“Declan…” Seb managed to whisper.
“Quiet,” he whispered back as he stood. His eyes lit up with something fierce, almost animal. Tense seconds passed, and all Seb could hear was the blood, rushing through his body.
“Get down,” Declan whispered. “Squat behind the counter and wait here.”
“What’s happening?” Seb whispered as he bent his knees and rested his hands on the linoleum floor. It made him feel even more vulnerable than before, but still, a part of him knew he should obey whatever Declan instructed.
Declan’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing,” he whispered. “Probably nothing.” He started to turn away, then cast his glance back down to Seb. “Remember, I’ll keep you safe. Just don’t move until I say, okay?”
A second paused, maybe two. Then, splitting the silence, the emergency lights flashed, and a high-pitched beep pierced through the air. Like a flash of lightning, Seb realized something might actually be horribly, horribly wrong.
He nodded quickly, his mouth dry. “Okay,” he answered, fear gripping his guts. “I’ll stay here.”
DECLAN
It ate a fucking hole in Declan’s heart to see the kid on his knees like that, his hand trembling, looking up with need.
Maybe the woods and the quiet were messing with Declan’s head. Maybe it was all the goddamn snow creaking again, he hoped, and he hadn’t just heard what he thought he heard.
Except Declan didn’t make mistakes like that. It was why his father threw him on the family crew when Declan was barely fifteen, younger than all the other guys by a solid decade. Declan might have been a foul-mouthed drunk sometimes, but when it came time to act, nothing slipped by him.
And right then, as he crept to the front of the house, there was definitely some motherfucker sneaking across the yard.
He grabbed the walkie talkie and tried to buzz the front security a couple of times but got no response. Immediately, his thoughts flew to Sebastian. If this was actually it, if that little crew was actually making a big-time move, that meant the kid was in danger.
Declan might have tried to sneak out of a bad poker game every now and then, but he never broke a promise that truly mattered, and he didn’t intend to start now. He ducked as he rushed back into kitchen, the one task of keeping Sebastian safe central in his mind. Adrenaline pumped through his body, and his instincts kicked into gear, muscles and jaw tight.
Sebastian looked up from the ground, eyes wide and lip trembling. The poor guy had probably never been in real danger before.
“We have company,” Declan said. “At least one intruder, making his way to your wing of the house.”
Sebastian startled, then turned his eyes down the hall. “My projects,” he whispered. “My hard drives and my research.” Panic bit at the edges of his voice as his eyes darted back and forth.
“Fuck that,” Declan growled as he took his arm. “You’re the real target. Come with me.”
Sebastian protested, but Declan managed to pull him up. He ducked and dived as he ran Sebastian to Declan’s wing of the house. He immediately positioned Sebastian in the bathroom, then grabbed some of the equipment his boss had shipped and headed back to the door. He listened carefully, trying to discern more information, but only caught the muffled noises that came from the lab.
Declan put his finger to his lips. “You stay right here,” he said, dimming the bathroom light. Sebastian leaned against the counter, breathing shallowly. “We still don’t know what’s happening. Just sit tight and keep the door locked, okay?”
Sebastian nodded quickly. “Okay,” he whispered.
Declan wanted to say more, to find a way to comfort Sebastian. It hurt like hell when he turned away instead, but he had no time to lose.
He held a handgun and a smoke grenade as he crept down the hall, pausing only to quietly lock the double doors to the wing behind him. The crew who had made the threat wouldn’t have anything more than some pistols, so he wasn’t worrying about snipers or some semi-automatic bullshit. Mainly, Declan was just trying to figure out how many more people were creeping around the property right then and how bad the odds were going to be against him.
“If I get killed because of that fucking poker game…” he muttered, then worked up some steel and kicked the flimsy door to Sebastian’s lab wide open.
He roared as he threw the smoke grenade for a distraction, then swept his gun across the room, ready to face anything. Smoke poured into the room, and for a second, the only sound was the hissing of the canister. Declan thought he had made some kind of mistake, maybe hallucinated the whole fucking thing out of boredom.
Then a crash snapped him out of it. He jerked his head to the side just in time to see a shattering window fall to shards on the sleek wooden floor and the snow outside. Two masked figures leapt out the open space, then took off across the yard. Declan’s muscles demanded that he speed after them, tackle them to the ground, and beat the living pulp out of their faces, but he couldn’t leave Sebastian.
And just as well when another loud bang pulled him across the house.
Declan sprinted toward his wing, heart pounding. The second he rounded the corner, he saw the figure, kicking at the double door. Declan let out another yell, so loud it practically shook the walls, and charged straight for the motherfucker.
The intruder dived, tumbling out of the way at the last second, and the sheer force of Declan’s charge sent him sprawling against the wall with a thud of pain and a deep groan. He recovered quickly, pointing his gun straight out, but the intruder was already out the door. Declan gasped for breath as he rushed to the front, just in time to see a nondescript black car speeding away.
“Fucking hell.”
