Page 47 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter twenty-seven

C oughing as smoke drifted up his nostrils, Jediah blinked rapidly until his eyes focused. He couldn’t see more than an arm’s length in front of him. His brows furrowed as a hiss came from several spots in the room, creating a thick smoke screen. His nose wrinkled from the smell of chemicals.

He propped himself up on his elbows, to make a futile attempt to better scope out his surroundings. Something nudged his shin. He looked down at Dimitri, sprawled on the floor close to him, as if the blast had stopped him short of covering Jediah with his body.

Dimitri put a finger to his mouth, causing Jediah’s brows to furrow.

Dimitri then placed a hand to his ear. Jediah’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

Faint footsteps were moving about the warehouse.

Low murmurs could be heard and red laser lights cut through the thick cloud of dust and smoke.

A low whish came into the room, followed by a groan and a thud . Bullets popped from that direction, and one final shot put the noise to an end.

Dimitri and Jediah exchanged a glance. They nodded at each other, holding their guns tighter before quietly raising themselves to a crouching position.

They kept to the shadows as they moved toward the backroom.

Jediah scanned his hand, and the door slid open.

Dimitri shoved Jediah into the room before entering.

Jediah stumbled as he ran to the opposite side of the room to lift a flap on the wall and hit the panic button.

Dimitri kept his eyes glued to the bulletproof door until it closed.

“Who dem deh?!” Dimitri hissed, stomping from the door toward the closet full of tactical gear.

Jediah paused in securing a bulletproof vest to glare at Dimitri. “Oh, sorry. I forgot to ask them.”

Rolling his eyes, Dimitri grabbed a rifle by its sling, then tossed it across his body.

Holstering two guns at his sides, he accepted a gas mask from Jediah before moving toward the small screens lodged into a wall.

Dimitri watched the feed that showed some of the cameras scattered around the property.

“They’re not at the main house or any of the quarters. ”

Jediah’s brows furrowed. “A targeted hit?” he asked, relieved that Bryony and Ashari would be out of harm’s way. Still, that didn’t rid him of all his worry about how the hitmen got onto the estate.

Jediah grabbed another clip, shoving it in his pants pocket before limping over to Dimitri.

Through the thick dust clouds, people in gas masks maneuvered inside the warehouse.

Their tactical gear made it hard to tell if they were all men, women, or a mix of both.

They shot at his men who fought back, then stepped over their bodies and continued around the warehouse, also stepping over the bodies of Jediah’s men who were already unconscious on the ground.

“The crew’s on their way. Let’s move,” Dimitri said.

Jediah nodded, tightening his grip on his assault rifle. He was about to look away from the screens when something captured his attention. His eyes widened, and he moved closer to them.

There on the ground, not too far from the front entrance, was his wife.

“Ashari,” he breathed.

“What?”

Jediah bolted toward the door. A sharp jolt of pain shot up his wounded leg.

Ignoring Dimitri’s sharp hiss from behind him, he slipped on his gas mask, opened the door, and ran through the mist. Jediah gritted his teeth through every bullet that came in his direction and lodged into his vest. He killed anyone that ran toward him.

What he couldn’t handle, Dimitri had his back.

The rapid gunfire got louder the closer they got to Ashari. They pressed their backs against a wall, breathing heavily and on high alert as they listened to the gunfire on the other side of the wall.

Clicks came as the clip emptied. Jediah turned his head to the side, and Dimitri nodded at him.

Jediah gripped his gun tighter, about to peek around the corner, when the gunfire began again.

A thud followed by retreating footsteps made him finally peek out.

His gun trailed his line of sight, but he saw no one in the hallway besides a man on the ground.

“Move,” Jediah ordered Dimitri.

They took quiet steps into the hallway, careful not to step on any of the spent shell casings scattered about the floor.

Dimitri knelt by the body while Jediah remained on alert. “He’s one of mine,” he whispered, pressing two fingers to the man’s neck. He sighed, then looked up at Jediah with a shake of his head. “Pulse is too weak. He doesn’t have much time left.”

Jediah released a ragged breath through his nostrils. Fiery anger continued to course through his veins. The estate should’ve been impenetrable. How did this happen?! He clenched his jaw tight. “I need to get to Ash.”

Dimitri nodded, about to push himself to his feet, when his brows furrowed at the body. He reached for the man’s arm, then yanked out a dart. “Tranquilizer…” he murmured, confusion lacing his tone.

“Dimitri,” Jediah hissed impatiently. Every second away from Ashari was a second wasted. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about this worker — he did — but his wife was the main priority right now. He didn’t know how he’d live with himself if something happened to her.

Dimitri’s eyes snapped to Jediah, anger rushing to them. “If you want Ash, go get her. Mi caan’ just leave the man yaso fi dem actually kill him.”

Jediah scowled. Now wasn’t the time for this.

He yanked his attention away from Dimitri and scanned the hallway.

Spotting a door to the room where the janitorial staff kept supplies, Jediah tucked his pistol into his holster.

He stooped, grabbed the feet of his worker, and began yanking him toward the room.

Dimitri, realizing what Jediah was doing, grabbed the worker’s arms and helped to carry him.

They entered the room and hid the man behind a shelf in the back of the room, then returned to the chaos.

They killed their way through the intruders, disposing of empty clips along the way. Blinded by rage and fueled with desperation to see his wife breathe, Jediah pressed on until he reached Ashari.

He froze. His heart stopped beating as he looked at her, lying motionless on the ground with her eyes closed. Her body was dusted with dirt from the explosion. The bracelet around her ankle continued to beep . Its low and muffled tune, possibly from the impact, snapped Jediah back to reality.

Shoving his rifle behind his body, he rushed toward his wife and fell to his knees at her side. His heart raced at an abnormal rate, his hands shaky as he hesitantly reached out and pulled her into his arms. Soot smeared her face.

“Ash…” Jediah whispered, his voice not sounding like his own.

Seeing a puddle of blood where her head had been, Jediah’s lips trembled.

His heart slammed against his chest, somehow managing to also pound loudly in his ears.

Tears filled his eyes as he shook her body.

A strangled sob ripped from his throat when she didn’t react.

He cupped the back of her head, his fingers digging into her bloody, matted braids as he sobbed, “Queen…”

“We can’t stay here,” Dimitri frantically said from behind him.

Still, Jediah couldn’t look away.

His wife’s eyes were still closed. Her chest wasn’t rising and falling. Her hand was lazily thrown over her belly, and he laid his hand atop hers.

Shuffling came from behind them, the sound of feet heading toward them.

Dimitri hissed a low curse before he rushed over. He helped Jediah to his feet, struggling to lead them back to the room because Jediah hadn’t loosened his hold on Ashari. As the door slid closed behind them, Dimitri reached for Ashari. “Let me help her,” Dimitri pleaded.

Jediah dragged his eyes from Ashari. Managing to nod in his cathartic state, Jediah loosened his hold. He shifted all his weight to his good leg and leaned against the wall beside him as Dimitri took Ashari from his hands. Dimitri laid her on the sole chair in the room. Her head lolled to the side.

Jediah used the back of his hand to wipe tears from his eyes before limping toward them. His leg throbbed as he knelt beside them and took one of Ashari’s hands in his. He stroked his fingers across hers, hoping she could feel his touch.

Remember what they had.

And what they had to look forward to.

Maybe, that would bring her back to him.

It had to.

She couldn’t leave him.

Not now.

Not ever.

“Please don’t let her die,” Jediah whispered, his grip on Ashari’s hand tightening so Dimtiri couldn’t see how his hand began to shake again.

Dimitri dabbed at a cut at her forehead with an alcoholic wipe. “I won’t.”

Jediah nodded. As Dimitri continued to work, Jediah inputted the code into the anklet. It stopped beeping as it unlocked, then clattered to the floor. Dimitri glanced at the anklet, shook his head with a slight chuckle, then resumed working.

Jediah’s eyes darted to the video feeds.

The crew was here. Some were in trucks while others were on foot, hastening across the property to get to the outskirts while others secured the main house with the estate’s guards.

Jediah’s teeth gritted. Maybe it was time to listen to Bryony’s advice to build a gate in the fence at the back of the property.

It’d cut off some of the distance that the side and front entrance currently gave.

Ashari’s hand twitched in his. Jediah’s eyes darted to her face. Ashari’s brows pulled together, her lips twisting into a wince as her eyes fluttered open.

“Ashari,” Jediah breathed from relief. He released her hand to cup the sides of her face. He smiled through his tears, never knowing it’d be possible to enjoy seeing her look this confused.

Ashari looked at him while Dimitri returned the kit to the closet. Her bloodshot eyes widened before she felt around her body. “Alive?” she murmured, her voice raspy.

“Don’t talk, Ash,” Dimitri said while returning with a paper cup.

Jediah accepted the cup. He tried feeding Ashari, but she shook her head.

“Y-you ne-ed…” Ashari forced out. She gulped hard, her mouth opening and closing as she tried forcing the words out.

Jediah shushed her. “Drink this. Please ,” he begged.

Ashari stared at him, some fight still in her eyes before she sighed and accepted the water. Satisfied, Dimitri walked away to re-up on ammo while watching the screens. Jediah cupped a hand beneath her chin, capturing the excess water as Ashari greedily drank.

“You scared me,” Jediah said, his voice low, breaking with emotion, and making Ashari’s eyes soften.

“Sorry,” she croaked.

“This wasn’t how we planned to end the year, huh?”

Ashari chuckled. “We’ll rain check on that New Year’s gazebo date.”

Jediah and Ashari looked toward the door as another loud wave of gunshots went off beyond the room.

Reinforcements were here.

“We have fi go help before we lose anybody else.” Dimitri faced Jediah, his face expressionless.

Jediah exchanged a glance with Ashari. She nodded at him. He leaned forward, placing a long, hard kiss on her busted lip. Dimitri had done his best to clean her up, but she still tasted of blood.

Swallowing, Jediah pulled back. He rested his forehead on hers. “You and the baby will be good here. After we leave, use the phone that’s in the bottom drawer to call Reka and explain the situation. If anybody tries to come inside who isn’t me, Reka, or Dimitri, kill them.”

Ashari nodded. He pecked her lips, then stood. Jediah grabbed the ammo and gear Dimitri left out for him. He resisted the urge to look back at Ashari as he donned his gas mask, then left with Dimitri.

Whoever these people were, they would die.

Starting with whoever planted that bomb and risked his wife and baby’s life.