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