage to leave what you know, even if it’s only for a little while.”
There’s a far-off look in her eyes and I know she must be thinking of her mother, and how she left her to come and be with her father after so long. I open my mouth to tell her that it’s okay when a loud bang sounds from outside.
Cassie ducks low in my lap, sucking in a breath.
“Was that a gunshot?” she asks stunned, digging her fingers into my thigh.
Suddenly another shot rings out and the stained glass window closest to us shatters, glass tinkling all over the floor. I yank Cassie under the table, throwing my body over hers. She trembles beneath me, but she’s not crying.
She’s a brave woman.
“Stay low under the table,” I snarl sharply, moving to slide between the chairs.
“Magnus, no!” she cries, catching my sleeve in her fingers and not letting go. “You’re not leaving. If you go, I go.”
I feel a rush of pride. This is the woman I’ve chosen and I’ve chosen well.
“I won’t risk you, Cassie,” I murmur, cupping her cheek in my hand quickly.
“I said no, Magnus,” her tone is hard and carries an undercurrent of power.
She yanks me back. She’s stronger than she looks. Cassie will make a fine wife, I know that for certain. But right now I need to make sure that the future that I’m dreaming about comes to pass.
“Stay low!” Renner’s voice shouts from somewhere inside the house. “Don’t move!”
I wrap myself over Cassie as boots thud over the hardwood floors and gunfire whizzes back and forth through the shattered windows. When it finally grows quiet, Cassie shoves the chairs aside before I can grab her.
“Dad!” she calls out, running across the room and disappearing into the hall.
I feel real fear for the first time as I chase after her, wondering what the hell is going on and hoping with all my heart that Cassie isn’t gone running straight into the line of fire.
My heart sinks when I see the woman I love standing point-blank in the range of a gun. She stands stock-still and I can see her trembling, but she raises her chin as her attacker walks around her and pushes a gun into her back.
There’s a slice over her eyebrow and blood slides down her cheek and onto her neck. Alice laughs from where she stands holding the gun pointed at Cassie, poised to kill my heart with one shot.
“Get out of here, Magnus,” Cassie says between gritted teeth. I can see the remnants of my mouth on her, the dark bruising against her collarbone, and I want to squeeze the life out of Alice.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask her, growling the question with intent. “Let her go.”
“Why couldn’t you see?” Alice says in a frenzied voice, letting out a shriek of deranged laughter. I can see tears rolling down her red cheeks. Her short hair is disheveled around her head, caught in knots. “I know you were with her, I heard you! I could hear the moans, Magnus. How could you?”
“Magnus, thank god,” Renner says as scrambles to a stop in the foyer where we stand. He can’t see Cassie from where he stands. “I hoped I wasn’t too late.”
“Dad,” Cassie says softly and Renner whips around, looking confused.
He raises his gun, stepping forward quickly in a move of surprising anger. I stop him with a hand on his arm. Alice might just kill Cassie for the hell of it, but she definitely will if he intervenes.
“What the fuck?” Renner snaps, and I understand his anger. It’s a struggle for me to stay calm. “You? You’re the one that’s been feeding information to the Strom family?” Renner looks at me, clenching his jaw. “We found letters in her room and the missing documents in a drawer.”
It makes sense. For months, the opposing family has been on our every move. Most of our employees have been with us for a long time and Alice came highly recommended but clearly, we were lax with our background checks.
Suddenly I catch sight of the members of my security team that were left behind in the manner, decked out in full tactical gear and holding automatic weapons.
They move silently in the doorway behind Alice ready to move at a moment's notice. I only let my gaze slide to them for a second, and then I look back at Alice and then Cassie. Cassie would die to keep me safe, I can see it in her eyes. And I would die for her to live. But I don’t plan for either of us to die today.