“You’re a rockstar.A freaking action hero.I was so worried you were trapped upstairs.Let’s get the hell out of here.”
He held her tight for a moment, then lifted her into his arms and carried her outside.The night air was cold and clear, and they both coughed as they tried to clear the smoke from their lungs.
“The fire’s out,” Avi said.“Grey just went inside to turn off the smoke alarms.Are you guys okay?”
“We are,” Ford said.“Darcy saved the kitchen.”
“Rock on,” Avi said.“Colton is a fucking asshole.He could have killed us all in our sleep!”
“Is everyone okay?”Ford asked.
“Yeah.Neo tackled one of Colton’s guys trying to throw a Molotov cocktail into the barn where Dexter and the others were sleeping.”
Something tingled in warning in Ford’s mind, and he looked around.
Through the smokey air, he saw a figure standing near the side of the house.
It had to be Colton.Or one of his males.
He couldn’t make out his face in the darkness and smoke, but he saw his arm move in a throwing motion toward the house.
“It’s Colton!”Ford shouted.“Darcy, stay here!”
A flaming bottle arced through the air.Ford sprinted forward.The bottle smashed on the grass by the porch, the flames sputtering harmlessly on the now-soaked ground from the herd using the hoses to put out the other fires.
Ford chased Colton, but the male swiftly disappeared into the woods, and he couldn’t find his trail to follow.All he could smell was gasoline and burning wood.
“You fucking bastard!”Ford yelled into the darkness.
With another curse, Ford turned back to the farm.
When he got back to the herd, Darcy rushed to him.“What happened?”
“He’s gone.I couldn’t track him because of the smoke and gasoline in the air,” Ford said.“Where’s Neo?Did we get either of the other two guys in the herd?”
Grey shook his head.“Neo had one of them, but he got away.”
“I gave chase, but he was a fast bastard,” Neo said as he joined them.“You two okay?You charged into that house like you were fireproof.”
Ford pulled Darcy a little closer.“I felt like I was.”
Crew walked up and shook his head.“All three are gone.I heard tires peeling out and saw a truck down the road drive off.I think they just rushed through our perimeter alarms from different directions with their fire-bombs and attacked the house and a couple of the barns.”
“Dexter, Khyle, and all the females are safe,” Avi said.“And the animals too.”
“We won’t know the true damage until the sun comes up,” Crew said.“But the important thing is that we’re all okay.”
“Why were you in the kitchen anyway, Darcy?”Ford asked.
She brushed at her soot and tear-stained cheeks and smiled at him.“I woke up and I missed you.I walked down into the kitchen and hoped I might see you walk past so I could say hi, when someone threw that fire-bomb into the kitchen.”
Ford’s heart nearly gave out right then as the realization that he might have lost Darcy really struck home.
She sniffled, tears shining in her eyes.“Thank you for coming for me.”
“Baby, I will always,alwayscome for you.”
She leaned against him, her hands linked at his back, and started crying.He kissed the top of her head, thankful she was with him.
