Fortunately, Eddie had only acted out the stabbing, that see-through knife stopping with the point directly on Vin's breastbone. But the agony had been real for both men while they had both struggled. And then...well, she didn't know what went down next, really: Eddie reared back as if he'd pulled something out of Vin, and then Marie-Terese felt a sharp, ringing panic that was tied to nothing specific - at least at first.
That changed fast. She'd felt an evil spirit focus on her, and at the moment it did, Jim pushed her behind him and then doused her in a solution that smelled like the sea. As she sputtered, the evil seemed to splinter around her, and that was when the window shattered.
Vin rolled over in her arms and looked into her face. "You...truly okay?"
He could barely get the words out from between his chattering teeth. "I'm fine."
"You're wet."
She pushed her damp hair back. "I think it saved me."
Eddie spoke up from over on the bed, his voice gravel. "It did. Jim made a good call with that."
The man nodded once, more focused on the rough shape his buddy was in rather than on any kind of compliment. "You sure we don't need to get you anything?" he asked Eddie.
"Adrian's the one we need to worry about. She didn't show and he's not here, and that means..." Problems, Marie-Terese thought.
"Problems," Jim filled in. "So I'm just going to get a refill of the magic sauce." As he headed for the bath, Vin let out a groan and tried to sit up.
"Here," she said, putting her arms around his torso and hefting his upper body off the floor. When he managed to hold himself upright, she yanked the duvet free from under his hip and wrapped it back around him.
He ran his hands through his hair, smoothing it down. "Am I done? Am I...free?"
Eddie got to his feet with a lurch. "Not entirely. Not until we get that diamond back."
"Can I help with that?"
"No, it's better to have one of us take care of it."
Vin nodded, and after a moment, he started to stand up. Even though he weighed so much more than she did, she helped him as best she could until he was standing on his own, and then she let him go so he could pace around.
When he went to get dressed, she didn't want to appear like a mother hen, so she headed over to look at the window that had been broken. Staring at the damage, questions pinged around her head and scrambled together. The panes had been splintered completely, leaving nothing but stubs behind on the sashes, and she glanced outside. Down on the ground, there were bits and pieces of glass and wood, but nothing bigger than the size of a pen.
"Stay away from there," Eddie said, coming over and edging her out of the way with his huge body. "It's not sealed, which means - "
Eddie gasped and went for his own throat, like he'd been grabbed through the hole from behind. As he tipped backward, his head and shoulders started to fall through the opening and Marie-Terese lunged for him - only to get dragged along with him.
"The...knife..." Eddie gasped.
Everything went slow-motion as she called out over her shoulder. Thank God, Jim was already on it, racing in from the hall and going for the crystal knife that had been left on the bed. The instant the weapon got palmed, Eddie went to work, wrenching around and stabbing at something that was outside of the window.
Marie-Terese locked onto one of Eddie's legs as Jim bear-hugged the guy around the waist. While they worked together, Vin went for his gun on the dresser and spun around, pointing it at the tangle. She had faith he wasn't going to shoot unless he -
On the far side of the bedroom, through the open door, she caught sight of a man coming up the stairs. He was mounting them in silence and moving with relentless focus. As he turned his head, their eyes met..
Saul...from the prayer group. What was he doing -
The gun in his hand swung up and then around, pointing at her. "Beloved," he said with reverence. "Mine now and always."
The automatic weapon went off.
Vin shouted something, just as Jim threw his body in the way of the bullet: With the grace of an athlete, he sprang up into the air, putting his chest in the path of what was intended for her, his arms spread wide, his torso flat to the shooter so that he offered the greatest possible surface area to protect her.
As the sharp, loud sound echoed, Eddie fell through the window, tumbling from the room. And then a second shot rang out.
Chapter 40
Vin threw off his lethargy the moment it became clear there was trouble over at the window. He'd been halfway into his pants when he heard the scrambling, and his first thought was for Marie-Terese - except she wasn't the one who appeared to be getting strangled. Jim was quick to respond, though, getting Eddie that crystal knife and then hanging on with every ounce of muscle he had. And Marie-Terese was right there to help, doing what she could to keep the man from being pulled out by God only knew what.
Vin's first thought was to go for the gun he'd left with his clothes and he followed up on it fast. Licking the safety off with his thumb, he leveled the muzzle at the mess of bodies at the window. He had no clue what the hell he could shoot at, so he held steady -
And then the expression on Marie-Terese's face abruptly changed from one of determination to shock as she focused on the doorway.
Someone else was in the house.
Vin pivoted on his bare feet and saw the vision he'd been given in his trance play out: A man with thinning blond hair was turning the corner at the head of the stairs and lifting a gun to point it straight into the bedroom. Yes...this was it. The trigger was going to be pulled and the bullet was going to travel through the air in the blink of an eye...and Marie-Terese was going to be struck.
"No!" Vin screamed as the shot went off.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Jim leap in front of her, the man's body blocking the lead that was meant for her by taking it in the chest, the impact carrying him back and knocking her down.
Vin's instinct was to go to her, but that was not the right move. Wheeling around with his gun, he knew that he had to make sure the intruder didn't get a second shot - it was the only thing he could do to improve the chance of people surviving.
Although he had the cold, deadly suspicion that Jim was down for count permanently.
Holding his weapon steady, Vin stepped into the doorway - and directly into the face of a man who was a good three inches shorter than he was.
It was a question of who pulled their trig first, and surprise worked in Vin's favor - the shooter had naively assumed that there were only three people in the room.
Vin didn't hesitate to squeeze out a round, right into the guy's heart, and the impact kicked the man's aim off and tightened his index finger at the same time. Which meant Vin took a slug in the shoulder.
Fortunately it was the left one.
As the intruder went down flat on his back and his weapon scattered away, Vin squared his muzzle off and pumped another round and another round and another round into the guy so there was no chance the f**ker was going to be able to blink, much less lift a gun.
With each shot, the man jerked, arms and legs flopping like a puppet.
"Marie-Terese, are you hit?" Vin called out as the din faded.
"No...but oh, God...Jim's barely breathing and Eddie fell out of the window."
Blood dripped off Vin's free hand and onto the intruder's jeans as he stepped over the guy and kicked that gun all the way down the stairs. He still wasn't about to trust that the bastard was dead, though, so he trained his weapon on the paling face before him as he listened hard for more footsteps downstairs.
"Get your phone," Vin said to Marie-Terese. "Call nine-one-one."
"Already dialing," she replied.
He wanted to look over his shoulder and check her with his own eyes, but he wasn't taking any chances. There was no telling who else had come into the house, and there was still a shallow movement in the intruder's chest.
As seconds drifted into minutes, Vin totally approved of the way the color was leaving the unremarkable features of the man's face, but Christ...who was he? What was he?
Although if a bullet could stop him, he probably was just a human. Marie-Terese's voice drifted across the room. "Yes, there's been a shooting at One-sixteen Crestwood Avenue. There are two men - three down...We need an ambulance right away. Marie-Terese Boudreau. Yes...yes. Yes...no, it's not my residence - "
The lids of the intruder suddenly flipped open and Vin found himself staring into a pair of pale browns that were fixated on something other than whatever was in front of him. With a stiff twitch, those graying lips started to move.